Will not idle!

Keep it on topic, it will make it easier to find what you need.
18Fiatsandcounting
Posts: 3798
Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:23 pm
Your car is a: 1969 and 1971 124 spiders
Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Re: Will not idle!

Post by 18Fiatsandcounting »

JohnHSpider wrote:I appreciate your help. I had the same issue, followed the steps presented and was able to solve it! Mine had a vacuum line issue.
Awesome!
There are 3 steps to owning a Fiat:

1) Locate and fix all the bad electrical grounds and connections.
2) Locate and fix all vacuum leaks.
3) Drive and enjoy.

Most people go directly to step (3)...! :D

-Bryan
JohnHSpider
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Jul 28, 2018 2:24 pm
Your car is a: 1972 Sport Spider 850

Re: Will not idle!

Post by JohnHSpider »

Haha, our electrical issues were so severe that my son cut the entire wiring harness out of the car one morning and we rebuilt it using a wire diagram. It was a lot of work, but now we know every inch of wiring in the car, it is well organized and when I looked at what he took out, I'm amazed that it hadn't caught on fire from all the splits and frays. I would never have done it, but I'm glad he forced me to. Nothing like working on a car with a 15 year old when he knows it is "his car" when it's done.
18Fiatsandcounting
Posts: 3798
Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:23 pm
Your car is a: 1969 and 1971 124 spiders
Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Re: Will not idle!

Post by 18Fiatsandcounting »

JohnHSpider wrote:Nothing like working on a car with a 15 year old when he knows it is "his car" when it's done.
Yep, I totally understand, as the '69 Fiat that I have today was a similar situation. Maintain the family cars (Fiat or not), and the '69 was mine when I went off to college. Of course, to replace his lost masculinity (my mother's words), my father then went out and bought a '78 Fiat to compensate.... That car is now somewhere in Colorado as I understand it.

-Bryan
JohnHSpider
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Jul 28, 2018 2:24 pm
Your car is a: 1972 Sport Spider 850

Re: Will not idle!

Post by JohnHSpider »

That's fun, and I'm sure you and your dad have some great memories of maintaining the vehicles. My driveway growing up was mostly Ford trucks and Chevy cars until we kids became teenagers. Then there were Nissan (280Z, 300ZX, 240Z), Mazda (B2200), Toyota (Celica), Honda (Accord and a CB900 Custom), Jeep (US Mail bought from the Post Office), and others (MGB, full size Bronco). I learned to work on them all, and my brothers usually ended the vehicle's life in an accident of some kind.

The Fiat has been the most simplistic and easy to work on car that I've encountered. The hardest thing is the size. I'm forever bent over or trying to cram my fat old man body under the dash to fix something.
PaulC
Patron 2022
Patron 2022
Posts: 265
Joined: Tue Oct 31, 2017 5:04 pm
Your car is a: 1979 Fiat Spider 2000
Location: Maine

Re: Will not idle!

Post by PaulC »

Finally got everything sorted out.
Ignition wires replaced, timing adjusted, idle and mixture corrected.
Even put in New plugs.
What a difference the new carb and manifold make!
Engine sounds like it's breathing easier and there's near instant response to the accelerator.
And it doesn't overheat!
Quite happy with the change even though it took nearly a year to get to it.

Now have a bunch of leftover parts to get rid of if any are wanted.
(air cleaner housing, rubber snorkel, dual plane manifold, ADHA carb, EGR valve, thermovalve manifold from intake manifold, all the color codes plastic vacuum lines)
SteinOnkel
Posts: 1000
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2019 9:31 pm
Your car is a: 1978 124 Spider 1800

Re: Will not idle!

Post by SteinOnkel »

PaulC wrote:Finally got everything sorted out.
Ignition wires replaced, timing adjusted, idle and mixture corrected.
Even put in New plugs.
What a difference the new carb and manifold make!
Engine sounds like it's breathing easier and there's near instant response to the accelerator.
And it doesn't overheat!
Quite happy with the change even though it took nearly a year to get to it.

Now have a bunch of leftover parts to get rid of if any are wanted.
(air cleaner housing, rubber snorkel, dual plane manifold, ADHA carb, EGR valve, thermovalve manifold from intake manifold, all the color codes plastic vacuum lines)
Great, glad to hear it.

Yes, I may be interested in some of the parts. Chief among them the pipe that goes from the egr valve to the intake manifold?
PaulC
Patron 2022
Patron 2022
Posts: 265
Joined: Tue Oct 31, 2017 5:04 pm
Your car is a: 1979 Fiat Spider 2000
Location: Maine

Re: Will not idle!

Post by PaulC »

Only pipe I've seen is from exhaust manifold to the block, which is still in place.
I just blocked off the unused opening in the head that the shorter intake manifold didn't cover.
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