Fiat Coupe Club UK

Few issues on long time dormant Coupe

Posted By: Anonymous

Few issues on long time dormant Coupe - 07/01/2018 17:01

Ok so long story short i bought an old broom yellow coupe about 4 years ago that has been dormant for years ( tax disc says 8/06 :o)

Anyway i was going to use it for parts on my speed red coupe which is now getting on a bit however the broomy only has 60,000 miles, zero rust and completely original so seems a real shame to try break it.

So after 4 years in the lockup I've set about seeing if we can get her going again.

Now I've managed to put new belts on her ( which was fun tongue took me about 7 hours or so) and changed the oil as i didn't dare try start it otherwise, new fuel and she started without issue on the first click however there are some issues.

Firstly the idle is a bit erratic, sits at 1000rpm for a second almost stalls, oil pressure obviously drops as the idle does for a second and then back up 1000 rpm and the cycle continues.

Secondly lots of white smoke and i mean a lot, granted it has sat dormant for god knows how long so should i be immediately concerned with this at this stage and compression test results all seemed ok? 150-155 psi across all cylinders?

I'd love to get this one back on the road as its could be a cracking original car so any tips on what else i should check in regards to the erratic idle and smoke?
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Few issues on long time dormant Coupe - 07/01/2018 17:13

Smoke probably just condensation built up.

Bad idle... the usual suspects, idle control valve, lambda sensor, air flow meter, air leak etc. Is the injection malfunction light on?

Try cleaning the idle valve with carb cleaner or try hooking up to real time diagnostics to see what the lambda readings look like, should be quickly bouncing back/forward but if it's stuck in the middle or very slow that can cause a bouncing idle.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Few issues on long time dormant Coupe - 07/01/2018 17:27

Originally Posted By GrahamL
Smoke probably just condensation built up.

Bad idle... the usual suspects, idle control valve, lambda sensor, air flow meter, air leak etc. Is the injection malfunction light on?

Try cleaning the idle valve with carb cleaner or try hooking up to real time diagnostics to see what the lambda readings look like, should be quickly bouncing back/forward but if it's stuck in the middle or very slow that can cause a bouncing idle.


The injection light stays off, it did come on once however there was also a noticeable change of engine note and cleared once id shut the engine off then restarted which I've so far put down to possibly a sticky injector? This has been the only time it happened though and it doesn't come on when the revs start to bounce.

I'll start with the ICV then and give it a good clean.

plethora of other jobs to do before i can even attempt to move her, the nylon gear change selector surround has completely snapped
Posted By: Edinburgh

Re: Few issues on long time dormant Coupe - 07/01/2018 17:43

Exciting news! Sounds like your broomy has a 10-year headstart on our own project laugh

An injector light can also come on with a failed (stuck open) thermostat - check your temp gauge isn't under-reading or do the front hose test.

When replacing a stat (Alternative Autos is a good source) it's worth getting the temp sensor as well.

Whereabouts are you?
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Few issues on long time dormant Coupe - 07/01/2018 17:57

im in Wishaw

And yeah would love to get this one back on the road after so long
Posted By: magooagain

Re: Few issues on long time dormant Coupe - 07/01/2018 18:31

Also with the erratic idle, check all the intake hoses and air inlet doughnuts as you may have a perished hose or two.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Few issues on long time dormant Coupe - 09/01/2018 08:59

Originally Posted By GrahamL
Smoke probably just condensation built up.

Bad idle... the usual suspects, idle control valve, lambda sensor, air flow meter, air leak etc. Is the injection malfunction light on?

Try cleaning the idle valve with carb cleaner or try hooking up to real time diagnostics to see what the lambda readings look like, should be quickly bouncing back/forward but if it's stuck in the middle or very slow that can cause a bouncing idle.


Cleaning idle valve seems to have worked for now and idling pretty happily at about 800 RPM, thanks laugh
Posted By: rayzer82

Re: Few issues on long time dormant Coupe - 09/01/2018 14:07

Smoke could be valve stem seals...does it clear when warm ?
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Few issues on long time dormant Coupe - 09/01/2018 20:51

Not really however i haven't really got it properly warm yet, ticked it over for maybe 5 minutes max as I'm still pretty nervous about running the engine just now.

I do have a spare head in my shed so i suppose for the cost of a skim and seals it may be something to pre empt
Posted By: rayzer82

Re: Few issues on long time dormant Coupe - 12/01/2018 16:41

I had one that would smoke horrendously until it had a warm up and a blast then totally clear...don't know whether something swelled when warm but the mot tester was a lot happier after I'd taken it to clear! Hopefully its something simple and you're able to sort
Posted By: jonnyboy54321

Re: Few issues on long time dormant Coupe - 14/01/2018 19:22

I had a merc 560sel that had been laid up for 4 years. Smoked like a trooper.
Put some forte seal conditioner in as doing the stem seals was to be an awful job and i had nothing to lose.
That was ten years ago and i knkw it's still tooling around now with them not replaced. Was a miracle cure !
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