1999 Fiat 126 ELX - tricky to start from cold

[craigdiver]

Hi, my 126 ELX is tricky to start when cold; My best effort is choke on full, 3 pumps on accelerator pedal then it takes around 10 seconds of cranking carefully catching it with the accelerator when it fires.

Starts easily from warm.

Car has just had new plugs, oil & filter but made no difference. Carburettor cleaner sprayed through carburettor but also hasn't helped?

I would have thought with the ELXs electronic ignition it should be easier to start?

Any suggestions?

[Pete126]

Check the petrol pump and timing, don't know allot about the ELX timing sensor on the front pulley but it must be adjustable?

[craigdiver]

Check the petrol pump and timing, don't know allot about the ELX timing sensor on the front pulley but it must be adjustable?

Thanks, must learn how to setup engine/carburettors. How do I know if I am having a problem with the fuel pump? I will do some research into how to set the timing.

Once thats done hopefully helps fix the issue or rules it out.

[Pete126]

Check the timing first if you can find out how, to check the pump disconnect the pipe to the carb and manually fill the carb with petrol then reconnect, if it starts first time from cold the pump maybe letting the petrol drain back down the pipe into the tank especially overnight, so it has to start from fresh again in the morning. 

[ronb1967]

Hello
 the ignition timing is preset via the crankshaft sensor but check for vacuum in small bore pipes from carb base  , its more likely to be a fuel problem, pumping the accelerator also does nothing on the 126 as there is no accelerator pump on this type of carb, however there are a few things to check , mine is also difficult to start from cold and seems to prefer half choke on cranking from cold , also mixture setting , this is trial and error if you dont have an emissions tester basically turn mixture screw in clockwise direction counting number of turns until it stops , then unscrew by one full turn , although this method might take a while as youll need to check starting from cold again after a few hours and maybe unscrew a further half turn each time, im thinking that the electromagnetic solenoid(on carb)  is working ok as tick over is fine once running     

[craigdiver]

Hello
 the ignition timing is preset via the crankshaft sensor but check for vacuum in small bore pipes from carb base  , its more likely to be a fuel problem, pumping the accelerator also does nothing on the 126 as there is no accelerator pump on this type of carb, however there are a few things to check , mine is also difficult to start from cold and seems to prefer half choke on cranking from cold , also mixture setting , this is trial and error if you dont have an emissions tester basically turn mixture screw in clockwise direction counting number of turns until it stops , then unscrew by one full turn , although this method might take a while as youll need to check starting from cold again after a few hours and maybe unscrew a further half turn each time, im thinking that the electromagnetic solenoid(on carb)  is working ok as tick over is fine once running     

Thanks, need to get familiar with the carb, ill check it over along with the fuel pump and timing.

[Joe Webb]

Probably fuel pump, but I've had issues before usually solved with a carb clean. Alternatively, you can unscrew the ignition cut off solenoid in the ELX and check if that's working properly. Mine is sometimes temperamental and it's a bit of a black art to get it working again.
If it isn't working and you can't fix it you can remove the solenoid needle and it should be equivalent to a constantly open valve