Idle Stop Solenoid revisited

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Well, shucks, Charlie, no booze for any of us unless we can get this fixed for you.

I'll go back and reread the entire thread, but in the meantime, can you adjust your idle speed temporarily so that it's quite a bit higher? Maybe 1500 rpm instead of the nominal 850? I know the engine won't like this, but see if you still have the stalling problem when stopping or turning, with an artificially "boosted" idle speed.

I vaguely recall a Fiat I had many moons ago that had a very low idle that seemed OK when the car was just sitting there, but if you put any extra load on the engine like from the brake lights (load on the alternator) to shifting fuel levels in the carb float bowl, and the engine would stall. The solution was just to turn up the idle speed a bit.

-Bryan

[CharlieB]

Gentlemen, we have a winner.
The idle stop solenoid! Well more specifically (I think) the idle jet.
The idle jet on the new idle stop solenoid has far fewer holes than the one I had installed.
Now the weird thing is, I still have not run a wire for the solenoid. So it's installed on the carb, but not powered.
I've been driving all morning, 30 miles or so and the car never tried to cut off. Ran like a dream. By the way, I did fix the choke last week, I forgot to mention that. I'll wire the solenoid later but I'm almost hesitant to plug it in since it's running well.
So NOW the drinks are on me.
Thank you for the help with this guys.
Now I just need to figure out why my left front wheel is "chirping" every 30 seconds or so. That's for another post and another day.
Thanks again guys, I learned quite a bit.
Charlie

[kilrwail]

You're welcome Charlie! I think we all learned by sharing. But please, wire it so we can see what happens.

[CharlieB]

Peter I will wire it. I'm very curious also. I'll let you know what happens.

[SteinOnkel]

I took a bolt cutter to my solenoid as they like to stick when they're old. The only cars I've ever known to need them are air cooled VWs in the summertime when they run piping hot. The Fiat, like so many other cars I've had does not diesel (run-on) with or without the solenoid. Just an extra "feature" that can go wrong.

P.S: The chirping I would imagine is the wheel bearing.

Cheers
Steiny

[CharlieB]

Stein that's why I'm hesitant to wire it up. Also, you are 100% correct on the chirping. It is indeed the wheel bearing.
Thanks,
Charlie

[SteinOnkel]

Charlie, the solenoids default to cutting fuel off. Seeing as your car seems to run, I suspect your solenoid has already been modified to be effectively useless. Otherwise it would not receive any fuel at idle, that's the solenoids job. It is probably moot at this point if you wire it up or not.

Pull the idle jet out of the solenoid and take a picture, that'll clear things up.

[kilrwail]

Charlie - Since you have a new solenoid and idle jet that isn't wired up, that new jet is closed and not delivering any fuel - ever. If you wire it up so it works properly, that jet will be open when the power is on, helping your idle speed stay higher. You may need to adjust the idle speed downward a bit - when the engine is fully warmed up - to get it into the 900 rpm range.