stalling 81

[wisconsingary]

Hey all. We are looking at adding another Spider to the fleet here. The one we are looking at is an 81 with fuel injection. The car is in good overall shape but has one hitch. The current owner confided that it has a tendency to simply stop running. You will be cruising along and it just stalls. She has been told by someone that this is fuel injection problem. Any advice?? Does this sound familiar to anyone? She says that the car always has restarted (coast off the road and restart and go). Knowing the electrical in Fiats, I wonder if this is more electrical than fuel injection.

I can get the car for under $1800 with 65,000 miles, but if the problem will be a thorn, I am not sure.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

[racydave]

How bad do you want it? Chances are the fix is simple, finding it is sometimes difficult...;

[rlux4]

That problem will most likely be traced to a faulty connection. It could be a ground, which on the later cars is easier to find because the grounds are grouped on a "pod". First thing I'd check though, is the fuse holder on the brown with white wire that supplies the dual relay with fused power. It's behind the main fuse panel. The original fuse holder takes the european style GBC fuse. The clamshell holder didn't make for a good solid connection and gave me the same headache when I first got my car. I replaced the inline fuse holder with a standard AGC type and solved the problem immediately.
Ron

[ga.spyder]

Sounds like a steal at that price.The f.i. systems on these cars is not that complicated,and there is plenty of troubleshooting help available. The fact that the car starts and runs well before dying ,means you have eliminated 75% of the gremlins.Here is a link to a great t'shooting guide.If you were to follow this,you will find the problem.If not...call rlux.Ron is the go to guy for fuelies!!
Craig
http://www.wcmotors.com/personal/Fiat%2 ... agnostics/

[launieg]

I agree. That sounds like a very good price if the car body is sound too. I recently had my '81 Fuel Injection spider stalling at random times. I found that the connections to the coil were loose, so when there was a load on the electrical system (such as when the fan came on) the car would stall. It would start up again in a few minutes. Tightened up the connections and it has never stalled since. Chances are that your potential problem is simple too.

[kristoj]

That's too cheap to pass up. The problem cannot possibly be that difficult to diagnose/repair.

[So Cal Mark]

sounds like a good buy. I'd look at the ignition switch for the problem after you get the car. Since it's intermittent, you might have to rig up a test light to connect at various spots to figure out where you lose power while driving

[mbouse]

if you don't want it, have the seller contact me. i can find a good home for it! i NEED a third car.

i also need another hole in my head.

great price if this is the only issue.

[ga.spyder]

I know I am second in line,but I am interested if you arent going to pursue it.I do need the aggravation of another Fiat(for my wife)
Craig