1976 Fiat X19 seized engin

[Beached Bones]

Hello all, I'm going to try and help a friend try and get a Fiat with a seized engine rolling. Anyone know ANYTHING about this engine and how to get it fired up again?

It was running normally but sat for 5 years without fireing and now is seized.

Thanks

 

[Kejtar]

Hello all, I'm going to try and help a friend try and get a Fiat with a seized engine rolling. Anyone know ANYTHING about this engine and how to get it fired up again?

It was running normally but sat for 5 years without fireing and now is seized.

Thanks

Did you do anything before firing it up for the first time or did you just top off the fluids and crank it over?

Also what kind of motor does it have and what are the symptomps of "seized"?

 

[Beached Bones]

Only thing I was told by the guy is that it is seized, last fired up 5 years ago and didn't fire up when (i presume) he had done the norm, change fluids etc before trying to get it going. He also said he removed the spark plugs and put to desiel fuel a couple days ago in hopes of loosening it up, and will try getting it going again tomorrow.

 

[Beached Bones]

Internet says the engine should be 1290cc engine... still looking for more info.

 

[BudTX]

I had a 1975 X1/9 that I purchased the summer after I graduated high school. What a piece of crap that car was. It overheated constantly, so keep that in mind when trying to get this one running. I'll bet a nickle that this one suffered a similar past. I'd pull the head and take a look inside; there may be heat related damages that are the root of your problem.

It will help immensely if you are a 5' 110 lb Italian mechanic. Working on that mid engine design can be an exercise in contortion.

Bud

 

[casm]

It will help immensely if you are a 5' 110 lb Italian mechanic. Working on that mid engine design can be an exercise in contortion.

Yep. For comparison, clutch changes on Renault 5s are equally crappy. At least Fiat parts are generally available, though.

Try pouring some ATF into the cylinder bores and letting it work its way in for a couple of weeks. As long as the pistons aren't physically rusted to the bores, this should free up the engine enough to crank it over (assuming the issue isn't with the crank itself or a 'locked' gearbox). A friend of mine did this on a Citroen SM he picked up that had been sitting for 11 years and was believed to be seized solid; he now drives it regularly on the same basic engine as when it was found.

 

[Atl XJ]

I've never tried ATF, but Marvels Mystery Oil got my 65 Cadillac convertible's motor unsiezed and it had been sitting since 1979.

 

[jneary]

try some kind of penetrating oil in the cylinders and let it sit for a day, then slowly try to turn it over by hand. be patient. if it doesnt give keep soaking it. you think the x19 is junk, you shouls have seen the '73 850 spider i had in high school.

 

[Beached Bones]

try some kind of penetrating oil in the cylinders and let it sit for a day, then slowly try to turn it over by hand. be patient. if it doesnt give keep soaking it. you think the x19 is junk, you shouls have seen the '73 850 spider i had in high school.

update, didn't get at it today, probably tomorrow. He has been soaking it with diesel to try and break it up, bessides of all the good stuff to put in there, can diesel work? Any reason against it?

As far as cranking it by hand, I was trying to figure out how to go about doing that. I know almost nothing about those weird transverse mounted mid engine type setups. Is there a good accessible place to crank it by hand without removing the engine from the car? The owner was thinking of puting it into gear and towing it a bit to break it free. I didn't think that was the best way to go.

As far as it being junk.... the design may be and the engine is definatly underpowered, BUT this is a car collecter's car. It's in very good orriginal condition and not ment to be anyone's transportation as such. Just an interesting car to have for the novelty of it.

 

[Beached Bones]

Motor turns now, pumped the remaining diesel out the spark plug holes.

Ended up just putting it in gear and pushing. simple is good.

 

[casm]

Motor turns now, pumped the remaining diesel out the spark plug holes.

Ended up just putting it in gear and pushing. simple is good.

You might also want to drain the sump. I can't remember if the X1/9 uses a gearbox-in-sump design or not (I don't think so - IIRC, they have the gearbox/transaxle mounted longitudinally, but it's been a while), but any diesel that may have made it past the rings isn't going to do you any favours one way or the other.

Bear in mind that many of the commercially-available oil system cleaners (you know the type - add it to the oil filler, run the engine for five minutes, drain the sump) are basically just diesel fuel with added detergents. If diesel starts making it through the engine with the oil, you'll lose the oil's adhesiveness and basically be running the engine at near-dry. Just something to consider.

 

[AndyS]

The X1/9 uses basically the entire front end from a 128 transferred to the rear of the X1/9 - right down to the brakes, struts, etc. The transaxle is "conventional", as in, separate from the engine assembly - not unitized like a SAAB 99/900.

X1/9s should NEVER overheat - provided that the head gasket is intact and not leaking, the water pump is in good shape and the radiator not plugged. The long pipe run from the motor to the radiator takes care of half the heat transfer, so the radiator is underused, really.

Like all Italian cars, take care to keep the head bolts torqued correctly, and you won't have blown head gasket problems. The 1290 motor is the best of the FIAT SOHC motors - with the right cam it'll rev cleanly to nearly 9grand and that's without radical profiles or multiple carbs. If you can find an older 128 with the 1116cc motor, snag it and use the intake and exhaust manifolds from it - they flow MUCH better. While the 1116 head has smaller combustion chambers (more compression), the ports are smaller, so don't use it. Just mildly deck the 1290 head instead.

Be easy on the tranny though - X1/9's have a tendacy to explode ring and pinions. No drag starts/sidestepping the clutch. And the synchros can be rather fragile, so speed shifting isn't recommended.