Good Vibrations

[kev131]

Well not so "good" actually. 

My 131 Sport has 2!

The first is from the instrument binnacle and it arrives at exactly 3500 rpm whatever gear I am in. This makes for very annoying cruising having to drive above or below this engine speed to banish it from my eardrums. Now I do remember this from my Dad's car when new and a roadtest from the time made reference to it, as well as that from speaking with other owners it seems typical. My question is has anyone been able to find a cure for it? I'm reluctant to start dis-assembling the dash on an exploratory exercise as I might end up with more rattles and buzzes that I began with!!

The second vibration is from the engine area. The rev range this time is 1800 to 2500 and it is very pronounced. It seems to emanate from a spot between the air filter box and the yellow cam belt cover. It is quite loud.

Again does anyone else have any ideas on this one? My mechanic and I recently had a half-hearted poke around but found nothing obvious.?

[mick131]

Hey Kev,

Seem to recall an old 131 I had the same problem with a vibration from the engine bay as well. I think from memory it was the retaining nuts on top of the " pan " type air filter housing that where loose.


You could also check the cam belt cover retaining nuts as well.

[theredx19]

You want to make sure you dont have the plastic cam pulleys as I had to change mine but i wouldnt notice noises that low in the rev range red line all the way

[BKFIAT]

Hi KEV, if you can disconnect the rev counter via the fuse box and run the car as normal, this should tell you if its the needle or if its the instrument cluster.The 131 dash can be a noisey old devil at the best of times and always seem to resonate all kinds of weird sounds.If it is the instrument cluster, i would try to surround the cluster with an absorbing material,black silicone can be useful as a key grip for any shiny surfaces  you may want to add a gentle strip of padding to.Alot of fiat clusters indeed have anti vibration pads stuck around them as dash noises are very common across the fiat range in the 70"s and 80"s.  As to your engine noise,its hard to know where to start,but try to elimante everything around the cam belt area(especially tensioner),for total satisfaction,this will probably mean cam belt removal . I do hope its something simple ,good luck...

[brensport]

  Hi kev did try turning the knob on the wireless in a clockwise direction    if this fails try sticking the boot to da headlight ....   if all this fails  buy a nice honda civic ..........

[theredx19]

Your right Bren as I have no radio in my car so I have to keep my foot out pass the headlights but it says "sport" on the back panel so that is the way it is driven

[BKFIAT]

Hmmmmm...... a nice honda civic? :.....more like Jap Scrap 

[kev131]

Hi guys

Many thanks for the suggestions (I'm ignoring the Honda Civic suggestion Bren!!! - I'm surprised you didnt suggest a Celica...or do they rattle just as much?)

I'll bear all of the ideas in mind when I get down to tracing the culprits.?

Tnx again.

K

[eugene]

Bren,is your Granny teaching you how to drive in the Honda Civic!!!!!!!!!!.A Honda Civic=a hen house on wheels.Eugene

[theredx19]

Hey Eugene welcome but I think Bren and myself would only sit in a civic as we let the handbrake off and push it off a nice tall cliff long live the pasta eating cars

[gay131lover]

hi guys i dont see what you find so wrong with honda cars i had my first lesson in a honda and it was lovely

[eugene]

Was that Honda brown!!!!!!!!!,or pink!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kev131]

Just thought I would close off this subject..

The car went to my mechanic (who I am now labelling a patient genius) over the Xmas period to play and prod with for as long as he needed.

The main jobs this time were to fit a carburettor kit bought off ebay for ?16 and to try to track down and eliminate the above mentioned rattles and buzzes.

The dash vibration was tracked down to the steering cowling and with a bit of insulating type material the offending surfaces were separated. The engine area vibration was put down to something loose in the fanbelt/alternator area and is now also gone!!

A few other squeaks and chirps from the dash were also sorted out and with the new carb kit (I can really recommend these by the way and they come up regularly on Ebay) fitted the car is now running like a swiss watch - A real pleasure to drive and I'm itching to get on the road to Inveraray!

On the way home from the mechanic's place I came across this - Recently imported into Ireland and hopefully the owner will get involved in the growing classic Fiat scene in Ireland.





The last big job now for my 131 is to replace the original Blaupunkt radio cassette. While I really enjoy hearing all of my old 80s music again the lack of RDS on the radio section is annoying as well as distracting on the move. The FM radio reception is superb on the unit and I love the retro look and feel of it, I've just had a enough of constant knob twiddling - No jokes please!?

The prices of replacement car stereos seem really cheap these days especially considering what you can now get. Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, etc are all available with 4 X 45W, CD and RDS (some with ipod sockets) for between ?100 & ?200. I'll have to make my mind up soon but I wont be having lots of flashing lights!!

[gerafiori]

hey kev, you need a dvd in your car
then you can do some twidling to pictures
rgds gerry................

[BKFIAT]

Thats a fine example of a 124 sport, i had one about 8 yrs ago and its th only car ive regretted selling,ah , whats done is done. This recently imported car would sit nicely at any show ,even Scotland?