My new 1985 X 1/9
- Thread starter Keithx1/9
- Start date
kmead
Old enough to know better
Hah! My car’s twin!
My car came from South Pasadena (in 1993 and has now been across the country for thirty years)
Keep us in the loop and do not hesitate to ask questions. It’s not a hard car to work on but some of the techniques are a bit different from other cars if you have never worked on a Fiat.
There is an excellent thread in Best of Xweb written by Matt Brannon you should read, lots of good pointers there.
All the best and welcome.
My car came from South Pasadena (in 1993 and has now been across the country for thirty years)
Keep us in the loop and do not hesitate to ask questions. It’s not a hard car to work on but some of the techniques are a bit different from other cars if you have never worked on a Fiat.
There is an excellent thread in Best of Xweb written by Matt Brannon you should read, lots of good pointers there.
All the best and welcome.
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Keithx1/9
Daily Driver
That is so cool.
Keithx1/9
Daily Driver
I am in need of a little help to just get me going. I am a reasonably good home raised mechanic but I am struggling to get this girl going. Is there any local Fiat mechanics that I can maybe pay to get her started. I think that it might a relatively a simple issue that I am just missing
kmead
Old enough to know better
My X was stored for over a decade and although all the systems were working most of the injectors were unfortunately clogged. Not irretrievably but not flowing well.
I drained my gas, put in a new gallon of gas plus two large containers of techroline added and changed the fuel filter. I then forced the fuel pump to run by holding open the flap in the AFM assembly with the ignition switch in the ON position which ’washed’ the back side of the injectors which have particulate screens.
My car would sort of run on a couple of cylinders but it was clear not all the injectors were providing fuel.
I then used some starting fluid sprayed into the intake plenum to get the engine to run and tapped on the body of the injectors which freed several of them up and eventually they all started flowing properly.
These injectors can last the life of the car and can be cleaned and rebuilt. There are companies who will clean them and balance them so they flow the correct amount of fuel. New ones are also available but the ones you have are fixable if they are the problem.
The injection system is extremely simple and reliable, it is rare to have an ECU or other parts fail but it can happen (it is old after all).
Remember that an engine needs three things to run: to be in time, fuel (and air) and spark. If any one of the things is missing or incorrect then it won’t start. Is the timing belt actually turning the camshaft and auxiliary shaft (the distributor is on the aux shaft), by taking the black plastic cap off the top of the timing cover you can see the cam turn, the distributor cap off the distributor. Do you have spark? Do you have fuel?
Are those elements in time with the crank shaft? This is a bit more work to verify but not that difficult. Take the panel off that opens between the spare tire well and the engine bay (the nuts are in the spare tire well) so you can look at the distributor directly versus observing it from afar. Remove the distributor cap and then rotate the engine to TDC as indicated at the crank pulley. Then go around to the transmission bell housing and underneath the thermostat housing you will find a window with numbers 10, 5 and 0, there will be a dimple on the flywheel visible which should be pointing to 0. Now go to the camshaft top cover and look in, there is a pointer on the sheet metal back cover and on the cam wheel there is a dimple which should align. Now go look at the distributor, the rotor should be pointing at the screw on the side of the body of the distributor like this:
This has the rotor pointing to #4 spark plug which is how these engines are timed.
Once you have verified this and you have spark and fuel it should run.
KBabcock
True Classic
Karl, I think you're going to be my new best friend as I dig into this. The PO on my car said he was able to start it but after a little it would die out. Sounds like it was running on the cold start injector and the mains were not working. I'll have some time this weekend to start the testing to narrow down the issue. Still need to conform some stuff (Timing, spark, plug gap, ect...) but the PO did know the car well and was restoring it so most of his work has checked out OK. Of course all his work was done over 10 years ago before he stored the car. This weekend will check fuel pump and pressure and see if the injectors are firing. Tank is clean, all lines replaced, new fuel filter installed, and a screen pre-filter installed. Starter fluid ready to go. The only annoyance I have is I need to buy a new 2 gallon gas can, the two I have are filed with 10 year old gas which I am trying to figure out what to do with.
