engine dies out - overheating?

[geecee]

Finally I've got some time on this rainy Saturday morning....
I replaced the dual relay for the FI with a used one bought this week, and restarted the car with the fuel pressure gauge connected and a voltmeter also connected to the fuel pump.
Reading 30 lbs of fuel pressure and 13V at the pump, this with the car running in neutral in the driveway. The fuel pressure went slowly back down to zero when I turned off the engine.
I need to get more gas before driving her around the neighborhood to continue checking on the fuel pressure.

Is this good so far? Are the readings right? Un grazie anticipato!

[81SPIDERMATT]

awesome....

[geecee]

Success? Maybe, hopefully...you can never tell with this little cars.
Replaced the dual relay and pulled out and cleaned all the others since I was already there messing around there (the delay switch relay is been acting up and still does after a good clean, but that's another story).
Finally I replaced all fuses inline and in the box with new ones, making sure the amperage is correct.

What to say...I hope this is it for this one issue, and thanks to all the ones that helped so far.

Giulia

[81SPIDERMATT]

yeah.... thinking i am not far behind.... playing with the idle and got it too low and heard those relays just chattering away ... congrats on success .....

[geecee]

This thread has become wildly relevant to me. I'm fairly certain I'm having the same issues.

what's going on with you? making any progress?

[geecee]

Well, finally some closure....at least on this post.
Today, and I just realized it's been four moths since I started this tread, I finally removed the fuel gauge from the system.
It was still there waiting for the problem to happen again.
But no, Bruna runs, maybe a bit rough still, but she runs and it is wonderfull, reliable and very enjoyable.
To sum it up, I replaced the fuel lines again, cleaned the pump and added a prefilter between tank and pump. Using the gauge I determined that the pressure was and stayed at 30 psi.
I replaced the dual relay also related to the fuel pump workings, and the ignition pick-up because chasing this issue I looked at it too and found some friable falling-apart wires.

So thanks all for the support and great suggestions!

[elston36]

'82 Spider
I've had a similar problem intermittently for years. The car will just shut off while driving. This has been happening about once a month.

Yesterday she shut off several times and finally wouldn't restart because I had run the battery down. Put a jump on the car last night and tried for an hour to start it. Turns over strong, but no start. Acts like either a fuel problem or ignition, but I'm almost sure it's electrical. She started up a couple of times, but would stop again almost immediately. Had her running once for about a minute, but when I stepped on the gas a bit, she died. The car is still sitting in the mall parking lot today.

Here's what I think I know... Tested a plug wire last night and seemed to confirm. I am pretty sure it's an ignition problem. When I turn the key and the 2 dashboard lights (seat belt & parking brake) are lit, she'll start. There seems to be no pattern (hot/cold, etc.) to when this problem happens. The dash lights have been my indicator of whether the car will start or not. When I checked a spark plug wire last night, I get no spark when those lights are out, but get a spark when they are on. A common factor between the two lights seems to be a blue wire with a red stripe, but I couldn't trace that to the ignition.
Now I'm trying to figure out my next step, but will need to tow the car today.

Problem does not seem temperature related. I was trying to find a loose wire last night, fiddling around the ignition switch. Had the rubber boot off the ignition switch. My watch touched the switch metal housing, and... I got a shock and a spark and a weld spot on my metal watch band.
Any ideas? Should I be looking at the ignition switch, a ground, or other wires and relays?
I know just enough about mechanics to get myself into more trouble, but have learned the Italian words for all the colors so I can read my electrical diagram. There are a lot of freakin' wires under there!
Can I bypass/jump the ignition? Something is not allowing a spark.
YIKES! Thanks.
Donald

[aj81spider]

I had a similar problem

http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=22833

The wise members of this group steered me to intermittent problems with my ignition switch. I pulled all my circuits off the switch and put them on relays and the problem went away for good. The description of what I did can be found here.

http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=23320

The other possible fix (if that's your problem) would be to change out the ignition switch.

[geecee]

Donald,

Have you tested the dual relay? It controls the on/off of the fuel pump so it could be causing you trouble.
Also the wires in my ignition pick-up were very friable and falling apart and the magnets were cracked. I don't think it will cause the car to stop in the middle of the road suddenly, but easy to check (disconnect the battery and remove two screws holding the rotor cap).
My ignition worked very well, so can't say much there.
I've been driving her around almost every day in the last several weeks without any trouble.
Hope things work out for you too.

[81Spider2000]

So glad I found this thread (although not glad I needed to...)

Bought my Fiat a couple weeks ago, thought all was well just needed a new paint job and a top! Drove awesome for a while, but has started "chugging" usually at or above 3,000 RPM's. Found a few threads about that but they all seemed slightly different (because it didn't always do it above 3,000, sometimes it has no problem revving up and driving fast).

But your story is exactly what happened today. Randomly lost power (?) then would somehow rev through and chug back under full power again and drive normally. Then it died, on a winding road corner. Luckily the car behind me had good brakes.

Started up fine, but I had to rev it up to get it home. Died a couple more times but I was prepared this time, and managed it more safely. It smelled strange on revving though (not super high, just enough to keep it going), and popped a few times.

The weird thing is after a couple days of miniature chugs at 3k rpm, the last leg of the journey it only actually worked well at higher rpm's, lower rpms were where it just lost power and died.

Seems like you fixed your problem - hopefully I can find the answer re-reading the end of this thread. I'm not a mechanic at all, bought the car because I liked it...I still like it, but now am scared to drive it until I figure this out and get it fixed!

[81Spider2000]

To sum it up, I replaced the fuel lines again, cleaned the pump and added a prefilter between tank and pump. Using the gauge I determined that the pressure was and stayed at 30 psi.
I replaced the dual relay also related to the fuel pump workings, and the ignition pick-up because chasing this issue I looked at it too and found some friable falling-apart wires.

So this was the solution to the problem?

I have been running Seafoam every tank of gas and I replaced the fuel filter, but it sounds like I should clean out the lines / tank / check the pump etc.

This one has been sitting for like 7 years until the mechanic I bought it from (on the other side of the state) picked it up a couple months ago and got it running / fixed the body. So I'm guessing it likely needs a cleaning inside.

[geecee]

So this was the solution to the problem?
.

Yes. I really think it was a starvation issue and/or a loss of pressure. Caused by a dirty pump, or clogged filter or faulty lines, possibly the dual relay...etc etc. honestly, and because I don't know any better, I decided to replace all the replaceable and clean all the cleanable. It worked!

[81SPIDERMATT]

for me .... (as stated earlier in this thread) ... i had to drive the car to the point of failure and then diagnose what was wrong.... other wise you are just guessing .... and throwing parts at it you may get lucky .... but with some patience and sound advise from this forum ... you can isolate and fix the relevant issue that is causing your problem.....

[MBarfleur]

I too read this thread with interest as I had very similar loss of power problems at strange intervals on my 82. When cold it started ran fairly ok but no real power. As it warmed up would lose power and cough and not accelerate and was difficult to restart. I went through all the fuel system checks and it still was happening. I finally replaced the pick up coil in the distributor and it immediately solved the problem. It seems like that is was you also did in the end along with all your fuel system rework. I have since been advised that carrying a spare is one of the best back up parts you can have.

[SouthwestSpider]

So the answer to the problem was the pick-up coil in the distributor?
I have been dealing with a similar issue - I believe.