MK1 Uno 45s Fire 1ltr Refusing to start! - coil squeeling!? wtf!

Right,

Mother Fiat Uno 45s with the 1ltr fire engine will not start.

Only problem weve had with this little minter is when the manifold cracked when I changed the exhaust on it! so had to use a later punto manifold and modify a downpipe to fit!

Anyways,

She drove it as always, 10 mile journey, turned it off, 10 minutes later went back to it, would not start.

The starter turns over, and its getting fuel.

When I got chance to have a look at it, when I turned the key it was as normal but it was turning over and over, tried to have a little go every now and then!

Went to get some tools to take the plugs out (which I couldnt find anyway)

So checked all wires.

Had another go, and I heard a squeeling noise!

Coming from that thing bolted on the N/S inner suspension turret, with its wires going in and out of it. Realised it was the ignition coil.

After this, it didnt squeel. But the engine would just turn and turn and wouldnt even try have a little go into life like it was doing before the squeeling happened.

I take it this would mean that the coil is nackered and I need a replacement? Seen one for £15 brand new which didnt seem too bad.

I just find this very strange, although I suppose as it is a 1987 Fiat, with 67k on clocks it is getting on a bit so things will just break.

Any other ideas on non starting if that wasnt the issue? (even tho surely its got to be down to that??)

Also, could somebody please tell me which colours go to which point on the coil itself, just to make sure I dont put them on the wrong ones and naff up a new one.

Any help / ideas would be greatful as I'm not used to these pretty "simple" ignition systems as I'm more used to EFI and the odd old diesel! :yuck:

Cheers, Paul.

also consider a distributor fault; I had a 1l uno and did over 150,000 miles in it but towards the end of its life had a lot of trouble with corroded connections in the distributor; coils often have a high pitched whine....its behaving like a loudspeaker...coil of wire;metal;vibration equals Alexander Graham Bell.....

Over three years ago, I remember jjhepburn and I working on an Uno FIRE with a squealing ignition coil - mentioned in https://www.fiatforum.com/uno/72812-uno-whistling-very-strange.html - so you are not the first to discover the really strange noise of a squealing coil No 'expert' would ever believe that such a noise would have a non-mechanical cause... it really does sound like a squealing belt or bearing, but it isn't.

Coil wires are orange to the positive terminal and green/grey to the negative terminal. It's also important that the coil gets a good earth to the body. Coils are very rarely faulty, so it will be OK to get one off a scrapped Uno rather than buying brand-new.

I suggest you have a faulty finned ignition module on the side of the distributor. I think the squealing in the coil is caused by a high-frequency switching in the module that shouldn't be happening - so probably nothing wrong with the coil. I replaced the distributor with a points-type and that wrote off the coil in a puff of smoke, but if I'd used the correct distributor or a new module, I'm sure the coil would have survived.

The module has two plugs - a three-pin and a two-pin - that only fit one way around. Changing the module is a quick job and I think you should always have a spare on hand, as they do fail and stop the engine from idling properly and cause the engine to cut out when hot.

Another common problem is the pickup wiring inside the distributor - the insulation flakes off. It's therefore probably a good idea at this stage to have a complete spare distributor. If you take it apart, be careful to refit the drive dog (plate with a ridge) the correct way around - it's possible to get it 180-degrees off, which will cause you a great deal of confusion later

Even if I'm wrong and it is just the coil that requires replacing (perhaps some part becomes loose inside the coil), I still think a spare distributor will be useful at some stage - it's easy to swap for fault-finding purposes. As Tim said, it's usually the distributor at fault if there's no sparks.

67K miles is nothing for the FIRE engine - plenty of life left yet At just 107,000km I really would call that a 'low-mileage' example!

-Alex

Thanks for the info.

I replaced the ingnition coil, made no difference... I knew it wouldnt but as its not my car I'm pressured into trying to fix it.

So basically I'm looking at either the ignition module, distributor, or distributor cap

How much do these cost? I have to buy new
I cant even raid any scrappers to try out bits, as non of the scrap yards have uno's in around here! :bang:

I dont really want to have to spend alot on it, could buy another cheap car if I end up having to spend near on £100 on bits fixing this

Paul - where are you based?

Ucof said:

Paul - where are you based?

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Near Doncaster mate

Sorry to hear that.


Still, I might be able to brighten your day...
Drop me your address, I'll send my spare dizzy, cap and ignition thingy.


Well.. I think I have a spare dizzy, I know I have the cap and module.