2004 Alfa Romeo 156 Owner handbook (in English)

IN AN EMERGENCY
247
IF ANYONE IS INJURED– Never leave the injured person alone.
The obligation to provide assistance exists
even for those not directly involved in the
accident.
– Do not congregate around the injured
person.
– Reassure the injured person that help
is on its way and will arrive soon. Stay close
by to calm him/her down in case of panic.
– Unfasten or cut seat belts holding injured
parties.
– Do not give an injured person anything
to drink.
– Never move an injured person except in
the following cases.
– Pull the injured person from the car on-
ly if it risks catching fire, it is sinking in wa-
ter or is likely to fall over a cliff or similar.
Do not pull his/her arms or legs, do not
bend the head and, as far as possible, keep
the body horizontal.
FIRST-AID KITIt is advisable to have also a fire extin-
guisher and a blanket besides the first-aid
kit.

CAR MAINTENANCE
248
It is however wise to remember that Pro-
grammed Maintenance does not complete-
ly cover all the car’s requirements: also in
the initial period before 20,000 km service
coupon and later, between one coupon and
another, ordinary care is still necessary such
as for example routinely checking and top-
ping up the level of fluids, checking the tyre
pressure, etc...
WARNINGThe Programmed Mainte-
nance coupons are specified by the Manu-
facturer. The failure to have them carried out
may invalidate the warranty.
The Programmed Maintenance service is
carried out by all Alfa Romeo Authorized Ser-
vices, at pre-established times.If during each operation, in addition to the
ones programmed, the need arises for fur-
ther replacements or repairs, these may be
carried out only with the explicit agreement
of the customer.
WARNINGYou are advised to contact
Alfa Romeo Authorized Services in the event
of any minor operating faults, without wait-
ing for the next service coupon.
PROGRAMMED
MAINTENANCECorrect maintenance is essential for en-
suring long car life under the best conditions.
This is why Alfa Romeo has programmed
a series of checks and maintenance opera-
tions every 20,000 km.
WARNINGAt 2000 km from the main-
tenance deadline, the Infocenter display will
show “SCHEDULED SERVICE WITHIN” which
is shown again turning the ignition key to
MAR, every 200 km. For further details,
see “Service” in the “Display Infocenter”
paragraph in “Getting to know your car”
chapter.
C C
A A
R R

M M
A A
I I
N N
T T
E E
N N
A A
N N
C C
E E

CAR MAINTENANCE
249
SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE PROGRAMME
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Thousands of km
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Check tyre conditions/wear and adjust pressure if necessary
Check operation of lighting system (headlights, direction indicators, hazard lights,boot lights, passenger compartment lights, glovebox light, warning lights, etc..)Check operation of windscreen wiper/washer system, adjust spray jetsCheck position/wear of windscreen/rearscreen wiper bladesCheck front disk brake pad wear indicatorCheck conditions of rear disk brake pads
Sight check for the conditions of: exterior bodywork, underbody protection,
pipes and hoses (exhaust - fuel - brakes), rubber parts (boots - sleeves - bushes - etc.)Check for bonnet and boot lock cleanness, lever cleanness and lubricationCheck condition of timing drive beltSight check for conditions of Poly-V accessory drive beltCheck/adjust handbrake lever strokeCheck/adjust valve clearance (1.9 JTD 8V versions)Check petrol engine exhaust emissionsCheck engine smoke (diesel versions)Check operation of antievaporation system (petrol engines)

CAR MAINTENANCE
250
20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
Thousand of km
Change fuel filter (diesel versions only)Change air cleaner cartridge (petrol engines)Change air cleaner cartridge (diesel versions only)
Check and if necessary top up fluid levels (brakes, hydraulic clutch, power steering, windscreen wiper, battery, engine coolant, etc..) Check and if necessary top up Selespeed oil level (2.0 JTS version)Replacement of timing drive belt (*) and Poly-V accessory drive beltReplacement of counter-rotating shaft drive belt (only 2.0 JTS)Replacement of spark plugs (T.SPARK 16V, 2.0 JTS and 2.5 V6 24V versions) Check operation of engine control systems (through diagnosis)Check gearbox and differential oil levelCheck automatic gearbox oil level (2.5 V6 24V version)Change engine oil and oil filterChange brake fluid (or every 2 year)Replacement of dust/pollen filter
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(*) Or every 3 years in harsh conditions (cold – hot climates, stop and go city traffic, dusty areas or roads covered with sand and/or salt)
Or every 5 years, regardless of the mileage.

