Guess what's back in working order :D

". ." (xllx) 09/16/2015 at 11:17 • Filed to: shoebox, blue torpedo

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As some of you may know my little Fiat suffered from some bork last week. I got caught in a properly terrible downpour while driving (I’d not driven it in the rain before that), reached home, parked up and when I tried to start it 30 minutes later it just wouldn’t. It’d crank, but to no avail.

First thing we tested was spark and it turned out there wasn’t any. The first suspect was the magnetic crank position sensor. We cleaned it and then replaced it, but unfortunately that didn’t help. We were worried that the water going through the engine compartment had ruined the ignition coils. The fact that we had not installed the engine undertray which would have shielded the engine bay from excess water coming from underneath kinda supported that hypothesis.

In the end however, the issue turned out to be worn out ignition switch contacts. It’d crank the starter, but not provide ignition. $15 dollars in parts and less than 2 hours of faffing about later the car was fully functional again.

While getting new coils wouldn’t be that much more expensive (they’re about 12 bucks a pop), I’m kinda glad it turned out to be the ignition switch, mostly from the car’s percieved reliability perspective. It’s a part that got good ol’ fashioned worn out, rather than something that failed randomly while the car was in use.

Getting the steering wheel back on (mostly) straight was a bitch though. It was slightly off to the right previously, now it’s slightly off to the left. Whateva.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > . . 09/16/2015 at 11:20

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I’m guessing it’s your garage door since it appears to be open.

RustedSprinter > . . 09/16/2015 at 11:21

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Im glad its fixed! Every time I see a 126 I want one more and more!

. . > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 09/16/2015 at 11:27

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Eh?

Patrick Nichols > . . 09/16/2015 at 11:33

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As in there is no way the fiat is in working order, you know from being all fiat and italian.

. . > Patrick Nichols 09/16/2015 at 11:35

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Ah, sorry, that wooshed hard over my head. :P

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > . . 09/16/2015 at 11:56

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The Fiat isn’t working. The garage door is open, so that must be what’s working now.

. . > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 09/16/2015 at 11:58

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Yeah I get it now, sorry for ruining the joke. :P I’m a bit slow today.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > . . 09/16/2015 at 23:14

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Yay! Glad to hear the little fella is back on the road again! Also glad to hear the issue wasn’t major (which bodes well for when I import one to Canada! :P ) :)

Yay for dirt cheap parts! :D Was getting the steering wheel on and off the hardest part? Does this also mean you have a different key for your ignition now, or were you able to swap the previous ignition lock barrel onto the new ignition switch...?

. . > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 09/17/2015 at 06:09

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Getting the steering wheel off wasn’t hard at all (well, taking the horn button off was a bit of a pain, but not too terrible, after all it’s just held on by one big washer. Getting the steering wheel on straight was more difficult though.

And it wasn’t the ignition barrel that we had to replace, so the key remains the same. It was this:

It connects to the back of the barrel and contains the contacts. Not sure how you’d call this part in english though. :P

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > . . 09/18/2015 at 07:55

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Such a simple part to cause your car not to start, haha! Glad it wasn’t too hard a fix :P

Looking forward to new 126 adventures from you now that it is back on the road! :D

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > . . 10/02/2015 at 11:54

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Hey mate - was just looking at some photos of your car and noticed something I don’t remember...

Next to the vent control sliders and your cigarette lighter/12v socket, there is a small compartment in the middle (or so it looks like)...? Is that a little ashtray/storage compartment? :)

. . > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/02/2015 at 12:51

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It’s an ashtray. :)

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > . . 10/03/2015 at 11:49

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Neat, thought so! I don’t smoke, but it will be a handy spot to keep things. :)

Hope you and the little Shoebox are doing well! :D

. . > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 10/03/2015 at 15:19

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Yeah, we are, thanks. :D

I’ve been driving it pretty much every day. Gonna real hard to let it sit throughout winter. :(