Car stalls and doesn't turn on

[dbr]

Hello All,

I ran into some wired behavior in the car yesterday. I had just finished getting my upper-console rewired to stock and everything was working. The car then stalls and wont turn on. Nothing seemed to work anymore. I unplugged the positive wire to the battery then plugged it back in. After doing that everything worked normal again for about another 10min. after which the same thing happened only it wouldn't turn on until this morning. What could be causing this?

My guess is that perhaps my alternator went bust and so it isn't recharging the battery. The only thing is that the alternator is new. Any ideas?

Oh, I have also been getting a rather smelly exhaust. If that has anything in common.

I found a place nearby that will do an entire mechanical check of the car. But I have to first get it to the shop with out giving out.

Thanks in advance!

[azruss]

check your battery volts. standing it should be 12.5, with the car running, above 13.5 and more like 14. If you think the alternator isn't charging, put the battery on the charger. The next suspect would be the ignition key.

[wizard124]

Was the car running well before you wired in the stereo? Or, made changes to the ignition switch wiring?

I did a quick review of your posts. You mentioned you had a 4 position ignition. Is this stock? My '80 FI only has 3 with out ACC. Just wondering if the electrical is OK.

If something goes amiss after a repair or modification, it makes sense to undo it to find out if it the cause.

[dbr]

Thanks for the quick responses!

So I had a similar problem about 7-8 month ago when I realized that my ignition switch wasn't stock. I then bought a new one from Autoricambi and things seemed to work. I ran into almost the exact problem and had to have the car towed about a month ago. That was when I realized that my alternator had gone bust. So I bought a new one through Autozone and it all seemed to work well until now. So yes it was working well up to last night when I finished rewiring my console. I hope this makes a little sense. The ignition switch, alternator and battery are all new.

I also checked the battery and the specs were: off: ~12.6v on: ~13.8-14 v

I then turned on all the accessories I could and it idled well. With all the accessories on, the battery read ~13.5v I believe these numbers are fine, right? If the battery reads 14v while the car is running that must mean that the alternator is working, right?

Everything seems to be working well again. I suppose I just have to drive it and find out if I still have a problem. Only stalling in the middle of a double lane 4 way intersection isn't fun!

[azruss]

your battery and alt numbers are fine, so that's not the issue. It sounds to me like you have a connection issue. I would look around all the wires you disturbed doing the radio. Check your wire connectors to make sure all is tight. check the wires going to those connectors to see if any of them look problematic. Also check along frame lines to see if any of the wires may have bad insulation that is touching the body with vibrations occur. you might want to start the car and then wiggle wires to see if you can duplicate the problem.

[dbr]

Hello all,

Here is an update.

So I was driving back from work in the fiat and about 1/2 a mile from home it dies at a stoplight. Ugh. So I push it off to the side and start checking the battery. standing ~12.2 running ~13.4. It would start and then die a second later. I let it cool off and after several minutes it turned on again. I let run for a while hoping to build volts in the battery. So I started driving again and it must have died at least 5 or 6 times with the same results. I finally reached home. Man, home is a million times sweeter when your car dies 5 or 6 times in the last 1/2 mile.

So my guess is that the alternator is working but the battery was low. I very rarely drive the fiat so perhaps the clock and whatever else slowly drained the battery. Would that make sense for a time period of 2-3 weeks?

Would the 95amp have helped? Or maybe an extra battery in the car?

[azruss]

When the car is driving, the alt provides the power. The only time this isnt so is when you are at idle and the alt is turning too slow to handle all the load. Usually this means you are running lights, heater, radio, etc. So, the question is, is it dying at idle or when you are running down the road.

[dbr]

It only dies when idling, at stoplights or stop signs, but I was purposefully keeping everything off even the radiator fan which was rewired by the PO to a manual switch.

Would keeping the revs up while idling help next time?

[dbr]

So here is another update.

I took the battery to be tested and it tested perfectly fine. The only other thing I didn't think of is perhaps it is a fuel problem. like a fuel pump or filter. It just donged on me that I never installed the fuel filter I bought. I don't know when the PO last changed it. I have had this car for a while but haven't necessarily driven it a lot. Plus the filter that the PO installed is not stock and it is very small compared to the stock.

Could an old/plugged fuel filter lower the amount of fuel flowing through and therefore have the car stall sometimes when idling?

It goes to the mechanic tomorrow. Just hope I don't stall 500 times!

[76was124]

It only dies when idling, at stoplights or stop signs

Idling with your foot on the brake? Could it be an issue with your brake circuit wiring shorting something out?

Also, when it dies, is it instantaneous, or does the idle drop and then quit!

[azruss]

there are 2 things unique to idle. Low volts and low fuel delivery. The fuel delivery is fixed by hitting the gas pedal. Normally fuel gives you warning. One or two cylinders drop out a second before the others. An electrical issue is more sudden. simple and cheap to replace fuel filter. that will at least get it off your plate.

[wizard124]

Normally, a plugged fuel filter restricts delivery under high loads, high rpm.

When it dies, do all gages die with it? If temp suddenly dies also, then I would suspect bad ignition contacts or wire connector or junction.

[dbr]

Thanks wizard124.

I know the rpm and speedometer die but I am not sure about the temp. I will check that.

[dbr]

I just heard back from the shop. They couldn't find anything wrong that could be stalling the car besides a very loose alt. belt. Of course it never stalled on my way down there and while they test drove it.

Could a very loose alternator belt cause it to stall? If I remember correctly it stalls quietly. It doesn't choke or anything before. This makes me think it is an electrical issue.

Any ideas?

[dbr]

So here's an update.

The mechanic couldn't find anything except the loose alternator belt. So I picked up the Fiat today and it drove like a charm all the way back, but then right when I pulled into the drive-way it died. Perfect timing! It wouldn't start for a while afterwards. The battery read ~12.2 off.

So I got to thinking and worte down some bullet points.

-It is definitely an electrical issue since it dies very quietly with out hesitation.
-It can't be the alternator (brand new)
-It can't be the battery (brand new)
-it can't be the ignition switch (brand new)
-it can't be the ignition distributor nor the ignition coil (both brand new)
-I have checked all the wiring for any bad or loose connections.

BUT one thing I hadn't checked was the battery ground. That was the last thing I could think of.

So here are some pics of it as well as some pics of the connections. Tell me what you think. Could the rather thick paint coating do much. The bolt was also very loose. I am hoping that a very loose battery ground can get in the way of the alternator charging the battery. Can this be?????

I scratched the paint off and cleaned up the bolt. I then tightened it up. The car then drove and after a couple of minutes of driving the battery then registered off 12.7. I have never seen the battery charge so fast. I am hoping this is a sign of the ground being the culprit.