81 spyder stops/stalls LETS START FROM SCRATCH

[boxdogracing]

I'am currently tracking down similar problems. I was sent a link to a guide in my thread "looking for EFI trouble shooting guide". Anyway in the process of checking mine I had a friend spay starting fluid in the intake, car ran till he stopped so I figure ignition and engine mechanicals are fine. Good luck with yours I'am in the same boat.

[wbsterritt]

I have an '83 Pinin that I've been working on for two months going through what you're doing right now and still haven't figured her out yet. I do have a garage but I also have a wife:) Needless to say, I'm following your post very carefully! My biggest issue right now is my fuel system. Really need to get that in order to go on with the electrical troubleshooting end of her. What I did find earlier on was that my fuel pump and ignition coil feeds were only receiving +/- 8.0 volts from a fully charged battery. In addition, the injectors were only getting +/-2 volts. Reworked the ignition switch, unecessarily by the way, do to some misunderstood guide that I came across. Changed the starter solenoid when I realized that my voltage went to correct levels with the solenoid wire disconected (drawing too much amperage(?).) New solenoid installed resulted in +/- 9.5 volts at the pump, +/-12 volts at the coil, but still only +/-2 volts at the injectors:( -not much progress. I'm now to the point where I've switched gears over to my fuel system. Once I get it back together and functional I will continue on with the electrical trouble tree that we are both working through. Gotta have "stick-to-it-ivness."

[ptmassa]

eureka.........................so thats what my Fiat sound slike while it idles. Got car started finally. In order to get it started I had to advance/retard the timing. Not sure which, as I was not looking at the timing indicator on crank while turning the distributor. Turned it counter clockwise, almost a quarter of a turn. I played with it quite a bit. Unfortunatley no timing light to check it to spec. Car starts every time, although it skips at idle quite a bit. Under full load it seems to clear out, although it does take longer than normal to get to full open idle. Took it for a 10 mile ride ( always check your brakes before driving a car on the road that has not driven the road in 3 years. I recommend you do this before the tractor spreading fertilizer pulls out of the field in front of you. hahahaha). Anyone want to save me the research and give the timing info? If not will look it up somewhere on here. Removing the rotor , from the distributor, there seems to be alot of "slop" in the shaft. I can turn it just about a 8th of a revolution either way. I am confident the timing is way off just to get the car to start, but will verify this. Any suggestions?

[zachmac]

[ Removing the rotor , from the distributor, there seems to be alot of "slop" in the shaft. I can turn it just about a 8th of a revolution either way. I am confident the timing is way off just to get the car to start, but will verify this. Any suggestions?[/quote]

Congrats on the start and drive! The proper timing is 10 degrees BEFORE TDC which is the FIRST (lowset / farthest from 12 oclock) of the three prongs on the marker (assuming you have the three prong pointer. The three points are 10 DB, 5 DB and 0 TDC. The play you descirbe is probably the advance (a good thing). The shaft should turn anout as far as you describe but spring back when relased.

[ptmassa]

had a week off the car to regroup and rethink. car still starts although it idles pretty rough. engine does smooth out at cruising throttle. taken it on the road 2x. does not seem like a power house by any meens, but then again not a powerhouse 4 cylinder engine. i am on vacation thurs-fri thru weekend and monday. plan on checking engine timing, replace cap and router. kind of took a step back from the engine and have moved onto interior refurb. removed seats, carpets, etc. body took 3 years to do. my ultimate goal for this summer was to start the car for the first time. I did that AND DROVE IT so i am happy even if i make no more progress with engine this summer. Will update the post if by some chance I find the probelm and work through it. Thanks for all the hints, ideas etc................ Have learned alot in the past 2 months about a car I knew nothing about. Going to be a fun road to full restore. My wife is psyched which is half the battle.hahahahahaha

[wbsterritt]

Congrats on your experience of driving one of these beauts! Just had my first experience on Fathers Day after three months of trouble shooting my '83! I can totally relate to your excitement on driving it and even more so on your wife's excitement about the car in general--Mine too! Just had my wheels beautifully redone-powder coated, original looking silver-and will be mounting new Pirelli's this Saturday. Congrats again!

[ptmassa]

Thanks. Checked engine timing. 25 degrees BTDC. Car idles nicely there, but falls on it's face when giving it throttle. Car will stall when I get to about 15 degrees BTDC. Replaced distributor cap before checking engine timing. Wife had come out to check my progress. After a few moments of explaining engine timing, firing order etc.. I removed the new cap to show her how the rotor worked. Low and behold aluminum shavings from the brand new contacts of the cap. Rotor is obvioulsy hitting contacts on rotation. Dist shaft does not seem to have that much side to side play, but who knows once its spinning at 1000-2500 RPMS. Also as I was showing her how the dist worked I brushed against small wirng. Plastic coating on wires crumbled and one broke. I had seen the deteriorating wiring previously and was hoping it would not be an issue, but not that lucky I guess. Anyways removed distributor. Distributor gear has some small chips, dont think they are enough to be of concern. Going to replace distributor. The car that would not start for me, did start but did not run well, is now back to not starting.hahahahaha. At least I know why I will not start now. No rush on getting the distributor as I am having alot of fun detailing the interior. Maybe first week of August for the distributor.

[narfire]

There are two bearings in the dist. that can be replaced SKF 6001 rj I think. Just did a change on one of mine. I bought mine from the local jobber parts store (Lordco). Oh yea it was the electronic dist I had.
Perhaps they might help, the new dist are expensive. Perhaps take a look at Marks new electric set up, about the same price as a new one from a vendor. I've managed to source a couple of spares from parts cars that come up now and then.

[ptmassa]

thanks for the pn#'s. I assume that the rotted/aging wiring could me my timing issue. I will price out the bearings and wiring. Good suggestion as most likely replacing just those parts will be far less costly than the whole unit. Going to have the wife either rebuild the unit or reinstall the new one. She is an ace with jobs that require alot of patience and attention to detail. She is a "read the directions 2x before starting and following them step by step all the way". I am a "get half way through the job have it turn to shit and then run for the garbage can to fish out the directions that I threw away" Besides, the more she contributes the more she will understand when we have to drop everything and just go for a drive. I have started a small notebook with jobber pn#'s. amazing how many I have in there now.