Thursday, April 25, 2013

On Saturday April 13th 2013 I purchased a 1982 fuel injected Fiat Spider 2000 w/ approximately 150k miles. It is in (mostly) working order and made the trip from San Diego to Los Angeles along the 5 without a hiccup. I'm hoping to spend time maintaining and fixing it in order to learn a bit about cars. Unfortunately at the moment I live in an apartment building in Los Angeles, and while the building does have a parking garage that I use, I'm not sure what the policy is for working on my car there. If I can't work there then I'll have to explore some empty parking lots around town. I'm currently compiling a list of things that appear to be wrong with the car as well as a list of repairs/fixes to make. Hopefully this weekend I'll have a chance to pull the car apart a bit, take a bunch of pictures and flush out this list a bit.

Problems
1.) Car does not idle well when cold. (Will die unless I give it a little gas for a minute or two)
2.) Pulls to the left when braking hard.
3.) I can hear a strange clicking when braking sometimes... seems to be coming from the front right brake?? Possibly related to the left pull when braking.
4.) Engine smells a little hot... subtle hint of antifreeze/burning oil or something. I don't notice it unless I sit at a stoplight for awhile and let it build up. The temp gauge parks itself at 190, but I'm not sure how much I trust it as it appears to plummet offscale low whenever I punch the accelerator (seems really strange to me, could really use some advice on this one.) As a rough check I squirted a little water on the engine after driving for a bit, one side (the intake side I think) didn't sizzle and boil off the water immediately. The other side (exhaust I think) did, it was clearly above 212 degrees... I'm not sure if this is normal.
5.) No tunes
6.) No time
7.) Parking brake doesn't work very well, even fully cranked it won't hold the car except on the most gentle grades.
8.) The speedometer "works" but gives ludicrous speeds... seems to multiply actual speed by a factor of about 1.25 or so.
I'll edit this list as I find more problems....

Solutions
1.) After reading the guide here http://www.hiperformancestore.com/Ljetronic.htm I think there is a decent chance my cold idle problems are related to a dirty aux air valve (AAV).
2.) I'm suspicious of the front right brake caliper, if not that then I'm not sure.
3.) See 2.)
4.) ????? Any help here is appreciated
5.) This should be an easy fix, but I'm saving my money for more pressing concerns.
6.) See 5.)
7.) ????? Any help here is appreciated
8.) ????? Any help here is appreciated

Plans
1.) Clean the engine bay, it's filthy
2.) Get car up on jack stands and get a better idea of the extent of the rust, especially in problem areas.
3.) Clean the AAV
4.) Follow this guide http://www.hiperformancestore.com/Ljetronic.htm from start to finish to tune up the FI system. I have already ordered silicon replacement hoses.
5.) Look at maintenance records from previous owner, try and determine the last timing belt replacement. Replace if necessary.


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