Rough idle

[salspaugh1]

I'm the owner of a 1981 2000 Spider and have been experiencing rough idle on start up. The car runs fine on the road and doesn't seem to have any problems. The car is fuel injected and has a new fuel pump. After running on the road for a while, the idle returns to normal, but sometimes returns to a rough idle. I thought maybe the injectors might be the problem. Is it possible for the injectors to cause the problem at idle and perform normal at higher speed? I have run injection cleaner through and didn't see any real help. Any thoughts would be appreciated.



Steve Alspaugh
1981 Fiat Spider 2000

[grittracing]

1st thing i would try is to by pass the cat converter even if just for the test to see if that is the problem. if $$$ is keeping you from buying new injectors. try to pick up a couple or a set of used injectors. there are places the rebuild them and they usally like to give you back a matched set. with 5 % the more injectors you have the better they can do that. also I had one injector that was broke and needed a replament. if you send them only 4 it may take a while to get your car back on the road waiting for the mail. not sure how you have local. but there is a place in Big Rapids Michigan that I sent mine to cost me $17 per injector I think it was cruizen performance ? not sure on the spelling seemed he spelled it funny nice guy does alot of big name race car drivers injectors

[manoa matt]

Have you tried giggling the connector at the coolant temp sensor to see if its loose?

[salspaugh1]

To Manoa matt, I started the car and giggled the temperature sensor wire and the result was that the idle became very rough. When I let go of the wire the idle speed returned to normal. It appears the sensor unit is tight but that the wires are breaking contact when moved around. Should I just replace the unit? That was a great clue, and one I would have never thought of. You apparently know your Fiats. I also think I will look into rebuilding the injectors. The car has 130,000 miles but runs like a champ. Thanks for your help. It makes sense that the unit is not seeing a cold start and also why at times idle is normal and other times rough.


Steve Alspaugh
1981 Fiat Spider 2000

[So Cal Mark]

sounds like you need a new connector, not a sending unit

[salspaugh1]

To So CAl Mark. Yep you are correct, however, I found a bare spot on each of the wires. I taped the bare spots and it seemed to solve the problem. Maybe I will get lucky. Not sure how the wires got in that condition, but I will keep an eye on . It appears the protective sleeve had slid down a little. Once again, you guys have helped with a problem. Great website.


Steve Alspaugh
1981 Fiat Spider 2000