Hi, I have a fiat uno fire mk2 1992 and the heater is not working. I followed alot of useful information in this forum but it looks like im failing to fix it. Anyone can guide me what I have to do pls.

I checked the 2 pipes that are at the drivers footwell and they are both cold

Look at the other pipe and there should be a valve that conects to a wire and links to the dial. As you turn the heather dial, it should rotate to open and shut - if not the fault is here.

Perhaps it's air locked? have you changed the coolent since it was last working? there may be a small bleed screw on the top pipe inside the engine bay.

Is there any coolent in? check when COLD! if there is no coolent in the system the heater won't get hot.

thanks for the reply, I loosened the valve cable so i move it manually with my hands. Also the only bleed screw i seem to have is at the top of the radiator expansion tank. It seems that coolant isnt flowing upwards into the firewall into the heater

Does sound like an airlock, though I think you should take the valve off the heater first to make sure it really is open (sometimes the lever moves but the slide is stuck). Put a plastic bowl on the floor and undo the hose and the two 10mm nuts off the valve. If it is opening and closing, then at least you've only wasted ten minutes. Not knowing could waste a lot more time as you try to bleed the system - been there, done that

Sometimes the valve can be cleaned and freed up, or at the very least jam it open for the winter. If you do need to replace the valve, you'll find there are two types - the newer one has a rotating disc (rather than a sliding shutter) which seems to be more reliable.

Then when filling the system with the valve open, leave off the upper one of the two heater pipes in the engine bay. Only connect it once water is flowing out of both the hose and the T-fitting, and that should eliminate the air lock.

I'm sure you're keen to get that heater working at this time of year
Perhaps check the thermostat too - take it off the cylinder head (above the gearbox) and check the disc valve is tightly closed. If it's stuck open (they often are), the engine won't warm up properly (will use more petrol) and the heater will be weak. New thermostats are still readily available and not too expensive (try Shop4Parts).

-Alex

Thankz alex I needed this advice aswell! South african winters in cape town is TERRIBLE. Bougt me a new thermostat, gona fit it today and let u know. Thanx a mill ;-)

Thanks for the help the heater is now working maybe not perfectly but very decent . I manually moved the valve and flushed the pipes entering the firewall that are in the engine bay with a hose and all sorts of crap came out .

Don't know if to open another topic but have another 2 problems . The gear stick is very floppy and doesnt automatically move in the middle when neutral (bushes were changed not very long ago).

Also car is randomly stalling when in neutral or shifting to neutral, happening mostly in traffic lights or traffic .

Thanks

JD fire said:

Thankz alex I needed this advice aswell! South african winters in cape town is TERRIBLE. Bougt me a new thermostat, gona fit it today and let u know. Thanx a mill ;-)

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Welcome JDFire

I've been to Cape Town... running training courses at a foundry... only been there in September (spring), talk about hay fever, though I guess Pretoria was the worst for that! It just never rains.

Winter in Cape Town, that must be so cold, I guess it's down to 20 degrees C...

-Alex

Pullu said:

Thanks for the help the heater is now working maybe not perfectly but very decent . I manually moved the valve and flushed the pipes entering the firewall that are in the engine bay with a hose and all sorts of crap came out .

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Good stuff. Free repairs are great aren't they!

Don't know if to open another topic but have another 2 problems . The gear stick is very floppy and doesnt automatically move in the middle when neutral (bushes were changed not very long ago).

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Usually this is fixed by adding washers at the gear lever itself. You'll see there is slackness in the joint about halfway up the lever. Makes the lever very floppy.

I think in the UK a '92 car may have a different style of gear lever, which uses a cable rather than two rods under the car. I'm not sure what problems those later ones have when they get old, but I think the lever itself cracks and breaks off.

Also car is randomly stalling when in neutral or shifting to neutral, happening mostly in traffic lights or traffic .

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Could be many things but sounds like someone may have played with the mixture screw on the carburettor - if it has a carburettor - or played with the throttle opening screw if it has fuel injection (pretty certain a '92 will have fuel injection in the UK but not in South Africa, for example). Try the effect of adjusting the screw behind the base of the carburettor or the screw at the throttle cable attachment, or get someone who has done it before to give it a quick tweak.

Also try spraying brake cleaner or WD spray around the outside of the inlet manifold and where the injector unit/carburettor is attached. If the engine stutters, that means there is an air leak there (air leaking in), which will cause the engine to be too lean and idle badly, cutting out in certain conditions like you say.

-Alex

Thanks for reply alex,

So the yes the gearbox has 2 rods under the car which seem they are in pretty good condition.

Sorry didnt mention but the uno has a weber 32 tlf 4 carb and yes mixture screw was fiddled with. It is currently about 180 degrees turned from being completely screwed in. I will try spraying to check for air leaks too. The car also has a cone filter and the small pipe coming from the carb and used to connectly to the stock filter is now hanging freely(if it does make any difference?).

To adjust mixture is not too difficult.
Simple carb adjustment process.

Get the engine warm, go for 5 -10k run.
Make sure timing is correct, but not completely necessary.

Screw mixture screw either in or out until the engine starts to run smoother, if it increases in revs, adjust the idle back to the right revs, and do the same adjustment again.
Once you have it running smooth, screw the mixture in until it just starts to hunt/run a bit rough, note the spot, back it out until it runs smooth, then further out until it is rough again.

Now screw it in to the smooth running place, about half way between the the two points, screw it in till it hunts a bit then back it out until it is just running in the smooth running position.

That is how it is done on simple carburettors with adjustable mixture scews.
all carburettors are a similar process even with more screws, usually only 2.

The process is much the same with the second screw. One screw with be a fuel screw, the other an air bleed screw.

Maybe not on your gearbox, but on an 84 Uno 70s I had a linkage that I could never adjust properly. I put in new bushings and washers, adjusted till I thought it was right, but I could never get the lever to sit in the 3rd 4th gate.

Eventually I bought a 4 speed Sting as a parts car. One day Alex suggested I take the top off the box, the little silver cover over the linkages.

I discovered someone had been in my gearbox before, and put it back together without the washer in between the locator springs that are on the shaft. I stole the washer from my parts car, carefully removed the shaft in my Uno 70s just enough to slip the washer on, and refit the spring. I needed to be careful not to drop anything in the bottom of the gearbox.

Hey presto, everything was great. Like it was when it was new.
I had spent years fighting with the gearlever trying to find the right gear, in the end it was about a 30 minute job to fix it.:bang:

This car is a real mystery, when I got it it had a horrendous knock coming from he engine bay. The knock was so bad it wasn't serious!, as the engine went well. It was the top engine mount, that was put in 180 degrees out.
For years I also struggled to get it timed right, others tried and failed as well. Eventually I found it needed to be timed on plug 2, not 1. I think the flywheel has been messed with.

Anyway, I don't care now it is going fine, and when I get the gearbox out for its engine transplant I will find out.

It has 250000km on it. And when I get the rust out from around the sunroof it will be great, but that has been a task I have been going to do for about 10 years!

Thanks for the very useful informationill try to see and fix the problems as soon as i have some free time. I'm not surprised I found these problems in the uno as im the 6th owner and it has 174000km but I like it alot too bad rust if gonna eat it out

Only 174000km, very good. My original 84 70S now has 250000km on it, an 88 60S I just sold has 222000km, and my other 84 says it has 90000km, but I think that is wrong. The front discs have too big a lip on the rotors to be only 90000km.

/R