General New to Fiat

Currently reading:
General New to Fiat

Sameerb1

New member
Joined
Apr 15, 2017
Messages
11
Points
2
Hi guys,

I am very new to Fiat and new to Barchetta and new to the forum. So welcome me!

A friend of mine gave me his Fiat Barchetta. Initially, i did not even know what that car was, but then he showed me some pictures and I fell in love with what it looked like.

I went and saw the condition of it and found that he has not used that car for a year (He drove and parked it in that space, the car was running good), that means the car has been under a tree for over one-year, all dusted from outside, with front and rear bumpers broken (probably because kids have been playing near it?) and left-front wiper damaged. I did not start the car to check the condition of the engine. Engine bay looks oil free and definitely the battery is dead.

I can pick up the car anytime, but before I do that, I want to ask here, what should I expect now? should I be expecting issues with the engine? doing an engine overhaul? or that should not be the case as the car was driven and parked at that spot?

body repairs is not going to be an issue for me. my major concern is there are no Barchetta in this city except 2, (now) mine and another one. none found in the scrap yards and no good mechanics for Fiats from where I come from (Oman). The dealer will cost me lots of money.

If worse case scenario I need to change the engine, can I fit a different fiat (or any other) engine in Barchetta without having to do major changes (gearbox, ECU wiring, Engine mount dislocation etc.)


(sorry for the long post)
 
Hi, hopefully others will pitch in but from what you say I would first try and turn the engine over by hand to check it moves freely. Ask your friend when the cambelt was changed and if within the last 2 years then change the oil/ filter, check that the air filter has not been blocked by mice etc, put a good battery on, turn on the ignition and giv it a go. If the cambelt is old then I would change the cambelt, water pump and belt tensioner, oilfilter before starting her.
The brakes may be siezed if left outside without care so be aware they may stick. If you are in Oman and very dry climate bodywork and brake discs may be alright, but rubbers maybe partly perished.
Welcome and good luck.
SteveD
 
Thank you Steve for your advice.

I will check for those things. He has not changed the cambelt. That's one trip to the dealer i guess.
 
Hi Sameerb1, welcome aboard! How nice to have a friend that gives you a Barchetta! If the car was running OK before it was parked up, it should start and run OK with a new battery fitted (it's only been parked up for one year - mine was once inactive for nearly 3 years!), but the advice to get the cambelt & water pump changed is very sound. Good luck, and tell us how you get on (y)
 
I will keep you guys updated once i get time to pick up the car. It will be soon, very soon... :eek:
 
At last went to pick up the car.
Battery was dead so installed a new battery. That was easy.

Lights are working, guages are working.

Tried to start the car, engine is not starting, starter is working.

Fuel guage is showing nearly empty tank. So tomorrow plan is to tow and bring the car to a mechanic friend at his place, fuel up the tank a bit, wet the fuel lines and see if that's the problem before starting any further diagnostics.

Took some pix for the group

IMG_4533.JPG

IMG_4530.JPG

IMG_6055.JPG
 
Now that's a B that needs rescuing. They are an endangered species, so be gentle with it! Be sure to keep us updated on developments!

PS If it's been standing for a while in your climate, with little fuel in the tank, it's not surprising that it's not firing. Treat it to some fresh fuel!
 
Last edited:
Brought the car from my friend's (who gave me the car) to second friend (who agreed to repair it for me).

Cranked the car. It didnt work. Put about 7 liters of petrol and tried starting, it didnt work but only cranking.
Put fuel directly through air intake and it started.
Smoke everywhere for a bit and rattling noises coming from engine. Very rough idling and engine turns off if stop fueling through air intake.

I can as well feel vibration through clutch with the noises.

Next on, friend said he will clean the injectors and try to start the engine again. Maybe oil is not circulating properly through the engine so if car starts and stays on without direct fueling through intake after injector cleaning, he will let it run for half an hour to see if noises stop. If noises stop then it would be just dried up head components and if noises dont stop, we will open first head cover to see if we find anything then head and lastly crankcase (bottom oil pan) to find reason for noises.
Suspecting either springs or tapit on head or a crank shaft bearing.

We will find out in a couple of days

Here is a photo while Barchetta on tow truck and video of engine while running.

Any suggestions from you all?
 
Link for video here. I had to upload on youtube

[ame]https://youtu.be/1wi1Q6BbLHA[/ame]
 
At last had time to clean the injectors and to our surprise the injectors were already clean. Next suspect is fuel line...we can hear the fuel pump but fuel pressure seems to be very low.
Next up is to clean the fuel line and hope for the best
 
Check the pressure coming from the fuel pump. They can sound like they are working OK but still be low on pressure.
 
What colour is it?


I haven't had mine out of the garage for 2 years due to various family reasons, it had about as much dust on it as yours! Got it started yesterday and outside for a wash, your engine sounds better than mine!


MOT next and then a summer of blasting around the Devon lanes, can't wait!


Hope you have success in getting yours on the road, I hope you have air con!
 
It's silver...i hope to get it on road before even thinking about AC...but once it's drive able,i will definitely have the AC on one way or the other
 
Very slow in progress yet any progress is good

B is running now

Opened fuel tank...pump was rusted thus it wasn't pushing the fuel at required pressure. Changed the pump, cleaned the tank and engine is running.

All gears are working good. Car is not heating up so thats a good news. Car feels a bit weak on the road but that might be normal as i have never driven one before (i drive a 5.7l v8 for daily drive)

Next job, getting the bumpers fixed. Taking it today to the repair shop and hopefully will be ready within a week or two
 
well if you drive a 5,7l V8 ...
it's perfectly normal you feel it weak :)
if you would drive a 1.0 l you would feel it very vigorous :)
i guess the gasoline price over there is nice !!
here we pay about 1.30 euro for a liter :(
i envy you !!
 
Last edited:
Well, fuel is getting expensive for us now as well...it used to be 0.25 euros but now it's 0.36 euros (after conversion the amount equivalant to OMR).
 
Update:
The car did not want to start today when I wanted to take it to the dent paint shop...i put it on wrecker and towed it to garage and asked them to start engine, repair the broken bumpers etc and make it ready for me to drive. They said in 3 days...lets see how quick can they fix everything
 
Wow thats nearly 2 bucks Canadian, per litre, that would break my heart. :mad: Here we pay, and this is just lately, it has been higher, a dollar five. $1.05. But Canada is 5000 kilometers wide so at times there is a whole lot of nothing:rolleyes:
 
Back
Top