Its me again...In a pickle!!

[amybethcarr]

Hello wonderful helpful people, who are crazy enough to love these cars as much as i do...!!

My guy has been in the garage for a week now.....admittedly because the man who knows what hes doing has been away. He has had gearbox seals replaced, a new exhaust, the carberetor (or whatever you call it) cleaned out (if thats what you say)

the mechanic said he still thought there was a big problem with the fuel system.....seems there is! I got it half way home (only a 3 mile drive) and he conked out!

He starts great and runs beautifully for about 3-5 minutes....then starts to cough, badly, then after another minute or so i loose all accelleration and he eventually stalls. If i let him rest for 10 mins, he will do the same again, be fine then give up. mechanic says that its either the "ignition crank shaft sensor" getting too hot, or i have a problem inside the fuel tank, something is blocked or broken off so not reaching fuel etc. We have filled him up to see if that helps, doesnt seem to.

oh he is a 2000 polski by the way. I paid £500 and have probably spent almost the same now on him....unfortunately mainly because when it comes to mechanical, i am useless so money has gone on someone else doing the work.

I adore my car but if i dont get him sorted soon i am going to have to rethink......

If there is some wonderful way that i can do the work, i would be so very up for that.....however i have no clue and dont want to make things worse.

guys i need your advice. I am so not the sort of person that needs a perfect car, far from it, but i do need him to work.....and i am unfortunately (would be great) not made of money!

i hope you have all not been swept away in your teeny cars in the rain!!

thank you as always
Amy and Eddie (the car)

PS....benefit of a tiny car, even a woman can push him the 1 1/2 miles back to the garage!!!

[Hazey-n-Marc]

Sensor? I know mine hasn't got an any sensors at all, didn't think any did. You should be able to do most things yourself, perfect cars to learn on, just ask for indepth answers on here.
I would change your fuel filter, make sure you put a clear one in so you can see how much fuel is coming through, and what colour it is (this will help identify tank problems).

I'm not sure if the manuals in the subscribers section cover your car, but they will still be 95% relevant, so might be worth subscribing if you want to do work yourself, would be easier to point you to page numbers and paragraphs/pictures in there than try to describe using words.

Marc

[Bar Vitelli]

Hi Amy, it sounds like you need an old school mechanic that's used to working on these cars.

I know one in Bradford (but they are pricey), someone recommended one recently (on the forum) in Castleford but I can't find the post...iIf you are really stuck I know a classic VW mechanic in Halifax that has done good work for me that I could put you in touch with but again his prices can be on the higher side although he does get the job done.

The chaps in Castleford might be best though, when a mechanic is not familiar, I've found it takes them longer which means they charge more and often they miss the root cause that needs fixing the most.

Stick with it would be my advice, I went through a phase where I just seemed to make mechanics rich, when you finally find a good one it will all be worthwhile and (like me) you'll probably pick up a few tricks along the way!  The solutions are incredibly simple and easy to fix once they have been correctly diagnosed and as your understanding grows (like mine has) then your confidence will too.

Hope that helps, my advice, hunt out the chaps in Castleford.

[Bar Vitelli]

Just found the post, hope it helps, good luck! 

http://club126uk.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6910.0

[Rusty's Uncle]

Amy the symtoms you describe are exactly what I have just been through. I was not sure if it was fuel or ignition so I systematicaly rebuilt or replaced pretty much everything . It started out that the car would die after about 10 to 15 miles then that dropped down to about 2 to 3 miles. I finaly got round to removing the petrol tank even though no debris was showing up in the online filter. I pored out the petrol and kept flushing it out with the petrol and collected about a desert spoonful of rust particles. Inside the tank there is a fine mesh filter over the end of the fuel pick up pipe. So the tiny particles were being sucked onto the mesh filter till it is clogged . Engine stops, no suction from pump so the particles fall back into the tank. Engine then starts and the whole process repeats again. I changed my tank as I had a spare and I am half way through my second full tank with no problems 

[Hazey-n-Marc]

I was blocking the inline filters within 50 miles, changed the tank, cleaned the sender, no problems after 1200 miles.

[Sciu]

I had similar problem. But my maluch stopped with no reason and when he wanted. Had to change a timing chain
It has to be changed every 30.000 km

[amybethcarr]

Guys, as always thank you so much for your advice.....I will get on to the subscribers now, as that sounds like a great idea. I am so keen to do things myself, but have my reservations about my ability.
Have just found out that believe it or not there is a guy in my village that has owned 2 126s and so i am going to pay him a very smiley visit!!!Also the old guy who has numerous vintage treats parked on his driveway, much to the dislike of the more particular residents of my village, loves loves loves a challenge, and a good old tinker under a bonnet......so i may go and abuse his kindness a little!! anyone think he would accept payment in the form of a painting, or cake??!

The place in Castleford sounds fab, thank you for that.....but to be honest at the moment i have literally run out of funds. I appreciate that they will probably find the problem quickly and therefore won't be much more, but I now have this horrible feeling that the Fiat world has a bone to pick with me at the moment!

The issue is I am running around at the moment having interviews and trials for jobs after getting back from italy, and i neeeeeed my car to work! so it is putting more pressure on the fact he is not, making our loving relationship a tad strained at present!

The bits in the fuel tank seems to be what my mechanic is getting at, they were his thoughts. that something was blocking the fuel being sucked up. This is what is so frustrating, they are such teeny simple little cars, problems should be so simple to fix.....and they are......if you are in the know 

that timing chain looks pretty daunting, however he has done more than 30000 so maybe that is something to consider too

I love you all, you are my saviors!! I want to have a success story at the end of all this....my father gently mentioned selling him as "scrap" this morning.....I told him to wash his mouth out

tell me there is a light 

[Hazey-n-Marc]

Mine was a pain for the first three or months. You just have to catch up with parts that need replacing and previous neglect and bodging. After that you shouldn't have much bother. Ours has become the daily driver, we now only use the bmw if we need the extra space or one of us is already out in the 126.
Old mechanics normally love an excuse to tinker (even though they wouldn't admit it), so give it a go.
And never go to a tidy garage, the scruffier the better, this means that their reputation (and the fact it is still busy) is due to their ability and prices, nothing to do with first impressions or marketing.

[popik81]

i had problem with bracket under carb(was bit broken) get new and stop cofing....