I’m stuck

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GreenGrizz77
Posts: 22
Joined: Wed Mar 19, 2025 2:48 pm
Your car is a: 1975 fiat 124 spider sport 1800
Location: Foothills of the Sierra Nevadas

I’m stuck

Post by GreenGrizz77 »

I’ve been working on my spider for months now and I’ve got her turning over but still have an intermittent spark. Everyone I’ve talked to has come up with the same answers and nothing has worked so far. I’m about at my whits ends but I’m determined to get her running. I swapped the 75 motor for a 79 with performance parts and electronic ignition. I can explain most of what we’ve done but I almost feel like I need in person help, so if there’s California Fiat people willing to message me to see if we’re close enough to offer some help I’d greatly appreciate it. I know I’m probably grabbing at straws and it’s a long shot but I’ve tried a lot of other things and am still stuck.
-Dalton & Gizmo
18Fiatsandcounting
Posts: 3918
Joined: Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:23 pm
Your car is a: 1969 and 1971 124 spiders
Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Re: I’m stuck

Post by 18Fiatsandcounting »

Stock electronic ignition or an aftermarket version? I know you probably want someone close rather than more troubleshooting, but with stock electronic ignition, the causes of intermittent or weak spark are (in order of likelihood):

- Failing pickup coil in the distributor, including frayed wires, wrong air gap between pickup and rotors, or magnetic base plate upside down.
- Less than 10 volts at the coil B+ terminal when cranking the engine.
- Failing Ignition Control Module

You might also set up an account on Mirafiori.com and post your question there, as this fiatspider.com site gets very little traffic these days.

-Bryan
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