Re: HELP! Uno 45s firebox owner on steep learning curve.
gems said:
Uno put in for MOT last week, failed on emissions & rear brakes. Garage sorted & gave all clear, now less than a week later:
1.the engine cuts out when slowing for lights/slow rush hr traffic
2.electrics (indicators) fail go off & come back on again of own accord
3.fuel gauge has works intermittantly
4. fuel thirst-nearly 3/4 tank in less than 200 miles
5.windscreen wash doesn't 'whhrr' at all and can cause fuel economy gauge pointer (when it doeswork) to slam over to the left when wiper-wash toggle pulled.
Welcome to the Forum Gems!
Firstly, whatever the garage did to your car has obviously caused some or all of these faults. As has been suggested, take it back and see if they can put it right as in theory they are liable.
Engine stalling. Check the vacuum advance unit on the the distributor. 9 times out of 10 these fail and cause these symptoms. Also, if it isn't working then the timing will be out (plus can't be set properly) and this can cause excessive fuel consumption.
You say if failed it's MOT on emissions, so I assume that the garage made some 'adjustments' to the carburetor to make it pass. They could have possibly lowered the idle speed too low, or most probably adjusted the mixture too weak. Both of these can cause stalling. More so with the lights on and an electrical load on the cars circuits.
Morten is right with regards to the electrics. It sounds almost certainly like an earth wire has been disturbed. Electrics going weird, and particularly switches making gauges do strange things points to an earth problem. What is happening is that when you operate the switch, that circuit can't earth itself on the earth wire so goes down the next available route. Sounds like yours is going through the economy gauge.
From memory I think there are at least two earth blocks under the dashboard of the Uno (mk1). One is just above the fuse box in the passenger footwell, and the other (I think, not sure) is on the drivers side up behind the dashboard. They look like a sort of big silcone chip upside down with two rows of prongs/ spade connectors. These should have a load of black wires attached by female spade connectors. Make sure everything is connnected!
Also check obvious things like the battery cables and the engine earth strap.
The econometer is simply a vacuum gauge that measures pressure in the inlet manifold. I don't know if they fitted them to the mk2 Unos, so is your Uno a mk1 Gems? I think they were only fitted to 'S' models. Louies Bianca Turbo lookalike probably had one as standard (the Bianca was a special edition 45S/60S), but his car now has the turbo dashboard in it's place!
The econometer dashboard gauge itself is electronic, and the sender unit is in the engine bay either bolted to the passenger side suspension turret next to the coil, or somewhere in the centre of the bulkhead/ firewall. This is a little unit with two wires connected to it, AND a vacuum pipe. The vacuum is taken off from the brake servo hose, which runs to the inlet manifold. A 'T' piece is connected to this hose and a little pipe is then run to the econometer sender unit. I've attached a picture to show the location of the sender unit on my car.
As your gauge is behaving strange with the rest of the electrics it's far better to investigate the electrical/ earth fault first rather than diagnosing individual gauges. You'll probably find there is nothing wrong with the gauges or the rest of the electrics once you get the earth problem sorted!
Best of luck with your Uno, and let the board know how you get on. If you need more help/ advice please ask!
Chas