General uno turbo hard to start and cuts out

[ff40mad]

Hi all just new here, i wonder if any can help me. My uno turbo is very hard to start and when it does it will cut out,restart and it might run for a while or all day but it will cut out at some stage.the coil is new so is the ht lead,the plugs the distributor cap and the spark plug leads. its getting fuel ok but there seems to be a problem with the spark.checked the back of the fuse board and all the wiring and its all ok.this is really starting to wreak my head if anyone might think they no whats causing this problem,id love to here from you.by the way its the mk2 91 1372cc
Cheers
Gareth

 

[Dragyth]

Check boost pipes, if you have a Dump valve it needs to be a twin piston kind.

Buy a new rotor arm & distributer cap - cheap parts that, ideally, should be changed every major service - 3yrs or so.

check each spark from the plug leads, remove them and see which one/s affect the car's engine note.

It'll idle on 1 plug, just about.

 

[alexGS]

Hello Gareth (rare to see a real name!) - welcome to the forum!

Others will have more justified suggestions, like Dragyth's rotor and distributor cap... but my first on-a-whim suspect would be the crankshaft speed sensor (the flywheel one) that has the connector floating around near the gearbox.

It's more often the connectors than sensors - in general - I understand also that with crankshaft sensors it tends to be temperature-related if it is sometimes not-starting. The ECU will not generate a spark unless it can 'see' that the engine is turning. So perhaps find the connector and clean it... and check for continuity across the sensor... Just my pick. As you can see, I have a Mk1, but the Mk2 is similar in most respects.

In general, with engine management, it's seldom the ECU itself at fault, and usually the sensors or the outputs (e.g. connection to coil, earthing). You've narrowed the problem to the ignition system, so it shouldn't take too long to try swapping a few parts - very helpful to know someone who also has an Uno Turbo and a collection of parts. The Haynes manual is also useful for component testing info and general diagrams of the L3.2-Jetronic (probably the most useful part of the manual...)

-Alex

 

[ff40mad]

thanks for he tips alex. just heard back my local fiat dealer where the car is
that they dont really no whats wrong with the car and there best guess is its the ecu. although all the sensors were checked and there ok. im a bit stumped so looking for an ecu if you or anyone nos where i can get one.its the non cat model.pretty hard to find any parts for this car in ireland. cheers mate
gareth

 

[ff40mad]

and to add salt to the wounds im been charged 80 euro an hour including vat
by the garage for them to tell me they dont really no whats wrong with the car

 

[antsuno2]

also there is a connection under the radiator refill, header tank ,that gets antifreeze and wet for the last 12 years, mine kept cutting out when i first bought it and went through the whole wiring in the engine bay and that connection was badly corroded GREEN!! fixed it and runs a beauty, check wiring diagrams in the haynes manual good luck ant! dont take it to the maindealer (SLAP SLAP) get to know a quality auto electric

 

[alexGS]

Yep that's the one antsuno2, that's the flywheel sensor connector so I'm glad your experience tallies with my suspicion

ff40mad - that's really not acceptable that a garage can charge you and not provide a diagnosis. Surely if they diagnose an ECU fault, it should be up to them to try an exchange ECU, and then charge you for that if it fixes the problem. Otherwise at least if you take the car away as-is, there should be some 'warranty' to say that if their diagnosis turns out to be incorrect, you're entitled to a refund. Tricky.

I think it's generally best, once a place like that has your car, to let them fix it and expect a warranty against the same fault re-occurring.

If this is going to be too expensive for you to pay, you should reason with them about what course of action you'd like them to take, and query the time they have spent on their diagnosis. No more than one hour, surely, should need to be paid by you. But the more you let them do, the more comeback you have in return for the high labour price paid.

Just some ideas,
-Alex

 

[ff40mad]

i no that,connection had the bottle out before and when the connection was moved with the ignition on,the fuel pump would do a little turn.cleaned it of but still no joy. its wreaking my head not to have the car,got it 3 years ago,
spend a fortune getting the bodywork right,drove the car for one year and bought something else as a run around so i could keep the mileage down(at the moment it only has 66 thou miles with full dealer history).now i got back into the car to drive it for a while and she wont run.leaving it stand for so long not seem to have been good for it.on a different note,have all uno turbos got bad brakes and is there a conversion from another car that fits well and works well?

 

[antsuno2]

the connection under the header will need cutting right back about 6 inches either way and solder in new wire you'l find a lot of the wires are the same way green (black old copper wire) cut back till you find nice clean wire trust me! worth looking at the fan wires they will be ****, and yes my brakes are ****! anything over 1.6 fiat with vented discs will fiat eg brava bravo marea inc weekend, same as punto gt, get yourself an electrical tester or i have a power probe, very handy, Ant

 

[Chas Uno]

To help stop electrical connectors corroding, smear copper grease, silicone grease or vaseline into and onto the connectors. I cleaned all my connectors and did this, and 3.5 years later still have had no electrical problems

 

[turbo_jim]

On the subject of brakes, mine are standard and work really well, better than any other fiat i've driven anyway... Uprating the front pads is prob the first thing to do, then if you're still not happy maybe better discs would be worth a try.

 

[Rob-mint-mk1-uno]

Check boost pipes, if you have a Dump valve it needs to be a twin piston kind.

Buy a new rotor arm & distributer cap - cheap parts that, ideally, should be changed every major service - 3yrs or so.

check each spark from the plug leads, remove them and see which one/s affect the car's engine note.

It'll idle on 1 plug, just about.

It wont idle on one plug that is total rubbish...

 

[ff40mad]

well didnt hear anything from the garage for the 4th day in a row so went up and took my car back.useless.was charged 68 euro in the end for 5 hours looking for the problem which prob wasnt 2 bad.when i went out 2 the car,they had left the 3rd volume uno service manual in the car.happy days along with the haynes manual i think i have the car covered now.its a very big folder and they aint getting it back.