For years my USA fuel injected 1980 Fiat 2000 has had intermittent starting problems.
Typical Situation: Car starts right up and purrs like a kitten. It drives fine with lots of pep to it. Suddenly it cuts out - it goes dead...
I pulled the wire from the distributor cap - the one that comes from the coil. I held it close to a ground and cranked the engine and there's no spark. No wonder the car will not run! (I also tried this when the engine DOES run just to make 100% sure I knew what the spark should look like - it is good and strong)
While it is in the no-spark mode I can fiddle with wires, fuses and such to make sure they are all seated firmly - nothing helps. Except one thing (and this has been the case for years now) - I simply walk away, go home. Then I return many hours later. I put in the ignition key and ZOOM! It starts right up like nothing was ever wrong.
It's driving me nuts. I've had it to different shops over the years and they've replaced the ignition switch, the fuel pump and the relay that controls the fuel pump as well as some smaller items and wires here and there.
Note: the car DID need the ignition switch and the fuel pump as "the problem" showed an immediate improvement upon replacement of these. But now I have the "no spark" issue. It's always something! And it always fixes itself buy just letting the car sit for many hours or until tomorrow. (Except recently when the fuel pump got so bad that it didn't provide enough fuel for more than a few seconds at a time)
The car has 25,000 miles on it. I've bought it from a friend, the original owner, 20 years ago.
Any ideas on what is the problem with my car?
Typical Situation: Car starts right up and purrs like a kitten. It drives fine with lots of pep to it. Suddenly it cuts out - it goes dead...
I pulled the wire from the distributor cap - the one that comes from the coil. I held it close to a ground and cranked the engine and there's no spark. No wonder the car will not run! (I also tried this when the engine DOES run just to make 100% sure I knew what the spark should look like - it is good and strong)
While it is in the no-spark mode I can fiddle with wires, fuses and such to make sure they are all seated firmly - nothing helps. Except one thing (and this has been the case for years now) - I simply walk away, go home. Then I return many hours later. I put in the ignition key and ZOOM! It starts right up like nothing was ever wrong.
It's driving me nuts. I've had it to different shops over the years and they've replaced the ignition switch, the fuel pump and the relay that controls the fuel pump as well as some smaller items and wires here and there.
Note: the car DID need the ignition switch and the fuel pump as "the problem" showed an immediate improvement upon replacement of these. But now I have the "no spark" issue. It's always something! And it always fixes itself buy just letting the car sit for many hours or until tomorrow. (Except recently when the fuel pump got so bad that it didn't provide enough fuel for more than a few seconds at a time)
The car has 25,000 miles on it. I've bought it from a friend, the original owner, 20 years ago.
Any ideas on what is the problem with my car?