Switching to electronic ignition?

[djape1977]

ever since i bought my 1982 1600cl some 7-8 months ago, ignition system had given me the greef. every now and then it gave up on me. sometimes the engine wouldn't start on wet mornings, idle was uneven and rough, and yet, most of the time everything worked perfectly. i changed contact points ( or whatever you call the part that's responsible for making the spark at the right moment), spark plugs and ignition cables. nothing changed. also, since i use lpg and gasoline, it's worth a mention that problem persists while using either fuel - therefore, fuel is not a problem. since now is winter and temperatures are well below 0*c, asking myself will it start in the morning is a bit of a problem. i've had simmilar problems with 1800ccm engine from 132 gls in my lada and i traced it in the end to a faulty ditributor. i swiched to electronic system from a ritmo 105tc and since then i've had no problems. so i decided to fit electronic ignition to my 131 also.

question is: from which other fiat models can i fit electronic distributor to my 131? i have 1.6l brasilian fiat sohc engine with a distributor in the engine block, as on 132 and/or ritmo. is it the same as on tc engines or not? seems to me that shaft is longer? anyway, if someone knows, i'd appreciate the help

[bolger]

I believe that the distributor will be the same in SOHC and DOHC (I'm not sure if the SOHC I mean is brasilian one, tough). You may try to fit a new coil to your current setup, that could help.
Electronic distributors can be found on Lancia Beta, too.

[selem]

hi,
you can take from fiat132 2000, just swap only its same with fiat131. many years ago I used it on my f131 without any problem.
selem.

[djape1977]

thanks for reply's guys. i'll try

[Yagmur]

Hello djape,
I have electronic ignition system.If you need I can send.

[djape1977]

thanks but not yet. i have several from 132 and it shouldn't be a problem to fit. anyway, it's just temporary since i plan to install tc engine in my 131. it will get a complete overhaul of bodywork and a new paint this spring and then i'll be needing quite a few parts from you, such as new bumpers, headlights, (a/c maybe?) and many other small bits and pieces...

[jseabolt]

The electronic ignitions (and engines and fuel injection) used on 79+ 2000 Spiders are borrowed from the 132 (which was never sold in the United States). I found the Marelli system to be troublesome because of it's design. The magnetic trigger sits on a plate that rotates everytime the vacuum advance kicks in and chaps the wires over time. I found the easiest solution to this is to advance the static timing 7 degrees and unplug the hose going to the advance module.

I'm interested in your dual fuel system. I posted something about it in my steering rack question but just so happened to click on your thread and saw it.

What system are you using? I want to see some photos. I've been scratching my head on where to place the vaporizer. I can't find a place to put it.

I thought about using the 1800 manifold and lower throttle body from a Weber with an IMPCO mixer on top. Or perhaps the 2000 Spider/132 fuel injection throttle body with the BLOS mixer. I haven't found much info on this device. All pages are in Polish. There is a guy in Ireland selling these on Ebay.

Right now LPG and propane is more expensive than petrol. $1.87 for 3.79 liters (1 US gallon) and $2.49 for diesel. I think LPG is around the cost of diesel fuel. Kerosene and fuel oil even higher (being winter of course).

I'm interested in the driveabilty. Does it run smoother than carburation? What about warmup? Do you have to let the engine warm up before being able to drive the car? Does the vaporizer freeze up?

[djape1977]

1) 132 doesn't have an vacuum advance system. i have 2 132's and have never seen such a system on 132
2)about LPG. here the price is about 1/3 to 1/2 price of gasoline. there's about 10% power loss when running on lpg. If ignition is set for lpg than there's no power loss on lpg but it tends to missfire on petrol. guess it could be solved but i just can't be bothered... fuel consumption on lpg is about 15% higher than on petrol. about driveability - everything is ok. only time when i really notice the power loss is above 5.000rpm. engine runs as smooth as on petrol. no warmup is needed. perhaps it would be smart to start the engine on petrol on very cold mornings, as -15*c cold. it rarely gets that cold around here so no there's no problem starting the engine on lpg. today was -5*c in the morning and engine started normaly, i usualy let it run for minute or two before i'm on my way. vaporizer never freezes up if there's enough coolant in the system. i have a friend who lives in lithuania (baltic sea) and he runs his lada on lpg and winters can be very cold there. -30*c is quite usual and he says that he never had any problems. also worth mentioning is that lpg is "green fuel" and is a basis for polution tax exempt in EU, so besides being friendly towards your wallet it's also good for the planet.

i'll take a few pics tomorrow and post them here.

