Hi, I'm new here, I joined because this forum helped me a lot so far great forum!!
Anyway, I recently bought a mk2 uno 1.4 as my first car, I knew it had a few problems when I bought it (it was meant to improve my mechanical skill, something I could learn on and fix and upgrade MYSELF.). As soon as I fixed the problems I knew about, a few others just showed up too...

The biggest problem right now is insane jerking followed by stalling. Its as if I ran out of petrol while I'm driving, the car will jerk and then cut off. I was advised to clean the carb and/or service the car. Yesterday I started the servicing, couldn't finish it because I didn't have an allen key fit the oil drain plug. What's the size? And also if I buy a carb rebuild kit, do I need to know exactly what kind of carb it is or are all the 1.4 uno carbs the same?

Another problem is my battery (I think). Reason for me believing this is, when I turn the key, there's no sound at all, not even that click that indicates its actually trying to start but my lights are working, window wipers aren't even running slow either, I can kick start my car and it won't shut of as long as its just standing still. I don't just want to fork out money for a battery so any other ideas will be appreciated.

The final problem is that my left front wheel looks like it has a negative camber. LOL. I didn't do that and I know the previous owner didn't either because when I drive I can feel the car wobble and it seems to be coming from that side too, I don't know what it could be. The car feel like its floating from side to side (that's how bad the wobble it). I do however still need to do my wheel alignment after replacing my wheel bearings, I'm not sure if this camber thing is a result of the procedure for changing the bearings and if going to do my alignment will fix it, though it seems very unlikely.

Sorry if this isn't an easy read. Thanks for reading though, any help? Ideas? Anything will be much appreciated.

Thanks again

Hi, and welcome,

post your Q's in the UNO section for a more informed response,

charlie

If the battery is that bad , i would replace it. An ignition system requires a good few amps to run at speed and if your battery is'nt accepting charge it could be sulphated , ie ,short cct internally thereby starving the ignition system , would also not be doing you regulator any good.

Carbs fitted were varied , i would suggest you download the Uno pdf which is somewhere on this site alternatively you could hunt it down online, it's free and has an in depth section on carburation. From that you can determine which carb you have.

Front end problems are relatively cheaply fixed and i would'nt even bother to do wheel alignment before replacing balljoints, struts and bearings, also check you lower control arm bushes.

I have just done my balljoints and struts, cost a bit less than R1000. Ball joints from Midas are around the R350 mark. Did it myself though .
Struts from a wheel n tyre dealer will prob cost you about R1200 then you still have to do balljoints and bearings.

Be warned though , these little cars flex like silly putty and it's very likely that your camber would be a few degrees beyond spec , ie , they won't be able to set it correctly without slotting the lower bolt holes. :bang:
Also toe in cannot be accurately set if your castor /camber is out , and is always set last.
There are other ways to remedy this though but at quite a bit more work and a bit of cash.

Just a further thought on your starting problem , when you say the wipers are'nt running slow , do you mean they are working well and therefore don't think it's the battery?
Best would be to take the battery to a Battery centre for a load test.

It can be that the starter motor has failed completely but i would think that at least the bendix would fire though i have seen otherwise. :bang:

Also possible that the wire to the bendix from the ign switch has just come off at the starter motor side, it's just a spade connector and have been known to come loose:bang:

The drifting from side to side is very likely a shot balljoint and or lower control arm bushes , you need to get this sorted , i have seen gearbox breakages where the inner joint has walked out of the gearbox under cornering and the shock of literally "slipping a tooth" has broken the final drive casing:bang::bang:

Thank you. I'll get started tomorrow, and yes, I meant the wipers are working perfectly. I doubt its my starter because I took it to a place where they connected it to a battery with jumpers and it was working perfectly. I'm going to get the battery tested tomorrow. That's the main problem now, if I can at least start the car and drive it I think pin pointing the rest of the problems will be easier. Thanks again

LOL. somyunguy this is gonna be weird, coming from an engineering student, but when you have time do you think you can post pictures of where I could find those parts on my car?

Ok, firstly , which parts are you referring to ?
Secondly , have you downloaded the manual , i think it's imperative you do so as it will give you a clearer understanding of what you're looking at.:idea:

Ok , my bad, i've looked for the manual here cos i was convinced i'd seen it but it is'nt listed under "Manuals and handbooks" - you'll have to google it , i'll see if i have it as a zip or rar but can't promise anything as Gmail won't handle anything bigger than 24megs.

The sump drain plug on my 1.4 pacer is 12mm and about the jerking and sudden cutting check your ignition circuit I.e Ht leads, dizzy cap and the graphite bit tht powers the rotor all these contribute to power losses

Hi, thanks for the help, I bought a new battery. I don't have the jerking and cutting out problem anymore, I went for a drive today... For some reason, there's no more wobbling side to side either. The only problem now is when I turn hard left or right and accelerate, there's a little shudder. It only happens when I turn hard and pull away. Could this be an alignment issue? I didn't do my wheel alignment after changing my bearings. Thanks again.

Lance Lacoste said:

The sump drain plug on my 1.4 pacer is 12mm

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I measured mine, its a 12mm as well, the only problem is that its hard to find a 12mm key lol. I checked so many shops, they either had sets that went up until 10mm or they had a 12mm in an expensive toolbox

if you are the engineering student..,
get an M8 bolt with a 12mm HEX head, and then fit 2 x "locknuts" and get them welded together..
Hey -presto a 12mm allen key bit, that you can put a socket onto,

Charlie

varesecrazy said:

if you are the engineering student..,
get an M8 bolt with a 12mm HEX head, and then fit 2 x "locknuts" and get them welded together..
Hey -presto a 12mm allen key bit, that you can put a socket onto,

Charlie

Click to expand...

Lol thanks, I like the idea, but I got a 12mm key

Anyone in Cape Town know where I can get a air filter box? The a pipe that's supposed to connect to the box is smoking and the thinner one is leaking, I can smell the petrol fume from inside the car.

Hi I am a newbie I have a problem with my motorhome it is a 1990 fiat 2.8 diesel I can’t find where the crank case breather goes back in any help thanks :bang:

is it similar to the mk 1 punto? or panda..??

billthedrill said:

Hi I am a newbie I have a problem with my motorhome it is a 1990 fiat 2.8 diesel I can’t find where the crank case breather goes back in any help thanks :bang:

Click to expand...

Hi ,
I see you've mad 2 posts now so MAY have the answer,
the folks in the ducato section = BOTTOM of homepage , are helpful + knowledgeable,

I'm not aware the 2.8 's went back as far as 1990, as my 1990 is a 2.5 atmo,

or is it not in a ducato..??

Charlie - Oxford