AlfaPro Alfa Romeo 164 Stepper Gears

Steppers Gears Discussion 2001
Postings from the Alfa Digest and 164 Discussion Forum (some material has been edited for relevance and brevity).
See also the Discussion 1998-2000 and Discussion 2000

 
 
Stepper Replacement - Do It Yourself or Pass the Buck Name: Ross Time/Date: 14:07:51 5/25/2001
Well the stepper gear that controls air direction is toast. I have the Car Disc video on stepper replacements and know that many on this list have done the job themselves and much has been written on the subject. But I have a couple of questions:
1) Is there any value in replacing the motors, or is replacing the gears all that is required? The last thing I want is to do the job and then have one of the motors go.
2) Are the AlfaPro gears the best bet?
3) And finally and most importantly, for those of you have have done the job yourself, would you recommend that a relatively non-mechanically inclined person take on the task, or would one be better off for time, frustration and sanity sake having the dealer do it. The dealer has quoted me 8 hours to do the job, which will set me back about $600 cdn ($400 US) excluding the cost of the replacement gears.
Your honest and insightful comments are appreciated. - Ross 1991 164 ----------------------
 
steppers and motors Name: Del Gould Time/Date: 17:08:28 5/25/2001
Almost without doubt, the culprits will be the gears, as stepper motors are usually quite reliable. The AlfaPro metal gears are the best solution, that way there will be no question about them lasting for longer than you will ever own the car. Their web site is pretty clear about how to do the work. I applaud them for their efforts. You don't want anything to do with new Alfa parts. When you pull the gearboxes apart, it will be obvious that there will be broken plastic gears.
If need be, if by remote chance there might be a problem with a stepper motor, and it is easy to check this while they are in the car, you probably could buy a used one (about $15) from any seller of used electronics. That's what I did for my homemade computer driven telescope, bought a pair of used steppers from an outlet in San Diego. They have worked just fine ever since on 12v. Just do some searches on the web. It's all there. You just have to note its size, and how many wires the motor has coming out of it. They are rated for ~5v but they work well up to 24 v.
Del Gould, 89 Milano, 91 164S Seattle -------------------
 
don't forget the ring! Name: Dave in KY Time/Date: 09:55:39 5/26/2001
There is also a reinforcing ring which Alfa had tech service bulletin (no. 80-94-01) on-- it is a coupler I believe, that rounds out and splits. The metal ring slips over the OD of the coupler and strengthens it. Not ever having done the job myself, I can't say if it applies to one or both steppers. Others ----------------
 
Reinforcing ring Name: Michael Smith Time/Date: 12:57:54 5/26/2001
This is for the air distribution drum. The original design relied on the moulded plastic end of the drum to mate with the controlling stepper. This apparently cracked during use. When the stepper is removed from the drum, the broken bits fall out! This is another reason for actually following the Factory method, and ignoring the ARDONA "let's beat these warranty claims" method. The reason ARDONA could afford to take the risk of using their method is the number of claims they had to deal with. Only afew of the air distribution drums crack. If yours is cracked and you're fiddiling around half blind without the dashboard out, you may be screwed as far as getting this reinforcing ring in place (you need to find and restore the broken bits of plastic I believe). If the drum isn't already cracked then the reinforcing ring goes on no problem. AR recommends you install the reinforcing ring on the appropriate cars regardless of whther the drum is or is not cracked. Later cars had this as a permanent fix, or some other permanent fix, so be guided by the parts supplier if he is a proper Alfa Ricambi source. -----------------
 
Stepper Name: B. Smith Time/Date: 07:22:52 5/27/2001
$600 cnd ($400 us) is not that bad of a price. I was quoted like 1000-1200us. If you do have the dealer do it. I'd get the gears from AlfaPro. This would lower the dealer cost even more. You can't beat the price and the free shipping at AlfaPro ( if they offer still it)