hey everyone,

its almost time to get the x19 on the road again but it seems like my carburetor is giving me some issues. here's some background; changed all gas lines, gas filter, new gas tank, distributor wires and rotor, spark plugs. k & n filter should arrive soon. now starting the car with no filter on top, the car starts but wont idle. it feels like it is not getting gas but from opening the top of the carb, when i push on the gas, i can see it spraying gas into the carb and the carb has gas where the two floats are. i have also noticed that something is not too right with the choke because when i move it up and down, it makes the engine run better! but the thing that sucks is i cant find a new choke for the car that looks like the one i currently have!

any suggestions?

some pictures of the carb.

Try this thread Andrew

https://www.fiatforum.com/x1-9/310784-running-issues.html

andrew t said:

some pictures of the carb.

Click to expand...

I can see the problem! Your autochoke housing isn't attached to the carb

Seriously though it sounds like the thermostatic spring in the housing isn't operating the choke mechanism so in effect the choke isn't doing anything.

i noticed that as well because the spring seems to be loose and not in tact. i will purchase a new spring! does anyone have step by step instructions on how to adjust the carb. i was working on the choke part of the carb, made some adjustments with that, but the car starts runs for about 30 seconds and dies. it sounds like there is air coming from the carb. also when the car is started and i go to press on the gas, all i hear is air and it makes it want to stall the engine. never the less i know the carb is working but needs that spring for the choke and a adjustment to be done! today is the first weekly car show in canada and im missing you hope i get this carb problem figured out!

If the spring is damaged then I can fairly positively say that you've identified the original root cause but after lots of tweaking it may not be the only problem you are left with.

I do have a document I can share with you (when I get home tonight I'll pm you the link) that contains pretty much all you need.

The setup process for the carb is pretty lengthy and if you've tweaked any of the other settings then you may have to go back to first principles which is pretty unpleasant unless you really know what you're doing. For now I suggest leaving all the settings alone and see about getting a replacement thermostat housing and spring. If you can't get one (doesn't have to be from an X1/9 by the way - all of the semi-auto chokes on Webers should be essentially compatible but the pipes into the housing may vary in position) then you're only option is to convert to a manual choke.

The running problems you've described suggest there is more to it than just the spring. The short, decisive question on this is "do the problems go away once the engine is warmed up?". If the answer is yes then you may be lucky, if not then it is possible that either a gasket is damaged or the carb housing itself is damaged or distorted. The carb has a fair number of points it can leak from - the bottom surface (on to the manifold) is a prime candidate, as is the gasket face between the top and bottom parts of the carb. Thankfully both are typically solved with new gaskets but a straight edge metal ruler can quickly tell you if anything is distorted. In addition to this you have a number of points sealed with o-rings (where a screw inserts into a fuel pathway) and all of these can potentially leak. Finally there is the obvious option that the carb just has a blockage in the jets/tubes that is causing it to run lean or the float level is off (too low) likewise causing the engine to run lean.

I took off the top of the carb. And noticed that the gasket is badly damaged, the seals you spoke about isnt even there! I will buy one of those carb. repair kits and get it into the carb. Hopefully by doing this will get the car to idle without dying! I got the engine to warm up and even though its warm it still dies out. But today it did run rough for about 2min.

The other issue is finding the same auto choke as to what is currently on the car. But if i get the bi-metallic coil spring for the auto choke, then im in business! But i cant find it! Anyone know where i might be able to find this?

Also Jimbro thank you for the wonderful reply!

The thermostat side of the housing (the bit you've removed) is generic to a range of weber carbs so you shouldn't have to be quite so exact. The springs used inside them are the same however I've never tried to remove one so I can't vouch for how easy that would be...