General Car stalls and then doesn't start

[kelevra]

My fiance also drives an UNO, hers is a 1997 1.1 Fire 3dr.

My car is getting it's head redone so I'm driving hers.

Whilst driving the fiance's car it shudders intermittently and sometimes stalls. This morning it stalled and I couldn't get it started again, luckily a cop stopped and toed me to a safe location. While he was towing I switched on the ignition, put it in gear and let out the clutch and there she went...

So now I'm confused, why would a car struggle to start and then be so easily push started???

More info:
20minutes later I stopped to fill up water, tyres, fuel etc. When I started the car again it started immediately, very quickly! While driving a feel a shudder every now and then but it can happen now and then only the next day again - very intermittent.

We thought it was the immobiliser which we have just gotten completely redone but now it persists.

It only stalls when idling, if you're driving it doesn't cut out as if it tries to I just give it foot and seems to come out of it... Clogged fuel filter? Faulty fuel pump? Immobiliser acting up?

Any ideas? I'm pulling my hair out here!

 

[Ucof]

So now I'm confused, why would a car struggle to start and then be so easily push started???

easy - something wrong with the ignition, be it the module (the finned thing on the dizzy), the starter motor or something else.
The you push start, you bypass these things and the car starts more easily.

It only stalls when idling, if you're driving it doesn't cut out as if it tries to I just give it foot and seems to come out of it... Clogged fuel filter? Faulty fuel pump? Immobiliser acting up?

Won't be the immobilizer in my opinion - that'll either make it work, or not. It wouldn't cause the car to stall.

Could indeed be a fuel filter or pump - try taking the air filter off, run the engine and see if you can see the fine spray of fuel into the injector.

 

[Chas Uno]

easy - something wrong with the ignition, be it the coil (the finned thing on the dizzy cap), the starter motor or something else.
The you push start, you bypass these things and the car starts more easily.

The "finned thing" on the distributor body (not cap) is the ignition amplifier, not the coil. The coil on the FIRE engined Unos normally sits on the strut mounting at the gearbox side of the engine bay. Push starting the car doesn't bypass these, it only bypasses the starter motor.

The OP needs to inform us as to whether the car is sluggish on the starter motor or whether it is just spinning without firing. At the moment there's too many unknown variables to determine the problem!

 

[Ucof]

The "finned thing" on the distributor body (not cap) is the ignition amplifier, not the coil. The coil on the FIRE engined Unos normally sits on the strut mounting at the gearbox side of the engine bay. Push starting the car doesn't bypass these, it only bypasses the starter motor.

The OP needs to inform us as to whether the car is sluggish on the starter motor or whether it is just spinning without firing.

Cool, right, my fingers too fast for my brain!

I like lard sandwiches.

 

[kelevra]

At the moment it is starting very easily but then every now and then when stopping the car after having no problem starting it initially the engine will turn over but will not take... Afer sometime of trying it eventually starts.

Other times while driving there is a sudden loss of power like there is a sudden loss of spark but if you are driving and have some momentum I can put my foot down and it comes out of it (every time) not really sure what this means.... Any ideas?

I spoke to a mechanic on the side of the road that stopped when he saw I was having trouble... He said I shouldn't use a pirate part distributor cap and to get the electronic ignition redone (can't remember the wording he used - something about UNO's not havign points I think) he believed it was an electrical problem - no spark...

Does that sound right?

The "finned thing" on the distributor body (not cap) is the ignition amplifier, not the coil. The coil on the FIRE engined Unos normally sits on the strut mounting at the gearbox side of the engine bay. Push starting the car doesn't bypass these, it only bypasses the starter motor.

The OP needs to inform us as to whether the car is sluggish on the starter motor or whether it is just spinning without firing. At the moment there's too many unknown variables to determine the problem!