Bucking and hesitation, when pedal is down to the metal.

[Fiatracertracer]

Took her out for a spin after solving some oil leaks and while traveling at cruising speeds on the highway I floored it to pass a slower vehicle ahead of me and felt hesitation and bucking loss of power as if the fuel was cutting out. But if I kept the speed at 55mph or just above that, all was well.

Could this be a fuel delivery issue?

[toplessexpat]

Could be. Check the fuel filter. When it bucks is there a backfire through the carb? It could be that the car is running a little lean (if the filter is dirty, replace it), if it's still bucking or the filter wasn't dirty, try riching up the carb slightly.

My assumption here is that you've got a carbed car, not an FI....

[Fiatracertracer]

Toplessexpat, I own a 1982 fuel injected spider. filter was recently changed with fuel pump.

Not sure how to make the mix richer or not.

[toplessexpat]

Ok... a whole new bunch of stuff then

Assuming that the battery is fully charged, with tight connections, clean grounds, fuel is good

- Check the air intake hose for cracks (replace if it is)
- Check all the air hoses for leaks (replace if it is)
- Check the AFM flap is moving freely (if it's not it will need replacing or mending)
- Ignition pick up inside the distributor (which you can check while you have the dizzy out fixing the oil leak )

Here's some very useful guides:

For the engine: http://www.artigue.com/fiatcontent/Arti ... 124_MM.pdf

... and for the inevitable electrical gremlins: http://www.artigue.com/fiatcontent/Wiring_1980_1982.pdf

A

[Fiatracertracer]

The battery is fully charged, connections are tight, grounds are clean and the fuel is good

- No visible cracks around the air intake hose.

- There was a detached air intake hose by the gas canister.... reattached it and noticed that the hesitation has been reduced but is still present.

- AFM flap is going to be what I check next. This is the device that is right above the air filter housing.... yes?

- I would like to replace the distributor with the Dizzy one but it calls for quite a bit of change. This will not happen.

So I will need to check the pick up on the inside of the distributor. Working on the electrical part of the car is not my thing.

[toplessexpat]

Get some carb cleaner sprayed around those hoses! Cracks can be very (very) small. If the engine changes tempo at all - you've found a leak.

On the dizzy. It's really a straight forward job to change - and that's about to be made easier as I believe Mark is about to release a cam mounted unit.... Which will make the entire job even quicker!

AFM is above the air intake. There's a plastic cover which you can take a peek inside.... If the copper track is scored, then it's probably going to warrant some tweaking. Next detach the large intake hose, unbolt the unit and peer inside. You should be able to see the flap.

In the first link I previously posted is a great diagnostic from Brad Artigue who has forgotten more about these than I will ever know. If the AFM flap is not good (warped - which can happen from a single backfire), or not opening / closing all the way then remedial work is needed.

If all is well, then I normally pull the FI computer plug and start testing the components with a multimeter. Oxygen sensor would be a suspect too.

A

[4uall]

here is a good video on replacing/fixing the distributor you should already have

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7_6_PsweOk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzYxTlV8kKs

[toplessexpat]

Thanks Jay - you really are a very helpful chap!

A

[4uall]