Made the longest trip yet in the fiat today. weather was mid to upper 30s. Ran well. Seemed to do very nicely on the gas in comparison to what I've been getting. Need to fill up to get more info on that. It was an 80 mile round trip (40+40). the 40 there was still longer than anything I'd done to this point, so i was excited to have it do so well. I need to get minor stuff taken care of on this car so I can start to work on suspension and such. It just feels a little squirrelly at high speeds (like needs shock/strutwork, steering is solid)
Upon return I let it idle in the driveway and it seems to drag a little every once in a while (maybe for 2 seconds every 10sec to a minute-pretty random). What might be the cause of this. No electricals are running and fan is consistent. Might this be alternator related anyway?
Long trip was a success
-
So Cal Mark
Re: Long trip was a success
congratulations on the trip, as for your idle trouble does the rpm vary?
-
Danno
Re: Long trip was a success
yes, but without a gauge i dunno how much, I'd guess minimal 250ish.So Cal Mark wrote:congratulations on the trip, as for your idle trouble does the rpm vary?
-
mbouse
Re: Long trip was a success
that is just all that Italian performance under the hood restraining itself.....
seriously, take the gas cap off and see if the surge/drag goes away. you are posting different symptoms on different topics....and i bet they all belong on the same post.
seriously, take the gas cap off and see if the surge/drag goes away. you are posting different symptoms on different topics....and i bet they all belong on the same post.
-
Danno
Re: Long trip was a success
fair enough. good eye to catch that. clear as day once someone points it out to you. let me try that sometime....mbouse wrote:that is just all that Italian performance under the hood restraining itself.....
seriously, take the gas cap off and see if the surge/drag goes away. you are posting different symptoms on different topics....and i bet they all belong on the same post.
-
Danno
Re: Long trip was a success
I can't believe it, but the numbers show...I got 28mpg on that trip!
I had complained to Mbouse in an email that I was gettin 15 or 17 mixed driving (really mostly city) and hoped it was mainly due to the spirited stop and go since it was a new fun toy. and now (with winterized fuel, mind you) this? crazy. seriously the only difference was that I fixed that kinked hose off the tank, and it was mostly 60mph driving (I hit three small towns with 25-40mph speed limits)
Sure I could have had a less than perfect fill at the tank, but for those 80.6 miles I only fit about 2.863 gallons in. let's say I could have squeezed 3 or 3.25 that still bumps me to 26.86mpg or 24.8mpg. or lets say my speedo is off (i doubt it based on google maps) minimum I could have driven is to hospital for beths ultrasound and back (but I made a stop at my sisters and took BIL for a quick spin.) so WORST CASE SCENARIO was it was 3.25 gal for 76.8miles and that's 23.6mpg.
I had complained to Mbouse in an email that I was gettin 15 or 17 mixed driving (really mostly city) and hoped it was mainly due to the spirited stop and go since it was a new fun toy. and now (with winterized fuel, mind you) this? crazy. seriously the only difference was that I fixed that kinked hose off the tank, and it was mostly 60mph driving (I hit three small towns with 25-40mph speed limits)
Sure I could have had a less than perfect fill at the tank, but for those 80.6 miles I only fit about 2.863 gallons in. let's say I could have squeezed 3 or 3.25 that still bumps me to 26.86mpg or 24.8mpg. or lets say my speedo is off (i doubt it based on google maps) minimum I could have driven is to hospital for beths ultrasound and back (but I made a stop at my sisters and took BIL for a quick spin.) so WORST CASE SCENARIO was it was 3.25 gal for 76.8miles and that's 23.6mpg.
-
mbouse
Re: Long trip was a success
i generally don't fret over mpg, s'long as i have no indications or probable cause to suspect problems.
Drove to Missouri with the '80 for FFO '05.. pre-mods, meaning I had stock intake and stock carb. Kept track of mpg for something to do on the trip. I averaged 26.09 mpg on that 1400 mile trip. that is average of two lane, city, town, and expressway travel over the course of several days.
Winter of '06 I finished the mods to include a 32/36 DFEV Weber and an 1800 single plane intake. experienced severe smiling problems associated with giddy spirited driving all thru the driving season.
just for the heck of it, i kept track of mpg during the now infamous HALF-WAY AROUND LAKE MICHIGAN excursion this past summer. If you value your life, don't take a Spider downtown Chicago!! Anyway, mods completed continues to fuel the mashed pedal symptoms.....and the test revealed nearly 26 mpg for that trip too.....
Some day i should actually attempt a "normal" driving test post modifications to determine the true net effect of desmogging....naw!
i would expect you to be in similar ranges. So forgive me if i am too elementary when i ask:
1. have you checked the condition of your plugs?
2. timing is set correctly?
3. rpm at idle set correctly?
4. have you performed a compression check at each cylinder?
cuz i am suspecting a too rich setting, or you are passing raw gas thru the system. 15-17 mpg is too low.
Drove to Missouri with the '80 for FFO '05.. pre-mods, meaning I had stock intake and stock carb. Kept track of mpg for something to do on the trip. I averaged 26.09 mpg on that 1400 mile trip. that is average of two lane, city, town, and expressway travel over the course of several days.
Winter of '06 I finished the mods to include a 32/36 DFEV Weber and an 1800 single plane intake. experienced severe smiling problems associated with giddy spirited driving all thru the driving season.
just for the heck of it, i kept track of mpg during the now infamous HALF-WAY AROUND LAKE MICHIGAN excursion this past summer. If you value your life, don't take a Spider downtown Chicago!! Anyway, mods completed continues to fuel the mashed pedal symptoms.....and the test revealed nearly 26 mpg for that trip too.....
Some day i should actually attempt a "normal" driving test post modifications to determine the true net effect of desmogging....naw!
i would expect you to be in similar ranges. So forgive me if i am too elementary when i ask:
1. have you checked the condition of your plugs?
2. timing is set correctly?
3. rpm at idle set correctly?
4. have you performed a compression check at each cylinder?
cuz i am suspecting a too rich setting, or you are passing raw gas thru the system. 15-17 mpg is too low.
-
Danno
Re: Long trip was a success
Looked like I was running rich. Not TOO bad, but I could tell.mbouse wrote: i would expect you to be in similar ranges. So forgive me if i am too elementary when i ask:
1. have you checked the condition of your plugs?
Looks good on all accounts2. timing is set correctly?
done by ear, need to get that tach from Denise- Appears to be ok, same with idle mixture.3. rpm at idle set correctly?
On my to-do list. I haven't purchased my own gauge, so I'm waiting until my trip to my parent's place this spring (Dad has one). Car seems to drive and run fairly well, but I can't help but be avoidant about the whole thing as I don't look forward to the work that would be involved as long as I'm still garageless (if the numbers suggest I need to rebuild or whatnot).4. have you performed a compression check at each cylinder?
I've chatted with Jon Logan about my estimations of my rich system, and I know I've just got too many little things to work out before I know what problems might exist in my a/f settings and jets. It is possible that I need a smaller jet, but per Jon's estimations I should be good with what I got.cuz i am suspecting a too rich setting, or you are passing raw gas thru the system. 15-17 mpg is too low.
I still feel that I might be ok with my mpgs. Don't forget that you got those numbers during warm weather driving and with summer fuel. That winterized crap really hurts and I've got 100,000 miles worth of receipts on my Aerio to prove it (well, ok, there are about 100 small things that hurt your mpgs in the winter, but fuel is one of them!)
I didn't really mean to figure all my problems out in this post, I know I've got to fix a handful of things, but I was just surprised to get that 28 when I filled this morning, so I thought it was worth posting.