Dear All,

Hi, my first post (please be kind enough to reply), I live in Mumbai, India and have a 1997 Fiat Uno 45 (carburetted, petrol). It has done only 26000 Kms. It runs well, accelerates fine and is a decent vehicle (although 'FIAT' does'nt have too good a rep here, especially due to serviving issues). Recently, I have noticed that the car dies on idle (have seen multiple posts here on the subject). I have got the car tuned a couple of times in the last 3-4 months, but to no avail. Recently, I made the engine 'fast' by turning the carb screw clockwise (the one that faces you, on the bottom of the carb) and the idling instances have reduced though not completely dissapeared. The car also seems to be 'missing' and now I am worried if the engine is too fast. Do let know what could be the problem and how do I get it fixed.

Three things might be causing you problems:

Firstly, the vacuum diaphragm attached to the distributor might have failed. This is connected to the carburetor via a pipe, and can be checked by disconnecting the pipe at the carburetor. With the pipe still connected to the distributor vacuum unit, blow or suck into the pipe. If resistance/ vacuum is felt then the unit is ok. If not it has failed and is most probably the cause of your problems. They're fairly cheap and easy to replace

Secondly, check the fuel filter (in the carb and also the inline unit). If these are blocked it can cause fuel starvation at tickover and misfiring at higher revs.

Thirdly, if the problem only occurs when it is hot then the ignition module bolted to the side of the carburetor might be breaking down. If your problems occur whatever the temperature then this might not be the culprit.

Hope this helps, welcome to the forum and us know you get on

Maybe also a blocked idle jet, give the carb a clean

Hi,

Thanks for the responses. The engine does stall when hot (say 15-20 minutes into running), but it starts immediately after I crank the engine so there is really no starting trouble after it stalls. Could the ignition module still be suspect? Also, interestingly, if I run the aircon, then the car never stalls (as long as the compressor is running)....

dear Shekhar,

where exactly in mumbai are you? I also have a 1998 dec uno FIRE 45.I stay at KALYAN.

Rajeev

mine did the same and it turned out to be the ignition module on the dizzy, after replacement, I never had the problem again.

Shekhar you got aircon bloody hell nice one how fast does she go with that on full blast?
Pete

Hi all,

Thanks for such quick replies...great forum for Uno lovers. Okay, Pete...with the aircon, she does close to 100 Kmph on a good road, but lacks the punch during city driving. The traffic in Mumbai is nothing short of crazy. My office is about 3 kms. from home and it takes me up to 45 minutes in the evening to get back home (you can only imagine what this does to my fuel efficiency). I have'nt done much on the idling bit because she seems to be behaving better of late. As they say 'don't fix it till it's truly broken! ' and all the experts here feel that it is'nt that big a problem anyways (or is it??!).

Asides to my fellow Uno owner from Kalyan...I live at Andheri.

I am giving my car to the Tata guys (Tata is a big auto manufacturer in India and has now gotten into a sales and service agreement with Fiat) and asking them to check her out. Also...is a commensator same as the vacuum thingy we are referring to?

Hi guys, I know this is a very old thread and might not get a reply, as well as this is off topic, but do you have an aftermarket aircon or did it come stock with the car?