Sparks once or twice, then nothing (79 Spider)

[So Cal Mark]

this is a scenario where the customer doesn't believe you know what you are doing and just replace everything in a "shotgun" attempt to fix the problem

[bradartigue]

this is a scenario where the customer doesn't believe you know what you are doing and just replace everything in a "shotgun" attempt to fix the problem

Ha "customer" - paid with beer and a box of thin mints.

[RoyBatty]

You REALLY need to rethink your billing practices!

BTW I found interesting your comment on the new style starters.
You hadn't used one before?
If that's the case, I was sure with all your experience with these critters, you'd have used one of the newer starters by this late date.

[So Cal Mark]

Brad, I understand this isn't the case in your situation but in a customer/shop scenario they often think you threw as many parts as possible until the car started. It helps if you can show how each part has failed

[djape1977]

couple issues i ran across while fixing old cars/fiats

water in he carburetor, in the space the float sits in, couple mm deep. as you press on the accelerator water gets injected. untill you press accelerator, everything works fine.

bar resistor, condenser or whatever that is, on the wire running from ignition to the coil. one mounted to the chasis on the left hand side. boy did this give me greef. weak spark, sometimes no spark at all. it was customer's car and it was towed into my workshop. i replaced pretty much everything untill i came to that thingy.

[spider2081]

I have worked in a customer service electrical/electronic troubleshooting industry for the past 48 years.

One of the hardest concepts for everyone to accept or believe is that what appears to be a single symptom can be the result of more than one cause.

Other things I have learned.

Everything works until it breaks.

It's the last thing you do that fixes the problem and customers don't understand why you hadn't tried that one first.

Flat rate repairs don't work where troubleshooting is required.

[bradartigue]

You REALLY need to rethink your billing practices!

BTW I found interesting your comment on the new style starters.
You hadn't used one before?
If that's the case, I was sure with all your experience with these critters, you'd have used one of the newer starters by this late date.

If I did this for a living I would, but with 2 FIATs and 2 Alfas in town I'd be poor rather quickly! I would rather work on cars for a living, frankly.

Yeah I had never tried the gear reduction units. Honestly I've only had two starter failures in the 12 or so FIATs I've owned and the other dozen or so I've worked on. And - here is the kicker I'm sure - all of these cars had pretty good electrical systems and were well maintained (e.g. they started). This particular car was a stinker when pulled south from Alaska, and has been in a state of recovery for two years. It has become a beautiful car with a nice engine, but this sitting for 6 months killed too many things for my liking. I've never seen one deteriorate (electrically) like this, and I've seen them sit under trees for years before we revive them.

As far as customers go, I can't imagine having to explain how cars work to anyone these days. I'd take the approach of our Mercedes dealer: "Service A, $627, Service B, $220" no other explanation unless you want it, and few people do, so they get what they deserve, Service B, $220, is an oil change. Convenience charge of $140 over the local oil change place...