Technical 1992 CLX stalling and kangaroo'ing when warm

[Torridon1]

I suspect using the term kangarooing may be out of place in a technical post...

My 1992 Panda CLX Fire has for a while not been happy when sitting in stop/start traffic. Will bring to a halt and it will stall or nearly stall. It will immediately re-start but will cough and kangaroo and reluctantly go although seemingly needing much more revs and choke (and some verbal, human pleading). This behaviour is really similar to a 2006 post by Panda Type Thingy (11/09/2006) but seems that post was unresolved.
Also, on the open road at 50+ pushing the accelerator for more will cause a cough and shudder before responding. It seems like the car is getting momentarily starved of fuel each time.

It starts from cold and does local running around reliably with no problem.

The only thing that looks visibly wrong is a split in the black rubber pipe that links the side of the airbox with the top of the engine. i was planning to tape this up as a temp fix to eliminate it as a cause.

I would be grateful for your insights and advice. Thanks

 

[Bougainvillea Rosso]

Sounds like it may be the fuel pump.

 

[Dragon Man]

does this have an ECU or cat converter or, Distributor, and Fuel pump on top of the engine (just next to the spare wheel and air filter housing)

1992 was an odd time for most fiats.. its when they started going fuel injected so it may have a very early "electronic" carburettor. Our Marbella had a fully electronic ignition system but still used a carburettor with a fuel cut off solenoid that actuated when you let your foot off the throttle.. a system called "AFC" auto fuel cut off. it really helps save the life of your cat converter if your car has one.

if it has the distributor, is the vacuum pipe that goes onto the disc shaped actuator split?
see if when the engine is running on tick over that it is pulling a strong vacuum. if that is, check if the actuator holds a vacuum. (you can do that by sucking on the bit the pipe goes on) if you cant feel resistance when you suck it could be that the actuator diaphragm is perished. you can buy whole new actuators from Ricambio. see >here<
if that goes, it will cause the engine to run really bad when its on idle.. it can also cause it to stall too. its what happened to mine. just a note, you can also mod one to fit from off a Citroen AX if you can get one of those more easy. its what i am running on my panda now with no issues.

other things it could be are split vacuum pipes... take the air filter box off and give all the smaller pipes a good looking over. if it has a carb, theres this little hard to see pipe on the back that goes to the choke actuator.. it was split really bad on mine.

failing all of that.. and if it has a carb, maybe it just needs a clean up. strip it down and clean it up best you can. try not to kill any seals or loose any small bits.

if you are not sure what it has, you can always take a picture of it with the air filter box unbolted from the carb/injector and stick it on here. we should be able to sus what it is.

 

[Torridon1]

Thanks.
It has a distributor and choke, with no electronic ignition stuff.
I will have a look around the the airbox and check the small pipes, do the suction things and look at the distributor.
I will report back. It may be in a few days.
Thanks again

 

[Torridon1]

OK, the disc shaped actuator holds a vacuum and the pipe that goes from it to the bottom of the carburetor is not split. With the engine running, disconnecting this pipe caused the engine to stall immediately.
The pipe running from the airbox to the back of the carburetor is also in good condition, with no splits.
However the fatter pipe that goes from the airbox to the top of the engine is perished and split in a couple of places. Also, inside the pipe and caught on the wire trap inside is a beige emulsified gunk. I have uploaded some photos of the condition of the pipe and the gunk.
I have patched the pipe and will have to see if that helps on the next reasonable length journey.
Lots of questions:
What function does this pipe serve?
Could this be the cause?
Would the heat from the engine over the course of a journey make the rubber more flexible and prone to letting in air and the emulsification?
Are there any avenues of investigation I should explore at this stage?
In the long run it would be good to replace this pipe. What is it called and where would I find one?
Many thanks

 

[panda1408]

The pipe is just a crankcase breather, if it is split it will not affect the running as it is before the carb butterfly.

The gunk in the flame trap is normal, especially at this time of year and if the car is only doing short journeys. It is just condensation that builds up in the engine that then mixes with the oil in the breather. Nothing to worry about.

Have you checked the ignition system over? Points may need adjustment/replacement or if it has electronic ingition a new ignition module might be needed.

Other than that a carb rebuild is perhaps needed, are you running a fuel filter? May have some dirt in the fuel tank that is finding its way into the carb.

 

[kolza]

In the long run it would be good to replace this pipe. What is it called and where would I find one?

Please PM me if OE replacement part needed.

Thanks