I too would say 1.9.The power advantage of the 2.4 is not worth the hassle in terms of repairs.
I do not condone the cutting of bolts either,in one of my last posts i said the engine would need shifting in the bay thus needing removal of the mounts and joggle the engine about.This is the only way i can see work being done on the offside of the engine,although ive read of the bolt cutting way.Not quite engine out but not far off.
Mine has had this type of operation done twice.(engine moved in the bay method)First time for the timing belt,water pump,adjuster and idler,and second time recently for the alternator replacement.

Cambelt, aux belt, tensioners/idlers and waterpump all changed today at PowerItalia.

£468 including VAT and all the removed kit handed over with the receipt.

Lovely.

5 ton.A drop in the ocean considering todays cars.At least piece of mind.

Agreed Buster.

Although the service books are all stamped up etc. there was nothing to show that they had been done. By the look of whats come off she looks like this is the first time they have been changed. Car is approx. 6 and a half years old with 41,000 miles so definitely peace of mind.

Bit cheaper than the £1100 the local FIAT dealers quoted......

I also treated her to a basic oil and filter change with some Selenia WR

evo-number-one said:

Cambelt, aux belt, tensioners/idlers and waterpump all changed today at PowerItalia.

£468 including VAT and all the removed kit handed over with the receipt.

Lovely.

Click to expand...

Was it possible with the engine in? Mine's booked in this week for the belts and water pump, but now they are saying that they are not sure if it can be done in situ?

Hal, I wasn't present to see the process in action, but definitely still in - although various mounts were undone and engine moved to gain access.

If you want to know a bit more you could try phoning poweritalia in Laindon and have a chat with Roger.

Bob

Well known Alfa Specialist did mine, including front disks and pads, water pump, auxiliary belt etc. all filters and oil, outside the house using the tools he carried, about 6 hours.

Thanks guys. It's booked in on weds and I've been quoted 4 to 5 hours but now the garage is concerned that official sources state engine out. They've done other 2.4s with the engine in (they're an ex Alfa dealer) but never touched a Croma before.

For sure it can be done with the engine left in.I more or less done the same operation last april time when we replaced the bent rod.Cylinder head and sump off all in situ.To be honest it wasnt a bad job and that was at home in my home garage,no lift or pit.I dont think their any worse than a 4 pot.

The cambelt finally got done today. It was a relatively straightforward job. Once the top mount was undone and the engine jacked up, there was enough access to do everything. The only mod was to remove 3 mm from the end of the stud that the tensioner slides over. The metal plate that goes over the bottom of the cambelt didn't need to be completely removed to get the belt off. so no more cutting required! The pump was in remarkably good condition for 90k, but at least everything has been renewed now.

I'm glad that job is out the way for a few more years

halilson said:

The cambelt finally got done today. It was a relatively straightforward job. Once the top mount was undone and the engine jacked up, there was enough access to do everything. The only mod was to remove 3 mm from the end of the stud that the tensioner slides over. The metal plate that goes over the bottom of the cambelt didn't need to be completely removed to get the belt off. so no more cutting required! The pump was in remarkably good condition for 90k, but at least everything has been renewed now.

I'm glad that job is out the way for a few more years

Click to expand...

Was the water pump original? the reason I ask is that there are some makes with steel pulleys and some with neopreen type. Iv`e mentioned this in another thread but its the first one I have seen for a 2.4. I think a steel one would last longer , I had mine replaced and I think the replacement was steel but the original was neopreen. 1.9 16v 150bhp. The pump gland had just started to "weep" so as it was 5+yrs but only 40k miles replacing it was a no brainer:yum:

I assume it was as there is no mention of a pump change in the history.