Keith, hope you don't mind me jumping in here but it looks like we are going down the same road and can help each other if you choose to do the work yourself. I am also a self taught mechanic and feel I can figure out anything given the manuels and time. These guys on the site are able to fill in all the unwritten knowledge that has been a life saver for me. To the Brotherhood of the 85s. Yes I am a big Tollkien fan.
Keithx1/9
Daily Driver
That would be great. Thank youKarl, I think you're going to be my new best friend as I dig into this. The PO on my car said he was able to start it but after a little it would die out. Sounds like it was running on the cold start injector and the mains were not working. I'll have some time this weekend to start the testing to narrow down the issue. Still need to conform some stuff (Timing, spark, plug gap, ect...) but the PO did know the car well and was restoring it so most of his work has checked out OK. Of course all his work was done over 10 years ago before he stored the car. This weekend will check fuel pump and pressure and see if the injectors are firing. Tank is clean, all lines replaced, new fuel filter installed, and a screen pre-filter installed. Starter fluid ready to go. The only annoyance I have is I need to buy a new 2 gallon gas can, the two I have are filed with 10 year old gas which I am trying to figure out what to do with.
Keith, hope you don't mind me jumping in here but it looks like we are going down the same road and can help each other if you choose to do the work yourself. I am also a self taught mechanic and feel I can figure out anything given the manuels and time. These guys on the site are able to fill in all the unwritten knowledge that has been a life saver for me. To the Brotherhood of the 85s. Yes I am a big Tollkien fan.
Keith, please post some pictures of the rest of the car, interior, engine bay, etc so we can help you evaluate what you have. If it is a life long CA car it is probably a really good candidate for coming back to life.
It is amazing to me that Bertone made so many of that color scheme. It must have been an 80s thing since it is obvious they sold them all.
Are we doing 85X before and afters? OK Mine was in primer when I got it in 2013. Now it is not.
It is amazing to me that Bertone made so many of that color scheme. It must have been an 80s thing since it is obvious they sold them all.
Are we doing 85X before and afters? OK
Mine was in primer when I got it in 2013. Now it is not.
KBabcock
True Classic
Not at all and you are right on target
Do you have a copy of the FI troubleshooting guide?
KBabcock
True Classic
Very nice, love those wheels. My "after" pic is still a year away. The 85 Fellowship grows.Keith, please post some pictures of the rest of the car, interior, engine bay, etc so we can help you evaluate what you have. If it is a life long CA car it is probably a really good candidate for coming back to life.
It is amazing to me that Bertone made so many of that color scheme. It must have been an 80s thing since it is obvious they sold them all.
Are we doing 85X before and afters? OK
View attachment 63249View attachment 63250
Jonohhh
True Classic
So many 85's here. My 85' (my only X) was a Cali car but I had it shipped from LA to TX and then picked it up from there.
Welcome to the forum, Keith. There's lots of very knowledgeable people here that should be able to enable you to do anything you need to get your car running!
Word of advice from someone who just got into X1/9s a year or so ago: be. delicate.
These cars are very, very different to work on than an American car, for example, where whacking things with hammers is often a viable solution to any problem. That approach- unless its an absolute last resort- will burn a hole through your pocket, the floor where you're standing, and the crust of the earth very quickly. This is especially true for anything plastic or involving clips. Parts availability isn't terrible, but work on the car as if every part you touch is rare and potentially shared with a Ferrari. It just might be
Cheers!
Jon
Welcome to the forum, Keith. There's lots of very knowledgeable people here that should be able to enable you to do anything you need to get your car running!
Word of advice from someone who just got into X1/9s a year or so ago: be. delicate.
These cars are very, very different to work on than an American car, for example, where whacking things with hammers is often a viable solution to any problem. That approach- unless its an absolute last resort- will burn a hole through your pocket, the floor where you're standing, and the crust of the earth very quickly. This is especially true for anything plastic or involving clips. Parts availability isn't terrible, but work on the car as if every part you touch is rare and potentially shared with a Ferrari. It just might be
Cheers!
