FIAT 850 gets grumpy when warm

[lewey]

Went quite a way to solving the problem today. I turned the fan cut in down a bit and generally kept the car in the cooler half of the temp gauge and it just kept on going. Managed a 15 mile journey today. I stalled it as I approached a junction and it was reluctant to start, but did in the end, which all in all is a giant improvement. The issue still remains but is minor and I'm sure will be sorted with some more tweaking. Perhaps the coil was getting a bit hot or something? Maybe it just needs re-locating.

This was my final journey I'm afraid as it is now up for sale on eBay. I was hoping to have driven it around a while before selling, but the motorsport season is upon us and fiddling time for it is up. Thank you for everyone's help which has helped lead me in the right direction.

 

[timboengineering]

After looking at the car on ebay, I think the problem is the water pump. The panda pump is designed for a clockwise rotation, and fitted to a counter clockwise engine.. The pump will be trying to pull when it should be pushing.

 

[lewey]

It is certainly possible, but it really does move the water round at a good pace. The gauge indicates good temps. The previous pump was electric and fitted by the last owner. This flowed in the same direction as the current one does and the gauge used to indicate above normal.

Anyway, someone else will be doing the head scratching shortly and with a fresh wind should sort once and for all I'm sure. I have found an original style water pump and I will be giving it with the car if they want to revert it.

 

[850kd]

One my old 850 (long gone as I sold it in 1972) there was a damaged cylinder in no3 pot. There is a hot spot between no3 and no4 cylinder and it burns away . Not fixable i'm afraid but the symptoms you describe are just like I experienced except that starting was very difficult too.

 

[psychobob]

i had the same problem on a vauxhall viva years ago and it turned out the coil had lost its oil. it would work fine when cold but after a few miles it started to misfire until i stopped and let it cool down again. it sounds like the only thing you haven't tried. hope this helps. pandoras rule:slayer: