F123C said:

1st. Check the engine oil level is not too high. Check that the breather pipe and wire mesh type flame trap are clear.

I don't have a flame trap (I read many people don't use it because of the chance that it can get clogged up and affect pressure, as well as it can break up and get sucked into the engine).

2nd. Is the engine burning oil - dropping oil level plus blue smoke from the exhaust? This usually indicates engine wear in the cylinders/ valve guides. To rule out worn valve guides - check if the engine only emits blue smoke from the exhaust when the throttle is opened after being on the 'over-run' for a while or when engine is first started.

No blue smoke, just some smoke from the oil cap, but again, it could even be the cap is not super tight?

3rd.Do, or else, have done a cylinder 'Compression Test'. This will indicate if there is leakage of compression past the pistons/rings or valves.

If the figures are low, a second test is done after putting a little oil into the cylinders.

If figures now improve significantly, this indicates cyl. bore/piston/ring wear, possibly sticking rings.

If no real improvement, this indicates valve leakage.

In practice, on an older engine, you may have both piston and valve leakage.

There are other tests that a garage can do e.g. 'cylinder leak down test' etc.

Unfortunately, if there is excessive wear in the engine then it has to stripped down for examination to decide how to proceed.

My advice is :- if the engine is running reasonably ok, I'd live with it and just enjoy driving the car

Agreed

AL.

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F123C said:

Sorry for the delay in responding - I assumed others here more familiar with the 500 wiper motor would have responded before now...

I don't have a wiring diagram for the 500. Can you tell me or post a pic of the wiring colors at the wiper motor connector block and at the back of the wiper switch.

I would, but the cables are pretty worn and color is hard to tell. Either way it's connected and the fuses are all new and correct.

I assume you've already checked that there's no blown fuses and all fuse contacts are clean and corrosion free? Also that the wiper motor and particularly the linkage/spindles are not seized (frozen)? ( try pulling/pushing on the wiper arms to see if the linkage moves a little, try swivelling the links/rods on their pivots - careful, only do this with wipers switched off!)

Iirc, some Fiat wiper motors have a constant live feed to the motor and are switched on and off on the earth (ground) side. Also self-parking, if fitted, is through a switch in the motor, again iirc on the earth (ground)side. So essentially, you can have a live feed to the motor and it still might not work.

AL.

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I'm trying to see if there is a way to test with a tester, just don't know what and how to test if it's getting current. For all I know the switch isn't working...

kennyrayandersen said:

When I first got my 500 there was smoke coming out the back. Turns out that little dip sticky thingy has to be very sorry pushed in our oil will come out and smoke. That may not be your problem...

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Dip stick is fine but thanks!


Anyone have any recommendations on stripping paint from metal and sealing it to protect from rust/flash rust? I was cleaning my oil cap and got a lot of crud off it, but once it dried it got some rust on some areas.

I know some people use Phosphoric Acid, but that's if you're going to prime it as well for paint. What if I just want to keep it as unpainted metal?



Ideally I would need zinc phosphate?

turbo500 said:

I'm trying to see if there is a way to test with a tester, just don't know what and how to test if it's getting current. For all I know the switch isn't working...



Dip stick is fine but thanks!


Anyone have any recommendations on stripping paint from metal and sealing it to protect from rust/flash rust? I was cleaning my oil cap and got a lot of crud off it, but once it dried it got some rust on some areas.

I know some people use Phosphoric Acid, but that's if you're going to prime it as well for paint. What if I just want to keep it as unpainted metal?

Ideally I would need zinc phosphate?

Click to expand...

Hi there - this company (has a lot of retail shops in metro NY), is a great place to get stuff like that - you could ring them and ask what they recommend. They are aimed at supplying professional body shops, but they will retail to a hobbyist/driveway mechanic, and most of the guys that work in the stores are very helpful. https://www.kemperle.com/

So was tinkering around today, finally got some parts in to replace a worn out accelerator pedal bushing, and more.

Also I started repainting some small parts in the engine bay, so I removed the spark plug cables, and while at it decided to check out the sparks.

This is what I found :spin:

Bosch WR8DCX plugs


Cylinder 1


Cylinder 2


lol, what on earth are these plugs doing in there. The thread is much longer than the NGK BP6HS that I had picked up a while back to do my maintenance.

So aside from running rich p), there's oil on the cylinder 2 plug (I'll be changing the valve cover gasket from the worn out rubber one to a new cork one), why would someone have put these plugs in the 500?

Shouldn't have damaged the cylinder threads right?

anyone?

I guess your threads should be fine since those plugs have the same thread pitch, besides if threads are damaged new plugs will not screw in nice and smooth. Also you can check threads visually. My recently purchased overhauled but never run new engine had long thread plugs fitted.
As for the unpainted metal it will just rust, how about paint it with a coat of clear varnish in a spray can?

Thanks Gordini.

Any thoughts about the wet spark plug?

If it is oil then you should be worry, (or maybe not depends of what you are doing with your car) have you check your compression?

Updates...

While deciding to redo the exhaust manifold, I had just received new spark plug cables and more, so I decided I might as well do some more work that was bugging me

VHT paint after sanding and treating with metal etch


Refurbished the engine mount


Love seeing the old Fiat parts logo

Zinc phosphate treatment on original hardware

New rubber bushings for the engine mount

repainted spring




Valve cover paint was not holding up with the high temps, and also wasn't the right color. So it had to be redone.

