General FIat Uno Does not Start anymore.

Currently reading:
General FIat Uno Does not Start anymore.

fiatuno2003

New member
Joined
Nov 11, 2003
Messages
12
Points
2
Location
Ireland.
Hello,

Can someone please read the following and try to get me a fix? Or a int or something?

I am the new proud owner of a 1990 Fiat Uno 45 in Ireland.
I paid € 150.00 for it and thought what can happen for that price.

Well, a lot of embaressment in front of a busy traffic light when the engine stops suddenly. Pushing the light car to safety was the only thing I could do.

The issue now is:
I was driving yesterday and I noticed that the right indicator went suddenly very quickly compared to usually. So I thought a light must be broken in the back and I will fix it. Then suddenly it worked again and then after a few turns again not.

I came home and parked and all was fine. Now I started the car again and drove away, then it happened. The engine stoped. I tried to get it on again but no go. I put on the emergency lights and tried to start. We descided to push and it worked, the car started (heavy gas smell was noticable). Then after a few seconds I arrived and stoped the engine. Then on again, and again no go. Pushing again, and that was it all ok also all the lights. Now giving gas was weird. It held back it seemed to drown itself in gas when I gave gas, it wanted to stop the engine and die. Giving tiny bits a gas made me come home. Now starting the engine a while later again did not result in anything, now also all the light seemed to die. Totally black and emptyness. I gave up. One hour later all light are ok, radio ok, wipers again ok, I was happy but then starting the engine failed, I heard the startengine go for a few seconds then it drained energy and died. Also no lights anymore.

When not starting can is fine. Lights all ok, also front lights. But when I try to start it kills everything. I hear clicking sometimes!! where the fuses on the right are.

Can somebody please help me, I have no experience in car engines or electrics but learn quick and I am handy.

Please please Please please Please please Please please Please please Please please Please please Help this Dutchman living in Ireland.

Thank you,

Freddy - Excuse my bad English.
 
See this thread:

https://www.fiatforum.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1746

that problem was the distributor.


The major electics problem may be a bad battery connection.

When the indicator is going very quickly look to see which lamp is not working - start there check the bulb and connections.
 
Update:
Tried to start again yesterday. All lights were strong and powerfull also the headlights. I thought the problem has dissapeared. I start and nothing and lights were drained imediately. THe start engine went for a short moment though. (1.5 sec). Then pushing and the engine started. I checked the battery and it was nearly empty, I topped it up and left the car running for 1 hour in the hope the battery would charge. I stopped the engine, and nothing again (drained in 1 sec) then I thought maybe I must drive to charge the battery and so we pushed in the rain again and we were driving. Then after a mile the engine seemed to choke when I gave gas. The engine stopped. Then I got from a fellow car rider a jumpstart. Everything worked strong lights, end the startengine did the job. Then I drove home and it happened again, the engine choked (it sound as there is to much gas comming in or the sparks stop). Can a bad battery make your plugs stop working? Will it help to invest 50 Euro for a new battery?
Who can give me the answer?
 
I do not see the relevance with this thread, sorry :-(

<blockquote id="quote"> face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by John H
See this thread:

https://www.fiatforum.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1746

that problem was the distributor.


The major electics problem may be a bad battery connection.

When the indicator is going very quickly look to see which lamp is not working - start there check the bulb and connections.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
 
Nothing wrong with your English.

<blockquote id="quote"> face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by fiatuno2003
I do not see the relevance with this thread, sorry :-(

<blockquote id="quote"> face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by John H
See this thread:

https://www.fiatforum.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1746

that problem was the distributor.


The major electics problem may be a bad battery connection.

When the indicator is going very quickly look to see which lamp is not working - start there check the bulb and connections.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

The relevance is cutting out when stopping with a hot engine:
that's what your first symptom looked like to me, but I was rushing, which is why it was a rather short message.

But there are so many odd things happening with your car it's difficult to guess.

The battery, as you say, is a good place to start.
But can it be checked, rather than changed "just in case"?
some tyre and battery places in the UK will test a battery.
See if you can find one near by and get it tested.

Also, the connections to the battery can cause funny problems if they are not quite tight enough: high resistance - difficulty giving enough current to turn the engine, and all the lights go out, or very dim.

