If you have ever tried to top up your engine oil without a funnel and accidentally spilled some oil on your engine top cover, chances are some of that oil would have slipped past the cover and get into the region between the spark plug area and the cover. If that happens, just remove the cover and wipe out that errant oil.
To remove the top cover for most Alfa Romeo cars (147 and 156), you will need a torx bit or driver of size T40. This may sometimes be difficult to source at hardware stores, so links to buy this tool are provided at the bottom of this page.
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Removing the Engine Top Cover
For the Alfa Romeo 147removing engine cover is a simple procedure. Read on.
1. Spilled some engine oil? Well, that can happen if you try to top up your oil without using a funnel. It gets messy when that oil gets below your cover through the gap between the cover. Let’s remove the cover. First, unscrew the 4 torx screws holding the cover in place. Use a size T40 torx bit wrench to achieve this.2. Once you have removed all 4 torx screws, unscrew and remove the engine oil cap. Other than the 4 screws, this cap also holds the engine cover in place, and needs to be removed, as shown above.3. Before removing the top cover, clean and wipe off any oil which has found its way onto this cover, so that this oil does not spill and cause further mess as you’re removing it from the engine.4. Once the excess oil has been cleared, you may remove the engine cover completely.5. Once the cover is removed, immediately replace the engine oil cap so that dirt and debris do not find their way into the engine through that opening. At this point, you get to see how the engine got its twin spark moniker.6. Don’t forget to wipe off excess oil on the underside of the top cover as well.7. Use a clean dry absorbent tissue to dab and wipe the spilt oil out from the crevices.8. You can also flatten the tissue a little and push it into the crevice to absorb the oil by capillary action.9. For tighter spots, twist the tissue tight to form a rod, and push this into the small gaps to absorb the oil out. You may need to use a few pieces of tissue in this form and do this repeatedly until the oil is completely removed.10. You may also lift up the rubber seal around the opening slightly and clean the oil which may have spilled into this area. Be sure to replace or push this back down once you’re done.11. Lifting the rubber seal and wiping oil off from underneath it.12. Once you’re done wiping off all spilt oil from the engine surface, remove the oil cap, put the top cover back on, and replace the oil cap. The oil cap should be in its place all the time to prevent dust from getting into the engine, and should be removed only when necessary. Finish the job by screwing back down all 4 torx screws as shown.
If you have ever tried to top up your engine oil without a funnel and accidentally spilled some oil on your engine top cover, chances are some of that oil would have slipped past the cover and get into the region between the spark plug area and the cover. If that happens, just remove the cover and wipe out that errant oil. 