CAR MAINTENANCE
251
ADDITIONAL
OPERATIONSEvery 1000 kmor before long journeys
check and if necessary top up:
– engine coolant level
– brake fluid/hydraulic clutch control flu-
id level
– power steering fluid level
– windscreen washer and headlamp wash-
er fluid level
– tyre pressure and conditions.
Every 3000 kmcheck the level of the
engine oil and top up if necessary.
You are recommended to use products of
the FL Selenia, designed and developed
expressly for Alfa Romeo cars (see the table
“Specifications of fluids and lubricants” in
the “Technical specifications” chapter).
ANNUAL INSPECTION
PROGRAMMEAn annual inspection programme
has been established for cars thet
cover less than 20,000 km (e.g.
10,000 km). It consists of the fol-
lowing:
– Check tyre conditions/wear and adjust
pressure if required (including the compact
spare wheel)
– Check lighting system operation (head-
lights, direction indicators, hazard lights,
boot lights, passenger compartment lights,
glovebox light, warning lights of instrument
panel, etc.)
– Check windscreen and rear-screen
wiper/washer operation, adjust nozzles
– Check windscreen/rear-screen blade po-
sition/wear
– Check condition and wear of the front
brake pad
– Check for bonnet and boot lock clean-
ness, lever cleanness and lubrication– Visually check the following: engine,
gearbox, transmission, piping (exhaust - fu-
el - brakes) rubber components (casings -
sleeves - bushings, etc..), brake and fuel
hoses
– Check battery charge condition
– Visually check the condition of the belts
and various controls
– Check and top up if necessary, the flu-
id levels (coolant, brake fluid, windscreen
washer fluid, battery, etc.)
– Change engine oil
– Replace engine oil filter
– Change pollen filter.

CAR MAINTENANCE
252
WARNING
Engine oil
Should prevailing use of the car be under
one of the following specially heavy condi-
tions:
– trailer or caravan towing
– dusty roads
– short distances (less than 7-8 km) re-
peated and with external temperatures be-
low zero.
– frequently idling engines or long distance
low speed driving (e.g. taxis or door-to-door
deliveries) or in case of a long term inac-
tivity.
Replace engine oil more frequently than
required on
SERVICE SCHEDULE
.WARNING
Fuel oil filter
The variety of the degree of purity of the
fuel oil in commerce may make it necessary
to change the fuel oil filter more frequently
than stated in the Scheduled Maintenance
Programme. If the engine is “sobbing” it
is a sign that the filter needs changing.WARNING
Air cleaner
Using the car on dusty roads, change the
air cleaner more frequently than stated in
the Scheduled Maintenance Programme.
For any doubts about the intervals be-
tween engine oil and air cleaner changes
in relation to how the car is used, contact
Alfa Romeo Authorized Services.

CAR MAINTENANCE
253
Car maintenance should be
entrusted to Alfa Romeo
Authorized Services. For
routine and minor maintenance op-
erations you wish to carry out
yourself, always make sure you
have the proper equipment, genuine
Alfa Romeo spare parts and the
necessary fluids; do not however
carry out these operations if you
have no experience.
WARNING
Pollen filter
If the car is used frequently in dusty or
heavily polluted environments it is advisable
to replace the filtering element more fre-
quently; in particular it should be replaced if
a reduction of the amount of air admitted to
the passenger compartment is noted. WARNING
Battery
You are recommended to have the battery
charge conditions checked, preferably at the
onset of winter, to avoid the possibility of
freezing the electrolyte.
This check should be carried out more fre-
quently if the car is used prevailingly for
short journeys, or if it is fitted with services
that absorb high amounts of current per-
manently with the ignition key off, especially
if installed in the after market.
In the case of use of the car in hot climates
or particularly harsh conditions, it is wise
to check the level of the battery fluid (elec-
trolyte) at more frequent intervals than stat-
ed in the Scheduled Maintenance Pro-
gramme.

CAR MAINTENANCE
254
fig. fig. fig. 2 - 2.0 JTS version
A0B00436m
fig. 1 - 1.6 T.SPARK, 1.8 T.SPARK versions
A0B00174m
CHECKING FLUID
LEVELS1Engine oil - 2Battery - 3Brake fluid -
4Windscreen washer fluid - 5Engine
coolant fluid - 6Power steering fluid When topping up take
care not to confuse the var-
ious types of fluids: they
are all incompatible with one an-
other and could seriously damage
the car.
Never smoke while work-
ing in the engine compart-
ment; gas and inflammable
vapours may be present, with the
risk of fire.
WARNING