Bad Times

[Kent126]

 

Broke down on way to Tunbridge Wells last night, so called my mate out who kindly gave me a tow the rest of the way. RAC came out today by appoinment, and the nice man spent 4 hours with me and also followed me back home.

It turns out, we are looking at a compression problem now which really is not the news I wanted to hear! 

So. What to do? Brand new factory re-conditoned engine? Second hand engine, whilst current one is being stripped and looked at? Whatever I do, its not gonna be cheap me thinks.

The only other option is get my old man to come up from Plymouth, and get him to tow it back to his. He can then remove it and strip it at his leisure and do the required work. That then means I could be without the Fiat for a few months.

Need to give it some serious thought over the next few days...

Tom

[Darrell]

Might be an excuse to do some upgrades to the head and maybe upgrade the piston size...

The engines they sell on e bay or wherever are just standard engines with shiny bits on them. They're not cheap at all either!!

My thoughts are either the rings have stuck or the valves have been run without lead treatment in the petrol, but neither are the end of the world and may be fun doing the rebuild yourself or with your dad [-/

[kitten75]

Mine broke down 2 weeks after i bought it - two of the valve springs disintegrated and engine got a bit mangled.  I had the same dilmemma - new engine, 2nd hand or send it off to light metal heaven.  Didn't have option of someone in the know so bit the bullet and bought a brand new engine for £750  - pretty much what i paid for the car. 

Touch wood, it's been running brilliantly since although not done too many miles as yet. to be honest, it's the best £750 i've ever spent as can't put a price on how much I love driving it...

Nightmare situation for you, i felt sick when i found out how much i would have to pay to get the car back on the road but like i said - no regrets whatsoever..plus as Darrell says, if you've got someone in the know could be fun putting it back together!

Hope you get it back on the road soon,

Mhairi

[dajwid]

Hang in there, It's an aircooled, get the engine on the bench, Haynes manual, tons of tea and get stuck in there, if you mess the engine up, then look for a replacement.
(or ask a Polish friend, engines are about £20 in Poland, they will always know someone whe can arrange transport)

Honestly this is not the end of the world, buying a 126 and finding it's rotten is much much worse.

[Darrell]

I'd take and engine for £20!!!

Honestly I been after a spare engine to play with for a while and you know me, I'll drive to collect it! [-/

[Rusty's Uncle]

OK Tom this is a cross between Question Time and Who (does not want) to be a Millionaire because the bills you are paying must be giving "Tune at Home" man and the garage a good living and ensuring a nice fat turkey on the Christmas table.
Question Time - What history do you know about the car   A well maintained engine can turn in 100,000 miles but the worst ever burnt out exhaust valve I have ever seen came from a 126 with about 20,000 on the clock and like yours there were fuel problems so you wonder what went into the tank  
Piston rings can seize if the car is very badly stored.
Now you , do you have the tools, the environment, etc etc to do any work yourself  
What details of the compression problem were you given  
When in Grease do as the greasy people do  :wink2:
Tell me more , tell me more I really wanna know

[gsxr126]

Tom, i would take the advice of the others and go for it yourself. You only need a couple of specialist tools to do a rebuild, the rest using what tools you probably already have. You'll be surprised how mechanically confident you become when working on a 126 as they are so easy to work on.

Rusty, so when your in Poland do you polish

[Kent126]

OK Tom this is a cross between Question Time and Who (does not want) to be a Millionaire because the bills you are paying must be giving "Tune at Home" man and the garage a good living and ensuring a nice fat turkey on the Christmas table.
Question Time - What history do you know about the car   A well maintained engine can turn in 100,000 miles but the worst ever burnt out exhaust valve I have ever seen came from a 126 with about 20,000 on the clock and like yours there were fuel problems so you wonder what went into the tank  
Piston rings can seize if the car is very badly stored.
Now you , do you have the tools, the environment, etc etc to do any work yourself  
What details of the compression problem were you given  
When in Grease do as the greasy people do  :wink2:
Tell me more , tell me more I really wanna know

Thanks guys,
  It could well be something as simple as a piston ring or valve, but without getting stuck in and stripping it down I wont know. The RAC man spent 4 hours with me and pretty much went through everything, and I have to be honest he was brilliant! The plugs are white, the engine is running lean, it is over breathing and gets super mega hot after it has been running for a while, this is when the engine starts to lose all power and bounces around when driving.

I have just driven it to tesco's and back (because it is literally around the corner, and it didnt even like that very short drive either, so it is now truly very sick!)

I have to be honest when I bought the car it came with no history! No handbook, no service history, no previous MOTS, receipts or anything. The clock shows 19,800 miles, but it could well have been around the clock as there is no way of proving the mileage is genuine.

The paintwork is shocking, but the body is pretty solid all over including the underneath. It would be a real shame to scrap it, or break it, which I do not intend to do.

At present I live in Maidstone and do not have the garage, space or tools to do anything. I am moving back to Tunbridge Wells in January, and the car will be put in my garage (hopefully) where I can perhaps start at looking to strip it down and look at it. I do not have much technical knowledge about engines, but like you say how difficult can it be with some tools a haynes manual and lots of tea?

Right now the car will sit outside on the road until I move as I do not have the time or money to do anything over xmas, which means I am off to purchase a second car this week to get me through the rest of the winter and probably the spring too!

So things are on hold at the moment while I decide on how I am going to get around this little hurdle, but I have no plans to sell or get rid of the car.

Tom

[bis13]

tom you know its on the cards that you shall get dirty and intimate with your fiat in the new year just make sure that you record what you do and any problems shall be solved here and maybe if you need a visit we can help as the brotherhood of 126 is strong in your area.