Technical fuel woes

[SeiSporting11]

Guys and Girls! Being an employee within a mechanical garage, I know my way around MoSt problems when it comes to cars! BUT, my wifes car is doing me in! I wonder if one of you kind Fiat owners could help? The Car....Fiat Seicento (187) 2002 1.1 Sporting MPI. Problem: (especially when warm) starts to kangeroo, and reek of fuel, not revving above 2k rpm, and does no more than 30mph until stalling! Starts straight up and drives for 1 min - 10 minutes before dying again! ONLY code and ONLY once was fuel trim bank 1! So I have replaced...upstream lambda sensor, throttle position sensor, MAP sensor, coolant temp sensor, crank sensor, cam sensor, coil packs, HT leads, plugs, cambelt w/pump (13/7/17) but STILL dhe spits and coughs! generally worse when warmer weather and engine temp! I can not find the fuel filter for love nor money (have found charcoal canister behind passenger arch) so is the fuel filter part of the fuel pump? or is it seperate but in with the pump? There is NO fuel filter under neath the car either! But have currently spent out over £400 on sensors and such like and am fast running out of patience and money! TIA and sorry for the essay, but all information is above

 

[shambolina]

it is part of the pump but im at a loss to what your issue is....

 

[SeiSporting11]

Hi Shambolina! Thank you for the prompt reply, I am at a loss too lol and if i didnt laugh i'd cry i tried to order the fuel pump and filter assemblie but euros and jayars are telling me they are seperate so havent got a part number :shrug: but thank you again for the reply

 

[dtimmins1985]

Check eper on the forum and you will get your part numbers

 

[SeiSporting11]

Check eper on the forum and you will get your part numbers

ok lovely, thank you

 

[dadandlad]

Could it be the fuel fume solenoid valve or one of the associated pipes possibly split

It is mounted according to the manual directly to the charcoal canister

The ECU controls the solenoid valve ,during ignition with temperature below a certain point the valve is closed and fuel fumes are blocked as they would make the mixture too rich

When the engine reaches working temperature the ECU sends a signal to the solenoid which modulates its opening

When the throttle is closed and RPM and pressure in inlet manifold are lower than a certain value the solenoid closes to improve engine operation

Seems logical as your problem occurs at higher engine temperature

Hope this helps

 

[SeiSporting11]

brilliant!! thank you for your reply dadandlad! I shall strip the plastic arch liner and gain access as soon as possible and have a look! do you know off hand, whether its a case of replacing the whole canister or just the solenoid? thank you again mate

 

[rallycinq]

Just the solenoid, but you could get the leads and live scan it to be sure.

Much cheaper than throwing £400 of unnecessary parts at it.

D

 

[SeiSporting11]

erm guys......think I MAY have found the problem......the car is 15 years old, and only on 26,052 miles, was owned by a little old lady doing a full tank of fuel in 7-8 Months!! so i have replaced so much and thought id try the fuel pump and this is what I found INSIDE the fuel pump housing

 

[dtimmins1985]

That does not look good!! Has cleaning it out / replacing it fixed your issue?

 

[SeiSporting11]

That does not look good!! Has cleaning it out / replacing it fixed your issue?

well.......I am expecting a little rough running to give time to clear the actual fuel lines, but have just driven it for 40 mimutes, with 3 stops and re starts and touch wood, she hasnt cut out like normal (was cutting out within 5 minutes in the end and getting worse) so I hope so!

 

[dtimmins1985]

Excellent stuff.

My uncle had an escort xr3i back in the day, was a lovely motor, some ****s left it stood on building blocks in his car port, dog leg alloys gone! Got them back the same the day though...

Few months later, it started doing the same as what you describe, until it got that bad it would not tick over for more than 10 secs when warm.

Me been a wee boy at the time, learning and watching the guy i looked up to most in my life... finally checked the fuel filter, which had a date and mileage written on it... from when he had last changed the fuel filter... guess what... 4 years to the month we where in and 40,000 miles done since... so we swapped that out and she ran like a dream... for a few more years.

So a much newer car and a similar thing... older cars where much easier to work on though... loved tinkering with the 90s

 

[SeiSporting11]

oh yes! gone are the days when you could fix a car with a 13mm spanner, hammer and ignorance lol nowadays its sensors for everything!! WOW getting the wheels back the same day, good going! but the same nowadays!! cannot have anything nice!! but yeah fingers crossed, in a week or so, should clear the rest of the **** in the pipes lol

 

[dtimmins1985]

Yea we have our suspicions but it was like 20 yrs ago, we have a few petrol heads in our family and one that sells motors for a living a couple of phone calls and they where found and brought back