[jseabolt]

1) 132 doesn't have an vacuum advance system. i have 2 132's and have never seen such a system on 132
2)about LPG. here the price is about 1/3 to 1/2 price of gasoline. there's about 10% power loss when running on lpg. If ignition is set for lpg than there's no power loss on lpg but it tends to missfire on petrol. guess it could be solved but i just can't be bothered... fuel consumption on lpg is about 15% higher than on petrol. about driveability - everything is ok. only time when i really notice the power loss is above 5.000rpm. engine runs as smooth as on petrol. no warmup is needed. perhaps it would be smart to start the engine on petrol on very cold mornings, as -15*c cold. it rarely gets that cold around here so no there's no problem starting the engine on lpg. today was -5*c in the morning and engine started normaly, i usualy let it run for minute or two before i'm on my way. vaporizer never freezes up if there's enough coolant in the system. i have a friend who lives in lithuania (baltic sea) and he runs his lada on lpg and winters can be very cold there. -30*c is quite usual and he says that he never had any problems. also worth mentioning is that lpg is "green fuel" and is a basis for polution tax exempt in EU, so besides being friendly towards your wallet it's also good for the planet.

i'll take a few pics tomorrow and post them here.

The vacuum advance may just be on US spec Spiders. I just assumed it had the same ignition system because the 132 series 2 liter engines were installed in our 79+ Spiders as well as the fuel injection system.

The ignition system on the Spider and 131s (over here) uses a Marelli distributor, GM HEI control module behind a large finned housing that also holds the ignition coil.

Back in the 70s Fiat offered an electronic ignition system called The PLEX which uses no vacuum advance and a large box similiar to the BOSCH system used on X 1/9s.

About LPG and natural gas. That's odd that it's much cheaper in other countries. What country do you live in?

The reason propane and CNG hasn't caught on here in the United States is due to the price compared to petrol. They do use it on allot of lift trucks because it gives off less fumes inside buildings.

Also the price of LPG and CNG usually follows the price of petrol. When one goes up the other one does too.

Some people like to run farm diesel in older diesels because it's taxed less but it's illegal.

One reason I wanted to run LPG was during hurricane season whenever there is a storm predicted they shut down the refineries along the gulf and start using reserves. So the price goes up and people start hoarding gasoline.

Last September they shut down the refineries and I had trouble finding gasoline.

Then the price goughing began:

http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd148/turbofiat/misc/?action=view&current=PriceGouging1.jpg
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd148/turbofiat/misc/?action=view&current=PriceGouging2.jpg

That $4.99 for 3.79 liters.

The BP up the street had plenty of high octane but no low octane. I wasn't about the pay $.20 extra on the gallon for high octane for my Subaru. But then I needed high octane for my turbocharged Yugo and Wal-Mart had none.

I'm not sure what the price of propane is at the moment but I think it's a bit higher than diesel.

The other issue is our gasoline now contains 10% corn alcohol. Not only do you loose about 5-10% mileage, it seems carburated engines are much harder to start when hot in the summer.

[djape1977]

i'm from Serbia, a country where your yugo comes from. Once upon a time it was a part of YUGOslavia, a federation of republics. then there was an ugly war and everything fell apart... anyhow, yugo was produced in Kragujevac, a city in Serbia,  then and untill 4 months ago.

LiquidPetroleumGas is considered a waste product of fraction destilation of oil in USA as far as i know. basicaly, i think it's so because of oil cartel decision