Here is the story, my dad just bought a 1979 Spider, test drove just fine, picked it up took it ACROSS THE STREET for a fill up, would not start, so I pushed it to bump start it, it will start but not stay running. Jumped it will start but not stay running, I think alternator. Any help and advice please I just wanna get this thing running, so my dad can finally have a toy.
Fuel pump? See if youre getting fuel to the carbs. If not, Try lightly tapping it with something if it justneeds some percussive maintenance.
Once I let the batt charge a lil, it ran under its own, it will rev and everything
Fuel or fire, you need to determine which is the problem. A '79 is still carb'd, so I think should have a mechanical fuel pump. Fuel pump relays on the FI models were sometimes a problem, but yours wouldn't have one.
If it's not getting spark, the most common failure on those is the distributor pickup. It's the fairly big white wire that comes out of the distributor itself. If you remove the cap, check to see if it's got green corrosion on the leads inside. If it does, or it looks old and frayed, replace it. $42 from Midwest Bayless (my preferred supplier).
The other ignition related problem I used to see is the ignition module located on the back of the coil. No way to tell by looking at it. Fiat only sold these with the coil for a big chunk of cash back in the day, but they are actually the same part used by GM on a lot of their stuff. $22 from Midwest Bayless.
If you find it's fuel related, check to see if the pump diaphragm has gone bad. Either the pump will leak externally or you'll get fuel in your oil (smell the oil, or look for an increased oil level with the oil being oddly thin). Other problems on these are dirt related: crud in the carb bowl, crud in the tank clogging the pickup screen (you can pull the float assy out for a look) or rusty/deteriorating tank/lines if the thing has sat a lot.
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There, that answer solved it for you!
^haha, that's the thing, when it is hooked up to another car it runs perfectly fine. I'm gonna try and limp it home today so I can have a place to work on it with some tools, anyone know how long those battery jump packs last lol
Sounds like it's pretty clearly the alternator then. Replace it.
Yeah, I'm hoping it's an easy fix like that, just gotta get it home, nobody has one local got to order it. Thanks for all the help guys I really appreciate it.
79 should have a mechanical fuel pump.. the earlier 1.8 cars had electric. 79 also has the worst carb and cam combo. the 2.0 has so much overlap it does -not- like to rev at all (the earlier and smaller engines would rev till they blew apart somewhere north of 10 grand)
The biggest issue facing the 79 and later cars is the grounds. Rather than having them scattered all over the car (and close to the device they are grounding) fiat went to central grounds. Make sure they are tight and clean or you will always have electrical issues
Yeah I just drove it home, and it does not have any go. It was pretty fun to drive though. I did read a little about people swapping some 1978 parts to get rid of smog, and better power. Do they just swap the whole head and carb? I dont know if my dad would do any swapping but it will be good to know if i convince him it will be less of a headache.
mad_machine wrote: The biggest issue facing the 79 and later cars is the grounds. Rather than having them scattered all over the car (and close to the device they are grounding) fiat went to central grounds. Make sure they are tight and clean or you will always have electrical issues
Can't tell you how many people buy all sorts of electrical items for their cars or other devices which depend on electricity with little or no improvement. If you don't have a good ground, you don't have a good circuit no matter what else is going on.
Always when troubleshooting electrical circuits or problems, regardless of whether that circuit is in your home or your car, etc., etc. and regardless of the brand and year of your car or other device, check your grounds and/or neutrals early on. If that doesn't help, double check again. Remember on a machine vibration can totally blow all your static test results out of the water.
As I'm sitting here thinking further...I'd check the condition of the battery itself and the alternator (which may also have a replaceable voltage regulator on the backside). I've had batteries do all kinds of bizarre things. My personal favorite is when they hold 12+ volts but have an internal short and the juice can't flow out of them. Might want to try a different battery first.
As to the carb upgrade, you can back-date the 2.0 to 1.8 carb/intake fairly inexpensively. The 2.0 intake has teeny-weeny passages which you can see if you take the carb off. It is a bolt-on affair to the 2.0 head but will require blocking off some junk for which you will need metric pipe thread fittings that you aren't going to find at the local hardware store. Check with the Fiat specialists like Midwest Bayless and see what they have. There is one odd port that runs across the front of the head to the exhaust manifold that you can leave 'open' if you change the exhaust manifold also (and I would also change that to the 1.8 stuff). Drivability and response will go up nicely with this conversion.
Always the first thing.
Corroded or loose battery terminals.
iceracer wrote: Always the first thing. Corroded or loose battery terminals.
I agree. However, CHECK BOTH ENDS OF THE BATTERY CABLES. DON'T JUST CHECK THE BATTERY SIDE END.
also remember.. the battery cable in a 124 spider has a full length positive cable from battery to starter and two jumper grounds. one from battery to body of the car and one from car to engine. The battery is in the trunk for those that are not familier with the spider
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