Engine dies when lights or any electricity is turned on

Gotta love that wiring . . .
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WadiaAbushanab
Posts: 45
Joined: Sat Jan 15, 2022 10:54 pm
Your car is a: 1980 Fiat Spider 2000

Engine dies when lights or any electricity is turned on

Post by WadiaAbushanab »

So I just recently put a new distributor in, and started noticing this issue. Not sure if it’s related or not.
Anyways, if I turn the lights on or the dash lights, the rpm’s will drop down low and then jump back up and do this repeatedly until it dies. This also happens even when I’m not pulling electricity from anywhere, just at idling normally. Once it dies It also has a really hard time starting back up to the point where I have to hold the gas at idle for a bit. I think maybe it’s the alternator? Any ideas?
spider2081
Patron 2024
Patron 2024
Posts: 3015
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2006 11:45 pm
Your car is a: 1981 Spider 2000
Location: Wallingford,CT

Re: Engine dies when lights or any electricity is turned on

Post by spider2081 »

A 1980 Fiat Spider can be carbureted or Fuel injected depending on the month it was manufactured. Is you Spider Fuel injected?
How was the engines timing set after the distributor was replaced?
An alternator is a physical load to the engine when the alternator's shaft speed is 1000 rpm or higher so at engine idle rpm most alternators are putting out some power and loading the engine.
Is the battery charge light lit in the tachometer when the engine is running?
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