Little ankle bighters

[Rusty's Uncle]

I reckon cars have feelings and when they get older they get more sensitive . I was pleased to get the 500L through the MOT last October but have not driven it much as the gearbox is getting dodgy and oil on the clutch but started the engine regularly to make it feel wanted  
Mainly been driving the 126 as part of the ongoing shake down process and it has been a major attention seeker since I "adopted" it last year. I think I may have spoilt it a little with too many shiny new parts . Latest being the complete electronic ignition from coil through to iridium plugs. How does it reward me ? ?
By not wanting to start when warmed up    Applying the choke when hot gets it going and then runs fine so the little beast now wants me to go through it's fuel system  
In the meantime I thought I would give the 500 a little run which was fine , parked it up in the winter sun then went to move it later and it chewed up the starter ring.
Should I go to baby FIAT parenting classes , this sibling rivalry is giving me a hard time not to mention the expense. Do they teeth at 40 for heavens sake ! I could take the John Cleese ( Fawlty Towers ) approach and thrash them with a branch or should I ground them until they learn how to behave  

[stuey]

needs a good spanking!

[gsxr126]

Check those iridium plugs. I know you wouldnt make the mistake of getting the wrong heat range Rusty, but I heard somewhere, along time ago, from my go-karting days, when iridium plugs started to appear, that I could change to a colder plug (i think) on my KT100S yamaha engine. Might affect the little 650cc engine. Maybe check with others on the forum what heat range theyve used. Just a thought and might save you the reward of going thru the fuel system.

[Rusty's Uncle]

Well I stuck my neck out with the plugs as they are supposed to be good for 50,000 miles . There is a guy selling them on eBay as suitable for the 126 but at a high price. So got the code BPR7HIX and found a much cheaper supplier on eBay for that plug 
As for the fuel system , it is going to get the "treatment" anyway as I know there are issues there. There is obviously some sediment in the tank but it has only caused minor probs twice in the months that I have had the car so I reckon that it just needs driving and the odd shot of Redex. Fitted a new online filter with a GLASS bowl on the inlet side of the fuel pump only because previous owners had cut the fuel pipe short. I wouuld never again use one of the cheap plastic ones in the engine compartment of an aircooled car, way too dangerous 
I have 2 fuel pump rebuild kits that I got from 126skfan so dug out 4 old fuel pumps during the week and stripped them down with a view to having 2 recon units. Quite interesting as the lower body of the pump seems to be a major area for the collection of gunge from the crankcase and the lower layer of the diaphragm was pretty much shot on all 4 pumps. So washed all the bits in petrol them splashed out on another 13p worth of cheap vinegar which cleans the major parts up a treat in about 1-2 hours.

[Darrell]

Electric pump and regulator makes sense 

All that cranking when hot magicly goes-away

[Rusty's Uncle]

Well I am going to stick with the mechanical pumps for the mo even though last time out in the 126 it was a pig to start when hot & I have sourced a new electric pump to try at some stage. So I stripped & cleaned 3 mechanical pumps. All of them were full of muck in the lower section below the diaphragm causing the large spring to rust and in one case break up. All of the diaphragm lower layers were either knackered or just about to fall apart. I assembled a pump with a new diaphragm. I did not replace the little valves as they looked in good order. Just out of interest I thought I would check the position of the actuating arm in relation to the mounting face by putting a straight edge across the face. I was surprised to see that the mounting face of the pump had about a 1.5mms bow to it where it must have been over tightened. So after a bit of fettling I got that sorted & fitted the pump. Although I cannot see any immediate problems with the old pump the car now starts fine hot & cold . Pictures show the old & "new" pumps and the stripped down old pump.

[nrg19uk]

How much the gasket kits? Looks a treat you not tryed the dishwasher for parts? Make sure you don't put the salt in and spray as soon as it comes out with wd40 or the aluminium goes patchy.

[Rusty's Uncle]

I am the bloody dishwasher !! 
Anyway those machines are more expensive than a drop of petrol to degrease then the 13p bottle of vinegar for a soak . Scrub down with an old tooth brush & washing up liquid & hey presto 
So I can hardly believe how the starting of the car has improved with the "new" fuel pump. Hot or cold and when I say cold it was -4 this morning at 6.30 am & the car fired up first pull and it is running sweet as a nut.
The pump I removed has been stripped & cleaned . The diapragm had started to deteriorate but not too bad , valves working well but the big spring under the diaphragm fell into two pieces when I tried to clean it, rusted right through. So out of 4 pumps only 2 had springs that were still good but slight rust and although you can get rebuild kits they do not include a new spring.

[landyman]

wtf    6.30 in the morning my alarm clock does not have that on it far too early to be up playing with little cars