Technical Mechanic advises new carburettor for 1990 Panda Tacchini

[NickPC]

Hi, I'm new to the Fiat Forum and not only that, I'm fairly new to owning a car altogether so please bear with me!

I have been the proud owner of a 1990 fiat Panda, 999cc Sergio Tacchini model, for about a year now. A few weeks ago it began to show signs of trouble starting - the engine would start but when I took my foot off the accelerator the engine would chug a little and eventually stop running.

I left it in with a mechanic this week who said the engine did not appear to be running on all cylinders. He has replaced the spark plugs and the distributor cap. He also tells me that the carburettor needs replacing, and that this could cost "£200-£300".

I have decided that perhaps it would be cheaper to look for a second hand carburettor online, and also having consulted my Haynes manual, install the replacement carburettor myself as it seems like a fairly straightforward procedure.

So my question is- should I be extra careful which carburettor make/model I buy? A quick look online has found a few for sale, eg. one is listed as being "Weber 32 ICEV carburettor, carb, will fit Fiat Panda" - is there anything I need to be aware of in terms of suitability for my Sergio Tacchini Panda? For example I understand that my Panda has a "Fire" engine - I have no idea whether this has any implication for which carburettor I can use.

The original carburettor in my engine is marked "WEBER 32 TLF 6".

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, apologies for the long post!

 

[kolza]

No, No, No more expensive bills from them robbing b******s.

You definately don't need replacement carb.

Very welcome to the world of cheap DIY motoring, good clean up can sort you out.

PM me if you're interested in carburetor rebuild kit.

I would definately start from checking the vacum unit membrane ( ufo type thing mounted on to distributor), undo vacum cable leading to it and blow or suck in to it, if it's air tight it's fine- if not - you will need replacement. PM me spares.

I don't know what skils level you got, but there is nothing to be scared of! Gear up with some basic tools, dwell/ rpm meter, timing light and the idle problem will be sorted whithin few days by your sell!

Just try to use serch function as much as you can, your issue has been covered few times.
Start with vacum unit anyway.

Sorry for stupid question but do you use choke when cold start?
Does the car run fine when warmed up?

Got any photo of the car?

 

[onemanmade]

Hi, I'm new to the Fiat Forum and not only that, I'm fairly new to owning a car altogether so please bear with me!

I have been the proud owner of a 1990 fiat Panda, 999cc Sergio Tacchini model, for about a year now. A few weeks ago it began to show signs of trouble starting - the engine would start but when I took my foot off the accelerator the engine would chug a little and eventually stop running.

I left it in with a mechanic this week who said the engine did not appear to be running on all cylinders. He has replaced the spark plugs and the distributor cap. He also tells me that the carburettor needs replacing, and that this could cost "£200-£300".

I have decided that perhaps it would be cheaper to look for a second hand carburettor online, and also having consulted my Haynes manual, install the replacement carburettor myself as it seems like a fairly straightforward procedure.

So my question is- should I be extra careful which carburettor make/model I buy? A quick look online has found a few for sale, eg. one is listed as being "Weber 32 ICEV carburettor, carb, will fit Fiat Panda" - is there anything I need to be aware of in terms of suitability for my Sergio Tacchini Panda? For example I understand that my Panda has a "Fire" engine - I have no idea whether this has any implication for which carburettor I can use.

The original carburettor in my engine is marked "WEBER 32 TLF 6".

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, apologies for the long post!

Stop visiting this garage now, total rip off artists! Welcome to the club, post in the wanted section for a good second hand carb

 

[scout]

I got new points and condensor fitted and my carb cleaned for £150. My Panda was running like it was on three cylinders before. (didn't have the time to do it myself )

 

[Dragon Man]

yeah that is a total rip off. them guys will most likely will not know much about carbs.

hell if you really want to pay some one +£300, bring it to me and i will stick a nice fuel injected 1.2l 60Hp Punto 60 engine in it.. ill even source all the bits!
cant believe they quoted you that much.

sounds to me like it just needs as said a good clean up, and then maybe tuning.
i would first make sure the ignition timing set up nice, you dont have to though but it does make them run nice.

with enough tinkering you can make a FIRE engine tick over so well it would put a fuel injected system to shame

my panda, Talon needs a retune. when he was first done it ran better than my previous fuel injected cinquecento hehe

 

[firstcar-Y10]

Sounds suspiciously like nonsense to me. Takes a fair bit to do for these carbs. Probably a blocked idle jet, sadly some garages these days just have no idea how a carb works any more and the modern approach to a malfunctioning component is to just replace it.
take it off (2 bolts) and give it a clean!


Also, Tacchini! Yay! Not H149AFT is it?? (worth a punt, there's not that many left!)

 

[pandamaniac]

This guy didn't by any chance do a compression test did he to rule out the head gasket?
Dave

 

[NickPC]

Firstly thanks all for your helpful replies! What a great forum.

No, No, No more expensive bills from them robbing b******s.
Sorry for stupid question but do you use choke when cold start?
Does the car run fine when warmed up?

Got any photo of the car?

Thanks for your help Kolza - I might do as you advise and start with the vacuum unit membrane - I'm going to google all this and read up first because basically I have zero skills level. Although I'm not afraid to get stuck in if the Haynes manual says it's an easy job, I mean I've been doing simple stuff like taking the battery out and charging it

I do use the choke yes - the car had been taking a while to warm up and then seemed to run fine but recently it seemed to get worse, and the last trip I attempted, the engine just kept petering out any time I wasn't accelerating.

So you think I might get away with just giving the carburettor a good clean, how much is a decent carburettor rebuild kit?

I've attached a photo.

 

[NickPC]

yeah that is a total rip off. them guys will most likely will not know much about carbs.

sounds to me like it just needs as said a good clean up, and then maybe tuning.
i would first make sure the ignition timing set up nice, you dont have to though but it does make them run nice.

Thanks for the reply! I'm googling how to tune a carburettor as we speak, this is all new to me so thanks for the advice.

 

[NickPC]

Also, Tacchini! Yay! Not H149AFT is it?? (worth a punt, there's not that many left!)

Ha, no it's H382 so I guess it arrived a bit later! Photo a couple of posts up.

 

[NickPC]

This guy didn't by any chance do a compression test did he to rule out the head gasket?
Dave

Thanks Dave, funnily enough the head gasket on this car was replaced about a year ago just before I bought it off the previous owner...

 

[Dragon Man]

nice light grills.. and for the rear too!

i have light grills too