Technical Uno ie start 1994 trouble

[sandg]

Hi, we are new to the FFs, and new to Fiat, due to a complete MOT failure, we needed a decent economically priced car to see us through for a while. We managed to get a Uno ie start 1.0l. It was fine until we filled the tank right up, and it started to loose a lot of fuel. Also, in the mornings, it starts ok, but then when we go to move off, it looses all power, then cuts out, its ok when warmed up. The idle tick over seems quite high, been unable to find adjustment screw. It seems also to be using quite a lot of fuel, there is no obvious pertol smells eg flooding, checked the air filter and the plugs, even inflated the tyres a bit more, but everything seems to be ok. When we filled the tank, where the pipe enters the fuel tank it seems to have a leak, but when levels drop below half a tank, the leak goes away.

What is the normal mpg on this model?

Can anyone shed any light? Are these common problems?

Thanks

:bang:

 

[Louie Bee]

Welcome!!

First things to check is the fuel leak. is it that you are actually loosing fuel or getting bad MPG? the tank level indicator isn't really to scale. I seem to get 100 miles from the top quarter, then 100 miles till it's down to the last quarter, and another 100 miles till in the red. That’s about 320miles per tank from my 1.0 ie Start. I do drive hard though and takes around 32 Litres to refil, So I get around 10 miles per litre (yes it's a bad way of mixing metric and imperial). Can get much more if I take it easy, over 400 miles on a tank in the summer heat.

As for the high revs / poor power, first thing to check is the accelerator cable. if too tight, it won't engage a switch to tell the car to idle. if you loosen it off, you should reset the ECU.

See post 2 on this thread from the legendary Morty Mort

https://www.fiatforum.com/uno/16610-fast-idling-uno-1-1ies.html


Also another thing that is bound to need attention is the vacuum diaphragm. If it's not working the car will be flat as a witch’s tit.

Key
1 – cam Cover
2 – Cylinder head to distributor join
3 – Distributor
4 – distributor cap
5 – distributor cap retention clip (lower one not in view)
6 – vacuum advance diaphragm
7 – vacuum advance pipe
8 – distributor electrical connector block
9 – Distributor mountain nut and washer – (lower one not in view)


How To Check?
Remove 7 and blow gently into 6 where 7 was. If airtight it's good, if not replace 6. it's not expensive or hard.

https://www.fiatforum.com/uno/29820-distributor-replacement-fire-1-1ie-engine.html

 

[sandg]

:slayer: Thank you Louie for your quick response to our fuel dilema post. The leak seems to be coming from the area of the fuel tank where the filler pipe goes in? Hopefully it may just be a case of tightning a clip of some kind? We put in £10 of fuel into the tank, the needle was sitting at the 2 line mark above the red, it took our level to half a tank. We have driven a hundred mile since then and its now back at that mark, is this normal for our little uno? How many litres does the uno's tank hold? When the low fuel light indicator light comes on, how accurate and how many miles does it have left in the tank before filling up? It just seems that we are always topping up just in case it runs out of fuel?!! :bang: The idle seems to be sitting at 1000rmp ish, is this normal. Also how do i get to the 2nd spark plug removal, it seems to be blocked by the air cleaner and such like???
Thank you again for your quick response to my quiries and thread. S and G.

 

[Louie Bee]

Fuel econ sounds normal

Idol is 850 - 950 rpm so isn't too bad.

lift rear seat bench and there is a plastic trap door, under which the top of the tank and fuel flow and return pipes live.

red indicator (low level) signal is sent by the level indicator and who knows how accurate / how many miles. I used to get about 30 miles from my MK1 903cc Uno.

My tank holds about 35 litres

Cheers,
Louie.

 

[Dennish]

I see nobody answered you about the spark plug removal. I also could not see how to get to the second spark plug. I left it for a while then decided to have another go. I finally managed to change it but broke the old plug when getting it out.
I unclipped the air filter assembly then removed the 10 mm nut and removed the air duct to the carburettor. I then removed the breather pipe from the engine cover plate. I also removed the lead to no1 cylinder and unclipped the electrical connection to the carburettor.
I then used a spark plug socket with a 3/8" drive which I placed over the plug. Then I fitted a 3/8" to 1/2" adaptor. I then fitted a 1/2" universal joint. I then fitted a 1/2" extension bar. I then fitted a 1/2" handle.
I then rotated the assembly ensuring that the universal joint did not damage the electrical connector on the carburettor. As the plug unscrews it lifts so making the problem worse, but eventually I got it out.
To fit the new plug, I cleaned the plug seat as best as I could. I smeared copper ease on the spark plug thread and smeared the inside of the spark plug socket with grease so I could get it off the plug.
I then fitted the new spark plug into the spark plug socket and screwed this into the engine by hand as far as I could. I then rebuilt the assembly above except that I used a torque wrench instead of the handle. I did not have the figure to hand so I used 20 lbft.
I then dismantled the tools until the spark plug socket was left. I then had to used some pliers to pull the socket from the spark plug.
I then fitted the spark plug leads and the electrical connection to the carburettor. I then refitted the breather hose and then the air box and fixed with the 10 mm nut. I then clipped the air filter assembly on.
Having removed all tools from the engine bay, I started the engine to check all was well.
Hope this of use to someone in the future.

 

[Ucof]

Aye, that 2nd spark plug is horrible to remove, without removing the carb or injector unit.

Welcome to the forum by the way