been speaking to local specialist this morning who has in turn been speaking to an insurance assessor...
bare bones of the story are following numerous aftermarket warranty claims for big end failures on cylinders 2 and 3 in the 16v engines they spoke at length to Alfa who have apparently admitted a design fault!
The theory is that the location of the exhaust is so close to the sump which in turn is close to the crank. If the engine is stopped when the exhaust is properly hot and either 2 or 3 is at the bottom the hot spot created causes the oil to drain from the big end meaning it's partially dry when re-starting. This is a problem which is made worse by the con rod float being on the big end instead of the small end as in most other engine designs and further exacerbated by poor oil quality/low oil level/weak oil pump as start-up pressure is reduced.
so we all knew there was a design fault, just know what it is now
:edit:
this also explains why 1.6/1.8 failures are less common as the shorter throw of the crank will mean the big end is slightly further away from the inside of the sump pan...





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