Problem starting when warm

Hi folks!

I have a fiat uno 1.0ie and it starts from cold no problem at all, however once I've run it somewhere and need to start it up again fairly soon afterwards (say after popping out to a shop or putting petrol in) then it just won't go. Sometimes it'll start, but most of the time I have to leave it at the very least 5 minutes. Yet if I go away for more than 30 minutes and come back, it'll start first time again, no problems. Does anyone here know what could be causing this? Perhaps something to do with the automatic choke, maybe, since it seems to have problems when the engine is warm?

I also have the problem of it cutting out if I leave it sitting idle, which, being a driver for only 3 weeks is a bit stressful to say the least! But I see from other posts that this appears to be a fairly common problem, to do with the 'lambda sensor', which I'll get fixed when I get some money to take it to a garage. In the mean time I'll keep revving like a lunatic at traffic lights, etc ;o)

When I had my Uno it used to cut out when I was sitting idle as well as doing it whenever it felt like, I had numerous parts changed on it but it never really cured it.

Before I crashed my car the mechanic said that there was a crap or split in the throttle body as I am no mechanic I didn't really know what that meant, so left it when u take it to the garage next metion this and see what happens.

Also try taking it to a fiat specialist who can put it on a computer and it will tell hopefully of any problems, don't take it to a fiat dealership casue this may be expensive, have a look on the net or yellow pages for these specialists.

Don't rev at the traffic lights because you could be flodding the engine if there is something wrong, instead just keep the revs constant and increase gradually if necessary.

Hope this helps

Gaz[^][^][^]

Looks Good, Drives Like a Banana

Dont know if this will help but I also have a Lancia Thema which had an identical problem. It never played up when the garage boys drove it. It finally refused to start at all and the fault was traced to a faulty fuel pump solenoid/relay. A new fiat relay solved the problem.

good luck

The problem is now solved. I started to look for something that could be the cold start valve, because the car has no problems during winter. So I removed the air intake which is situated on top of the engine and down back to the injection unit. I was very nervous incase I broke something, because I had no idea what I was doing. The injection unit was dismantled because it was full of dirt - a combo of oil, dust, sand and gasoline. This dirt was clogging a valve"thing" / flap that opened when I pulled the throttle cable and let gasoline and air in. The injection unit was then roughly cleaned (with toilet paper - as it was the only thing I had). This solved the problem half way... the car went twice as good on idle speed as before, but still the engine was shaking and the exhaust pipe made sorry sounds because of low idle speed. It was exciting to turn on the ignition and start the car after the injection "repair" to see if it started but it did. This Uno has no idle speed screw either - everything just should work. But suddenly I discovered a switch wich was situated on the left hand side of the injection unit, next to the throttle cable spring. When I pressed this switch (button-like) the engine ran smooth like it was brand new. There was the real problem. On the throttle cable spring "thing" it was a screw that could be adjusted so it hit the switch (idle speed switch ???) when I took the foot of the throttle pedal. Voila - el grande problemos fixed! And another thing that was fixed thanks to cleaning the injection unit - the car does not pre-ignite any more during heavy loads combined with the "pedal to the metal" because it now gets a clean mixture of air and gasoline. The engine: 1994 mod. 1.1 litre injection/carburettor combo (single point injection - SPi) 111.000 km today. Now I don't have to worry before red traffic lights and startups during summer.

Morten Indergård.