Ladies and Gentlemen.. Your diagnosis please..

Trotter

Hey all,

Just a quick second opinion required. In the past 2 weeks, the car (16v 98 punto) has been "shuddering" a bit as I go from second to third gear, and from 3rd to 4th. Today I had 3 other people in the car and it started to do a mini bunny hop from time to time in 4th.. nothing major but I noticed the engine losing power for a split second, especially going up hills. When Im on my own, I notice it most accelerating away from roundabouts in second gear.. just that split second loss of power and a slight shudder and off it goes as normal then. It usually happens between 1000 and 2500 rpm on the rev meter.


The plugs were changed in April and the plug leads changed 2 years ago. I suspect new plugs and leads might do the trick. Your thoughts??

crosstownk

Sounds like it could be a fuel supply problem related to engine load. Your best bet is to get a diagnostic check done to see if any faults are present. Plug leads/plugs may cure it or possibly its a coil problem.

I'm not a Fiat expert by any means - maybe others might thave more experience............

Trotter

crosstownk wrote:

Sounds like it could be a fuel supply problem related to engine load. Your best bet is to get a diagnostic check done to see if any faults are present. Plug leads/plugs may cure it or possibly its a coil problem.

I'm not a Fiat expert by any means - maybe others might thave more experience............

Cheers! Anyone else have any opinions?

Blue850

My brother a Cinquecento Sporting with the same problem, turns out it was the Lambda probe for the catalytic converter, probe is screwed into the exhaust usually near the front of the pipe, cost 25 euros for one from a scrapper, they are a common problem on Fiats with the FIRE engine.

Trotter

Sorry I forgot to update the post.. it looks like plug leads. The opposite end of them to the spark plug is starting to rust under the rubber so I've ordered a set. (90 quid.. grrr).

On a side note.. Theres a nut and bolt which holds a black filter like box over the plugs by screwing down into the engine block. I emmm... sheared it. Fear not.. theres two.. so it wont go rattling around.

Any tips on getting it out? Theres about 5mm peeping up over so thats what I've got to play with and the vice grips wont turn it, its just tearing the metal off the nut. Go me. :rolleyes:

maidhc

Trotter wrote:

Any tips on getting it out? Theres about 5mm peeping up over so thats what I've got to play with and the vice grips wont turn it, its just tearing the metal off the nut. Go me. :rolleyes:

spray wd40 on it, leave it a while. Put the vice grips on it TIGHT AS HELL and very gently try working it tight or loose. Once you break the seal it should come. If that fails its just a case of drilling it out or more likely leaving it be.

(If you manage to get it out put a bit of copper grease on the new bolt. it will make life easier for the next man who needs to open it.)

greglo23

something worth changing is the fuel filter which is located in front of the right hand rear wheel. the fiat filters are fairly small and get choked up easily which reduces your fuel pressure. they are mostly the cause of premature fuel-pump failure.

milltown

maidhc wrote:

spray wd40 on it, leave it a while. Put the vice grips on it TIGHT AS HELL and very gently try working it tight or loose. Once you break the seal it should come. If that fails its just a case of drilling it out or more likely leaving it be.

(If you manage to get it out put a bit of copper grease on the new bolt. it will make life easier for the next man who needs to open it.)

Try this with the engine hot too. The extra bit of expansion may be your friend.

Trotter

milltown wrote:

Try this with the engine hot too. The extra bit of expansion may be your friend.

Thats not a bad idea at all.. I'll be picking the leads up tomorrow (rare enough so they had to be ordered).. so I'll give it a good dose of WD40 while the engine is hot and then hope for the best.

IrishRover

Trotter wrote:

Sorry I forgot to update the post.. it looks like plug leads. The opposite end of them to the spark plug is starting to rust under the rubber so I've ordered a set. (90 quid.. grrr).

Nice one for updating the thread.
FYI, I've bought Magnecor leads for less than that.

Trotter

IrishRover wrote:

Nice one for updating the thread.
FYI, I've bought Magnecor leads for less than that.

Is there any website where I could get the lead model I need and compare prices?

IrishRover

Go to Magnecor's site to find the part number for your model. The parts catalog is available over several PDF files.
http://www.magnecor.co.uk/applications.htm KV80s are blue and KV85 are red. These are "sports" and "professional racing". Either way, they're not going to give you any performance improvement, they're just very good quality cables that will last the lifetime of any car IMO.

Unfortunately you can't buy from them directly though (at least not just the one set). I have bought from some of their authorised agents in the UK though.

They have a list on the website of some of their agents. I find it easier even in Ireland to order from UK websites. Cheaper and quicker in my experience so far anyway!

JHMEG

Halfords stock generic lead sets, made by Bosch afaik. Don't remember prices...

Trotter

Right... €80 quid. I havent put them in yet, I'll do it today when the engine cools a bit.

Here's what they look like.. its an odd lookin lad.

Trotter

Right.. Job done. The ends of the leads (The metal bits) had corroded on the 2 I didnt look at and were in an awful state. They disintegrated when I took them off so it was just as well I had the new ones ready.

Its driving like a dream now.. nice and smooth with 16v's of joy lol

Now.. how to get that nut out. Sigh.. it never ends.


Thanks for all the help!