Problem starting a 1986 Spider Graduate.

[mtg42]

I just got a 1986 Spider, so I'm a newbie to both the forum & the Wonderful World of Alfa repair. And I'm afraid I'm not starting out too well.

The car has not been started since Jan, and driven very little in the last year, though it ran well before. (I know the prior owner, and trust this is true). It turns over, runs for a few seconds (10-30) then stalls. Don't know where to start.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

[Stefanel1]

For this kind of -quite- old cars (and very nice car !), not run for several months is never an excellent thing for the mecanic.
Is the idling low ? It's maybe only the idling to make a little bit higher.
When it starts, you could try to accelerate a little bit and verify if it could be that.
Good luck by the way, it's a wonderful car, very nice and a pleasure to drive.

[spydylover]

Hey there
do you have a mechanical spica fuel injection pump or is it carburated?
the spica's have a reputation of being a little bothersome, they have a manual temp setting on the top of the pump for different outside temp ranges, also there are 2 solinoids on the bottem that can be bypassed to see if there's a problem with them( happened to my 79), last but not least is the fuel accuator( an expensive fix) this murcury switch controls the fuel pump based on engine temp.
A great place to check out is International Auto Parts @ www.international-auto.com. Not tring to promote 1 company over the other, but the best I've found in North America
CHEERS and best of luck

[mtg42]

I think it has Bosch FI, and I'm pretty sure it was bad gas. Siphoned off what I could of what was left in the tank, added some fresh gas, and it's been running well ever since.
Thanks