Can you tell us more about the car - which engine (or model number 45, or 60, or 75) and if it is carburettor or injection??

I'll try and help, when I can.
I'm sure others here will too.

Regards


John H
 
When giving gas, and a car suddenly misfires (even backfire) or loose power with no throttle response, it is an indication of ignition timing that's way too slow or way too fast. I suggest checking your timing and distributor like someone suggested. When timing is way off, it will also cause the car start difficultly and it will surely drain your battery.

How does the car idle? (smooth etc?) Does it feel dead? this is only in conection with the 'drown in gas' part. Their might be a bad battery or weak connections + components.

Best
JG
 
Guys, great thank you for helping.
Ok it is a fiat uno 45 carburator as i know from 1989 (registered in 1990 for the first time).

When the car is pushed or jump started the idle is great. It even gives gas normally as for a few minutes. I have the idea when i put electrics on such as (lights, wipers, fan) that the throttle is going to stutter. But sometimes also when no electrics on is stutters and dies in the end. (engine is cold, relatively according to meter) I noticed also when I give gas and rev highly that the battery light goes from off to bright and when I release throttle it is off again. The point is that is gets elec to the startengine but just enough to turn it for 1 or 2 seconds and then the battery is drained again, but after 5 minutes or so the lights are ok again. It becomes worse now as I try it so many times. Might the sparks be rotten suddenly? Also it happend from one second to another that I could not start it anymore.
 
<blockquote id="quote"> face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by fiatuno2003
Guys, great thank you for helping.
Ok it is a fiat uno 45 carburator
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

OK


You need to establish a few basics to build on:
a good battery, which is charged up.
good connections to the battery.
good connection from the car body to the engine (this may be a metal braid, or very thick wire.

Once those are OK it should turn over quickly, until the battery is flat, unless you have a bad starter motor.


If that doesn fix it we can find out why it won't start -

Gas smell after trying to start is either flooded:
too much choke.

or no spark,
or bad spark,
or badly timed spark.

Without meaning to cause offence to you - do you know how to use a manual choke??

Do you have, or can you get, a spare spark plug?
Next time it will turn over fast, but not start, pull the lead off a plug on the engine - put your spare spark plug on that lead, touch the threads of the spark plug on the metal of the engine and get someone to turn over the engine while you look for the spark in your spare spark plug:

nice fat spark -
check the plugs which are still in the engine, if some of them are black and sooty you may have bad spark plug leads, or a very worn engine - do you get blue smoke from the exhaust when it is running??
If so the plugs may be getting oiled up because the engine is worn out.

no spark -
you need to check the voltage to the coil +.
you need to check the distributor (has it got points, or is it electronic??)



I'm still puzzled about some of the electrical symptoms:

<blockquote id="quote"> face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by fiatuno2003
) I noticed also when I give gas and rev highly that the battery light goes from off to bright and when I release throttle it is off again <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

That light is usually the difference between the alternator output voltage and the battery voltage - why are they different at high revs??
You might have earthing problems ( the lead to the engine from the body, as underlined above ), or you might have a bad alternator, or a bad battery.

Tea time for me.

May post again if I think of anything better...
 
Wow, this is great stuff really! I will buy this weekend a new battery, some (4) spark plugs and the tool to get them out. Now I have finally time to go to the shops, working long hours during the week is a bad thing when you have to fix a car. Especially since it is dark here at 5.10 p.m.

WHen I have done this and it is nor resolved I will check all the wires. I know manual chokes from: Scooters and old Bikes, so I think I know the basics. I also purchased from Ebay a Haynes manual which I am waiting for. The gas from the exhaust was always not visisble. And the Exhaust itself is nice and normally dry. I will get back when I checked all the tips you gave me. Thank you!
 
I have a Fiat Uno 45-1993, I am not proud, I am honest!
I use to be quite a wealthy man before I inherited my second hand Uno, welcome to my nightmare..[}:)]
Seriously, but not far from the truth, I have changed almost every part in my car since a woman came into my life and cursed me with a fiat, (I brought a Labrador, much more dependable;).)