Jon
Bryce-o-rama
True Classic
Or a Lamborghini, ask an owner of a 1967 850 Spider how much a replacement covered headlight might cost because it is shared with the Miura.Parts availability isn't terrible, but work on the car as if every part you touch is rare and potentially shared with a Ferrari. It just might be
RUDYKYX19
Low Mileage
mine was originally gold as well. the dealer painted it in red, stored it for a while then needed money to run his shop and i bought it 1988.
took it to ABU DHABI, UAE for 7 years, then back to Germany until 2001, in storage for 6 years now in the Cayman islands since 6 years. repainted again trying to get it on the road, corrosion, electrics/ignition, hydraulics etc. are an issue. but i am getting there. still a lot of fun and frustration to work on it..
took it to ABU DHABI, UAE for 7 years, then back to Germany until 2001, in storage for 6 years now in the Cayman islands since 6 years. repainted again trying to get it on the road, corrosion, electrics/ignition, hydraulics etc. are an issue. but i am getting there. still a lot of fun and frustration to work on it..
KBabcock
True Classic
Well I had a little time this afternoon and started the start up preprocess. Pulled all the plugs a scoped the cyleder interiors then ATF oil them. Piston and cylinder wall all looked clean as a whistle. The only concern was I did see noticeable corrosion on the valve seats, not sure if this is a problem or not.
Filled the tank with 4 gallons of fresh fuel. Ran the fuel pump till I heard the fuel recirculing back to the tank to clear out the old fuel in the FI system. Now was the moment of truth.
Turned the car over and nothing. Sprayed some start fluid into the intake, turned it over again and still nothing but I could smell eather from the starting fluid. I believe I’m not getting a spark, need to start tracing that down. Any common issues that I should be aware of. Areas I would think I need to check assuming I don’t see a spark at the spark plug are the distributed, coil and worse case the electronic ignition system.
Thoughts?
Filled the tank with 4 gallons of fresh fuel. Ran the fuel pump till I heard the fuel recirculing back to the tank to clear out the old fuel in the FI system. Now was the moment of truth.
Turned the car over and nothing. Sprayed some start fluid into the intake, turned it over again and still nothing but I could smell eather from the starting fluid. I believe I’m not getting a spark, need to start tracing that down. Any common issues that I should be aware of. Areas I would think I need to check assuming I don’t see a spark at the spark plug are the distributed, coil and worse case the electronic ignition system.
Thoughts?
kmead
Old enough to know better
The first thing is to ensure you have the wire from the distributor to the coil attached. This little detail occurs more often than one would think.
Is the timing belt actually turning, one can tell by watching the distributor rotor.
If all the above is true, then its time to crack the Fuel Injection Troubleshooting Manual open to go through step by step
https://xwebforums.com/wiki/index.php?title=FuelInjectionTroubleshooting
there is also an electrical diagnosis manual
Electrical Diagnostic Manual 1980 - 1981.pdf
drive.google.com
You are now into the tedious part of the program…
KBabcock
True Classic
Thanks, I did not that trouble shooting guild but your original suspect was correct. One of the coil wires had pull off, easy fix. So when I tried to start it again while cranking it suddenly and abruptly stops cranking. Nothing mechanical stopping it as I can push the car in gear and see the engine turn. I’m thinking a time issue or spark plug wire on the wrong cylinder. The PO has the wrong distributor cap, all leads point straight up rather then 90 degrees. Should still work, going over the setting and wires now. I’ll continue this under the work section as a new post as I did not mean to hi jack Keiths thread.The first thing is to ensure you have the wire from the distributor to the coil attached. This little detail occurs more often than one would think.
Is the timing belt actually turning, one can tell by watching the distributor rotor.
If all the above is true, then its time to crack the Fuel Injection Troubleshooting Manual open to go through step by step
https://xwebforums.com/wiki/index.php?title=FuelInjectionTroubleshooting
there is also an electrical diagnosis manual
Electrical Diagnostic Manual 1980 - 1981.pdf
You are now into the tedious part of the program…
JKIDD
Auto Addict
Is the starter turning, but not engaging? I am currently dealing with that on my car. There is a wire on the bendix drive of the starter that can come loose & prevent the starter from engaging. If your starter is having issues, try putting a rod or prybar down the firewall to the starter & give it a light tap. Works every time for me, but I know one day it's not gonna.