Fiat 124 Spider 1972

Hi Folks! I'm asking for a friend of mine - a new owner of this model.

1600 motor, Weber carbs, points ignition, manual choke. The car refuses to start on the self starter when warm. If pushed it'll start right away. He's changed the starter motor to no avail. Any ideas? Bill, DK
Reply to
Bill C.
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Dodgy battery, possibly. When cranking the engine there's not enough oomph to give a spark. Easily tested by borrowing another battery or trying a jump start.

Reply to
Steve Firth

Another possibility is flooding carburettor (I had the same problem with a Morris which turned out to be that). Check the float and needle valve.

If it is none of those, suspect the condenser, the coil, or the distributor cap. Any of those could give hot start problems.

Jim

Reply to
Jim Warren

Can we please get one thing straight before we all pile in. Does refuse to start on the self starter mean that the starter motor doesn't turn the engine or that the starter motor turns the engine at normal cranking speed but the engine doesn't fire? Or somewhere in between the two?

Ron Robinson

Reply to
R N Robinson

That's easy to answer, YES.

Alan...

Reply to
Alan Smith

"R N Robinson" skrev i en meddelelse news:g6dc9q$nip$ snipped-for-privacy@aioe.org...

I'll clarify: Engine warm (stopped < 15 minutes ago). Get in car. Key in. Ignition on. Key turned. Starter relay engages. Starter motor turns. Starter cogs engage. Engine turns at a reasonable speed. Engine refuses to start.

Finish the ice cream which was the reason for stopping. Ask friendly passers-by to give a push ( at the back of the car ). Get in car. Key in. Ignition on. Passers-by push ( on the back of the car ) Disengage clutch. Engage second gear. Engage clutch. Engine turns. Engine starts.

Sorry if the vagueness of my previous mail confused you. Thankyou all for the suggestions - keep them coming.

Bill, DK

Reply to
Bill C.

Does it turn over slower when hot? If not you can assume the starter's ok. I'd go for the mixture being wrong. But obviously check the voltage at the coil to make sure it is the same as at the battery when cranking - or the correct amount if a cold start coil.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

No, it didn't confuse us, just didn't give us enough to work on. Now we have, well almost but I'll come to that later, and the really important bit is the ice cream that you finished before getting the push start. What I reckon happened is that for some reason the engine had flooded (petrol level in the float chamber too high?) but by the time you finished the ice cream enough of the petrol had evaporated to enable the plugs, now getting the full current from the battery unencumbered by the starter motor, to fire the mixture. What you didn't tell us was whether the car had been parked facing up hill - this can make matters worse if the float chamber needle valve is prone to leak and over fill the chamber ( if the engine layout is as I think it is). If this happens again, try slowly pressing the accelerator pedal right to the floor and working the starter again, that way you should get enough air through to dilute the mixture to something the plugs can fire. Don't stamp on the pedal or the accelerator pump(s) will only make matters temporarily worse.

Good luck

Ron Robinson

Reply to
R N Robinson

The ignition is controlled by a relay that requires _either_ starter current, or oil pressure, before it will power the ignition. If this isn't working, it might not fire when you expect. Does it fire if you crank it until the oil pressure warning light goes out? (the usual way this failure manifests itself).

(Danmark? I think it's still the same)

Reply to
Andy Dingley

If it works on oil pressure that should effectively rule out push starts - except by several very fit people. . .

Ron Robinson

Reply to
R N Robinson

Thankyou all for the ideas/theories/suggestions. I'll be trying them all out together with the owner of the car, and I'll let you know the results. Bill, DK

"Bill C." skrev i en meddelelse news:488a222f$0$90264$ snipped-for-privacy@news.sunsite.dk...

Reply to
Bill C.

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