Not strictly Locost, but...
My lovely 156 2.0TS developed a rattle from the top end. I diagnosed this as a variator issue having trawled this and other forums, one was duly ordered from the bay of E. Came to fit it and was shocked to see teeth missing from balance shaft belt. That may account for slight vibration in engine. So I ordered a full belt kit including cam belt, balance shaft belt and all related tensioners. This little lot cost me about 220GBP and included a couple of tensioning tools. (I had already bought cam locks).
These were fitted by me last week and the car started first time, unfortunately, when you revved it, wierd whooshing noises came from the engine bay. I figured the timing was a mile out. Fast forward to tonight, I took the rocker cover off and set the crank to the TDC mark, the camlocks were miles away from fitting, so I loosened the inlet cam pulley, rotated engine so the camlock fitted then moved the crnk back to TDC. The lock was removed and the pulley tightened. I spun the engine 2 full turns and rechecked the cam lock fitted, which it did. Phew I thought...
The whole thing was put back together ans started again. This time there seems to be a missfire, the engine seems very lumpy at low revs. On a quick test drive, after 2500 revs the car pulls like a train, but is still very rough below that. I need therapy now and possibly a hair transplant, having pulled most of mine out!!
Does this still sound like a timing issue?
Incidentally, all the instructions seem to say loosen both inlet and exhaust cam pulleys whilst tensioning the belt, but the exhaust one is on a key and so can't rotate on the cam so I didnt bother with that one. Is that what I've missed or could it be more fundamental?
On the plus side, the rattle has gone
Any Ideas?

I happen to have a very cheap Alfa 145 2.0 TS for sale - 86k on the clock??

have you checked the doc on the alfa forum regarding the variator change.

You have me worried now cos mine has developed a similar rattle which I had suspitions at the variator (only does it on certain startups) awhile ago. (CAM belt changed not by me 15k ago). Was going to attempt this soon, having second thoughts now.

Let us know the outcome, sorry can't be much more help.

Cheers

[Edited on 3/6/08 by darrens]

i had one to do with same noies thourght it was tensioner but found it was pump if the punp goes the timing can slip and detonate the head also had a bad vibration

The original fault has gone, the rattle was definitely the variator, it's just that when I first started the engine and took it for a run, there was a wierd noise never heard before. I put it down to the cam timing not being right which, as it turned out, was the issue. Having reset the timing the car pulls like a train above 2500k revs, but idle and low revs it's very lumpy. I guess what I'm really worried about is that I may have damaged some valves with the timing being about 10° out. It's a job I'd do again, it's not too difficult as long as you check everything before you put it back together and can be done in 2-3 hours. Looks like a compression check next and some more head scratching...
Watch this space!!

Have you tried disconnecting the MAF (notorious for failing on 156) and taking it for a run? Also, check air intake trunking for splits etc.