Everything look ok in here?



Some aircraft remover doing it's job

After a good 10 minutes of wire wheel



After a few hours of polishing to remove rust, I treated it with metal etch to neutralize the remaining rust/pitted areas


Few coats of VHT


Clear coat VHT


Mounted!


New cork gasket



Airbox cover. There was some rust forming on the parts where the clips touch. And being the earlier metal cover, it's pretty easy to strip and paint.
Here's the aircraft remover working it's magic

Paint stripped and some rust showing.
Painted with a black enamel paint


Before


After




-How do I know if the valve cover is tightened enough? I don't want to over tighten and risk bowing the valve cover and gasket
-I noticed there is a loose clip on the rear right handbrake cable, the one circled below. Where does it attach to?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kz15wHAKDc1ZpLgQ2

It attaches here

Is that a 594cc engine as it looks like a 594 head? Also do yourself a favour and get rid of that plastic on line fuel filter in that position, disaster waiting to happen.

Paolo66 said:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/kz15wHAKDc1ZpLgQ2

It attaches here

Click to expand...

Perfect, I'll have a look, hoping it's just a loose nut.

Toshi 975 said:

Is that a 594cc engine as it looks like a 594 head? Also do yourself a favour and get rid of that plastic on line fuel filter in that position, disaster waiting to happen.

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The block code indicates its a 499 engine (110F). How would I know if it's a 594 head??

What's the issue with the filter?



On a separate note, I have a 3.5lt aluminum oil sump waiting to be installed. What's the correct amount of oil it needs?

The 500 cylinder heads did not have the cross hatched (extra surface area for cooling) pattern in the recessed non machined ares on top of the head neither did the early 594 heads I believe.
If your cooling fan happened to fail as they have a habit of or your fan belt broke and you kept driving with the ignition warning light on then within 5 miles the engine will get so hot that anything plastic in the engine bay will get close to melting. I had a fan fail unknown to me so tried to drive the 4 miles home as I guessed something was not right. Got very close but the final steep hill defeated the very overheated engine. When I opened the engine cover there was a blast of heat and the fuel filter that had been fitted was blown up to the size of a tennis ball, the fuel inside was bubbling as it vapourised with the heat and the plastic had the feel of a small rubber balloon. One of the scariest things I have seen but there seems to be an obsession with fitting those filters which is a bit crazy as you have a fine mesh filter inside the petrol tank, similar in the fuel pump then another one inside the carb inlet.

Ok thanks for the info.

I think you're right, I looked into the heads, and it seems that it's a 500-126 (600cc) head


Can this head be mated to a 499 block?

What else can I do to find out more info on the block and head? I'm curious as what's inside my little engine

Well mystery resolved folks...




500R/126a confirmed

Now that I know that fact, what do I need to do when registering the valve clearances, and all the other stuff?

Strange as may seem, the 3.5ltr sump takes----3-1/2 litres of oil! On a more serious note, may I suggest that you use the 'ruberoid' sump gasket and NOT the cork variety (a move which I also recommend for the rocker-cover). From experience I have found that the cork gaskets are easily split/crushed. much more so than the 'ruberoid' variety. I use the standard Fiat 'sprung/serrated' washers and slightly longer stainless cap-head bolts to affix the new sump.
Are you fitting the sump 'in-situ' or with the engine removed? If you are fitting the sump with the engine 'on the bench', may I suggest that you take the opportunity to carry out the modification to the exhaust-mounting- brackets securing studs, which I have mentioned on a number of previous occasions.

Thank you my friend, I was scared the answer was too easy
I will try to find a ruberoid gasket for the head, the sump I was thinking of using Permatex Black (maximum oil resistance) and skipping the gasket altogether from other peoples experience. I actually picked up 16 bolts + washers that the seller recommended with the sump (they are longer as you mentioned).

Also, sump will be replaced with engine in place, hopefully this isn't a pain. I re-read this whole thread, and I can't find the exhaust mounting bracket mod you mention? Maybe I'm blind...

Edit: Now that I discovered that I have this 126a head, what should I follow in terms of maintenance (valve clearance, etc). Also, I just installed new NGK BP6HS plugs and the car ran fine, but I see the BP7HS are recommended for the 126. I'm just confused as to what parts I should be looking for since it's a 126 head on a 500 110f block....

I would stick with the BP6HS plugs, the 7’s run too hot in my opinion. The gaps for a 126 engine are 0.20mm for inlet and 0.25mm for exhaust

Thank you Paolo.

I concur with Damian (Paolo66) advice with regard to valve settings and choice of spark-plugs. As for the exhaust bracket modification (which is an 'Abarth' mod), contact me directly on:-- [email protected] and I will describe it for you. The idea of the mod is to reduce the load on the thread of the top exhaust bracket studs and to increase the amount of thread utilised in the crankcase on the bottom studs.

turbo500 said:

Well mystery resolved folks...

500R/126a confirmed

Click to expand...

Interesting modification which I thought about when I had cylinder-head problems last year. But I was concerned that the totally different combustion-chamber design might alter the compression ratio; although if so, I have no idea in what way it would change, nor do I know what effect that would have on the way the engine performed..