now a daily driver

[JeremyB]

Expired plates on the truck, coupled with the fact that I need new tires ($600) menas the truck will sit. So now my ZFiat is my daily driver. The FIat has been running very good lately. With my luck since I plan in driving it daily over teh next few weeks, something will go wrong with it.

[Spiddy]

Hey, don't worry. Nothing can possibly go wrong! All this nonsence of unreliability is just that - nonsence. Oh, and another thing; they don't rust either. These negative stories are simply cunning ploys put about by clever spider enthusiasts, so as to keep the values low and thus enabling us to buy them for far less than we all know they are truly worth.

Look at it logically, if everyone said Ferrari were crap, we could all afford one of those as well.

[ga.spyder]

O.K...Ferraris are crap ! There Spiddy ,I said it.How long now until I can afford one? I'm going to ebay now to pick it out!!!
Craig

[KRegester]

Hey Lambros, Porsche and Lotus are even lower that whale crap. They fall apart as you leave the dealer's lot.
I just read it on the Internet so it must be true.. http://www.fiatspider.com:16080/f08/vie ... 586#p22586
Everyone pass it on..

[Spiddy]

O.K...Ferraris are crap ! There Spiddy ,I said it.How long now until I can afford one? I'm going to ebay now to pick it out!!!
Craig

Sadly, it needs everyone to say it When that happens, please form an orderly queue behind me

[JeremyB]

Wouldn't you know it, the first coupl edays as a dialy driver, I start hearing new noises! I drove it yesterday, and there ws a nasty storm that I got caught itn. After the rain blew over, and things started drying out, the L/F started squeaking. It seems to be coming from a control arm bushing. Makes no sense. I cranked em down properly, tourqe specs correct, even had extra weight inside. I wonder if there is still water that worked its way into the bushings, and will squeak for a while until it dries out?
I have always run the Fiat on mid grade gas. I mistakingly filled up wioth 87 octane, and that evening, I noticed a litle engine clatter. Im gonna top it off with a higher octane, to see if it helps.
Oh well, its not like the cross member will speerate from the car due to some squeaking ( ihope).

[JeremyB]

After posting my last message, I went in to work to pick up soem overtime. On the way in, the Fiat broke down on me! So I guess I jinxed my self.
I was driving down the highway when I heard a weird air burst/sucking noise, followed by a dead gas pedal, and deceleration. Put it in neutral and realized the engine was not running. While coasting along the shoulder, I tried starting it a couple times. Turned over very stron for a few seconds, then heard the same weird noise. Sam result every time I tried to start it. Stopped, poped hood, checked a few options. Jiggled some wires. Nothing found. Tried turning over again, same result.
I could smell a little gas, so I knew fuel wasnt a problem. Knew charging system was ok, due to strong turn over while trying to start. SO it only left ignition system. Looked at dist car and realized it was LOOSE! How the hell did this happen?
Tightened it down, turned key..... same thing. Took off cap, removed rotor. I noticed there was a weird orangish color at teh base of teh rotor. WTF! Opened spares bag, installed new rotor, tightened up cap, and it fired right up.
At this point I was running a few minutes late for work, so I decided not a stand on the shoulder of the heighway to inspect the old rotor.
After thinking about it for a while, I think I figured it out. Well, at least I figured out the rotor issue (not what led to the cap loosening). As I said in my previous post, I got caught ina massive storn int eh fiat. I'm thinking soem water got under the loose cap, and caused rust on the base of the rotor. This makes sense to me.
But WYF caused the bolts ont he cap to loosen? I may not be a genius, but I dont think Im stupid enough to not tighten the cap bolts..... I hope.

[ga.spyder]

I dont know what could make them loosen ,unless they were stripped.Not long ago I was taking a buddy for a ride and my car just quit...died for no reason! Wouldnt restart ,so I popped the hood and found my air sensor disconnected from the airbox.It seems some dumb*#@ (ME) forgot to tighten the clamp!! Quick fix and on my way.

Good luck ,Craig

[mdrburchette]

One of the screws in my dist cap loosens up constantly too. I thought I'd put a little JB Weld on it to keep it from working loose.

[JeremyB]

After examining the rotor, its not rust on it. The loose cap definately played a part int he breakdown, but the crap at the base of the rotor is a hard brownish orange color. It is a hard substance that cannot be esily scraped away. It is around the base, goes up inside to the top of the opening to place it on the dist shaft. I dont know WTF it is. It weird?
As for the cap being loose, hell I could have forgotten to tighten it down, but I think it would have become a problem by now. I drove it up to Wi. and back, drove the piss out of it in town. Ya owuld think it would have made its self apparent to me by now. But the fiat reminds me of my old Triumph motorcycle. A mind of its own. I guess I should start conducting sacrifices of small neighbor hood pets to satisfy my fiat. I think I'll start with a neighbors little toy dog. One of those little annoying ankle biters.
So should I slit its throat and pour the blood down the carb? Or would the cam bopx oil filler be a better option. Or better yet. I should place the kick dog corpse on the hood, close the garage door, and let the fiat do with it as she pleases?

[JeremyB]

I think I figured out the crap on the rotor. The crap inside it could be plastic. The are signs on the rotor of it having contact with the cap. If the rotor is spinning properly, and the cap is loose, it could have hit the rotor. It looks like the metal insert inside the rotor could have been spun inside the rotor. With the inser tspinning, it could have melted a little bit of the rotor plastic. I can barely see some small grooves that go around on the inside.

[ga.spyder]

The Fiat gods seem to prefer virgin sacrifices.There are few in my area so I may have to travel.
Craig

[JeremyB]

The Fiat gods aren't getting my 4 year old daughter, so I will be forced to use virgin neighborhood animals. The only other options are goin back to the hood where I used to work and abducting crackheads, but they havent been virgins for a long time. Maybe if I offer ten of them in the plac eof one virgin, the gods will smile. Hell, If the fiat gods dont smile, at least the tax payers will when they find out I reduced the amount of those draining tax $.

[So Cal Mark]

seems like a terrible waste of virgins and small pets. Why not sacrifice oil company execs instead?

[Curly]

I'm sure a politician would be an acceptable replacement .