Well, enough about me, I instantly thought of changing your Alternator. It sounds like its not replenishing the electricity in your car and as a result, your battery chokes out its last few breaths in order to give you the illusion of hope. So a small sign of electricity = last drop of an uncharged dynamo.
Yet, if life was so easy and simple, G-d wouldn't have created women.
Therefore, one must most often expect or look for the old, 'Double-Whammy', meaning with a Fiat Uno, the problems come in waves and small groups, its never one thing! Buy yourself a can of heavy duty Carb-cleaner and drowned your carburetor and its parts, until you see your reflection.
I find that a good clean, now and then, keeps my uno happy and me:D
Good-Luck [:eek:)]


[email protected]
 
Update:

I bought new spark plugs and a new battery for 70 Euro.
Also I needed a spark plug remover for 7 euro. I actually went on a 50cc scooter (from my girlfriend) to a garage. I went home and the spark and the tool were to big, so I had to go back to change them for smaller ones, once there they did not have them, but I drove there!!!!
The new battery made the car come alive and start in one time! As it used to do. Now driving for 4 hours all was fine!
In the evening in the city of Dublin the bitching machine stopped again. And the same symptoms came back. After a pint or 2 - 3 and 3 hours later i tried it and it started so I rushed home, after 4 minutes or so it began to stutter again. I had my electrics on like radio and lights. NOW: I noticed that when i put the lights off and the radio the car drove normally! SO in the darkness i kept switching my light on and off. Give gas with lights off and put them on briefly for approching cars. Horrible! Now I put my danger lights on (the red triangle) and the car drove resonably but not as with all lights off. NOW this is weird no? Any tips more? I checked the cables but cannot find anything weird. Help Help Help.
 
<blockquote id="quote"> face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by OhSunnyboy
Seriously, but not far from the truth, I have changed almost every part in my car since a woman came into my life and cursed me with a fiat, (I brought a Labrador, much more dependable;).)

<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">

Don't tell her that, will you? You definitely know where you are with dogs!

Steve "2 Pandas" Yensen - the white-haired lunatic and beagle fanatic ...

Rugby is a game played by men with odd-shaped balls :)
beaglerunc.gif
 
Perhaps your next tool to buy should be a voltmeter..

You can then see if your battery is being charged by the alternator:
14.7 volts with the engine running - battery charging.
12 volts, or less, with the engine running - battery going flat.

You can also measure the voltage between places which should be the same voltage -ve battery terminal and:
engine body
car body

If you can measure more than a fraction of a volt you've got earthing problems - check the connectors again.

Also measure when the lights are on, to compare.

In the UK a cheap digital meter is about 10 Euro upwards
(working at 3Euro for 2UKP)
 
I give it up. Jumpstart helps. Driving without light is ok, driving with not. I have brought this haunted machine to an exorcist. Read: drove the UNO after begging for a jumpstart in from off my cottage from a fellow car driver with no electrics on to a repair all cars garage from where they will bill my of course 200 or 300 euro for a repair.. but i need the car....

I will tell you guys what it was according to the garage.
My guess? loose cables, bad alternator and non experience in car repairs by me.
 
I will kepp you posted, I am expecting the garage call any minute now. I hope my goldcard can take the damage. Rediculous as the car cost me initially 150 euro. Now I spend 55 Euro on a battery and 8 for a sparkplug remover and what is to come?

What do yo think a fair price is?
 
It depends how long they work for, what their hourly rate is, and what they replace.

In the days when I used to pay a garage to work on the cars for me, I liked to get some kind of a likely price agreed for work to be done, and have them call me for authorisation if they needed to charge any more.

Saying "fix it and let me know what it costs" is a bit dangerous.
But there are fair and reasonable garages about - the trick is finding them:)
 
Originally posted by fiatuno2003
I will kepp you posted, I am expecting the garage call any minute now. I hope my goldcard can take the damage. Rediculous as the car cost me initially 150 euro. Now I spend 55 Euro on a battery and 8 for a sparkplug remover and what is to come?

What do yo think a fair price is?

55€ for a 45Ah batteryB)[:0][?] The price of the s.plug remover seems to be fair...I think you mean the tool[8D]!
 
Back
Top