General 88 Uno60S, cutting out on motorway

[davethedrummer]

Hi,
I've got a good'un, don't know if anyone else has experienced some of the same Uno magic. (it's a 1.1 carb model).
Basically, it only seems to happen in the colder months. I'll be driving along the motorway at around 70mph ish, and over about 20 minutes performance will just gradually disappear to the point where the car grinds to a halt. If I get chance to pull off the motorway before it gets to this stage the car just runs really really badly, until.... I take the fuel cap off when it idles away quite happily again. Most odd. Just wondering does anybody know in detail how the breather on the tank is meant to work, and where certain faults could lie? I was wondering whether it was a blocked fuel cap or something because aren't they designed to help the breathing? I've changed leads, sparkys, filters, oil, etc in a recent service so it can't be down to that. I don't think it's the fuel pump as it's fairly new, and as I say, the problem always seems to be rectified by taking the fuel cap off. As soon as I put it back on though, and carry on down the motorway, the problem develops again. Just to throw something else in, I don't seem to get such hassle when travelling at about 60mph.
Makes for very long frustrating journeys when travelling to different ends of the country!
If anybody's got any advice I'd really appreciate it.
Cheers,
Dave

 

[SuperUno]

Your Carb is 'icing up' next time it happens put your hand on the carb and if it is really cold then this is your problem. what you need to do is check that the pipe from the exhaust manifold is still there. Or if not just get a piece of metal flexi pipe and then place this between the exhaust manifold and your carb, just remember to remove it when it warms up and attach it relatively securley.

Cheers

Matt Endean

 

[davethedrummer]

Thanks Matt, I'll give that a go. I guess the pipe you talk about is the one which provides warm air to the carb yeah? What do you mean when you say remove the pipe when it gets warm? When the weather gets warmer again, or when the carb heats up? Sorry, us drummers, fiat driving ones at that, weren't gifted with too many brain cells.
Thanks ever so much for your help,
Perhaps ultimately I just need a new car!
Cheers again,
Dave

 

[SuperUno]

No all you need to do is remove the pipe in the summer when the air is hot else you will cause the fuel in the carb to boil away [8D]

Cheers

Matt Endean

 

[davethedrummer]

Cheers for that Matt, sorry for the slow reply. Probably something to do with the speedy car I drive... ahem
Anyway, couple of weekends ago decided to have a play with the tank breather, everything seemed to be ok there, much to my annoyance, and relief at the same time. Then, couple of days later whilst doing a run back from Bournemouth, about 8 o'clock on a freezing, raining evening (the sort only England does best) she started playing up again. So this time, got out and plastered me hands all over the carb to find you're absolutely correct. It seemed most bizarre - a freezing cold carb sat on a baking engine! Have been reading up a bit more, it seems that under the carb there is a 'heat collecting plate' (according to Fiat anyway). Evidently it doesn't seem to be collecting enough heat, ooooh well! The other more interesting thing I've read, particularly for motorbikes, is an alcohol-based additive you can mix with the fuel in small quantities, and apparently it works by stopping any water moisture in the fuel from freezing. Seems it might do the job, but I'm starting to get to the mind-set that it'll soon be summer, so I'll leave it for next winter!
Cheers for your help Matt,
Dave