I had some difficult car fault finding, driving, and bodging to do this week.
My Fiat Panda wouldn't start, but with jump leads from my sports car it would start. It ran, but it ran badly. I drove it to the shops where it died and wouldn't restart. I walked home and got the sports car and the jump leads and went back to the shops. This time it started but it would only run when my foot was on the throttle. I had an incredibly nerve wracking drive to get it home again without taking my foot off the throttle. I operated the brake with my left foot, I made violent and harsh gear changes at high revs and I had to select neutral in plenty of time before I wanted to stop. I then walked back to the shops, did my shopping and drove home in the sports car.
I convinced myself that the only problem was the battery. I charged it for a few days but it still wouldn't start the car so I took the battery to the battery centre by motorbike, had it tested, and bought a new one.
With the new battery the starter motor would run and the car would sputter into life for a few seconds, but it would die again if you took your foot off the throttle.
During all the jump lead shenanigans I had noticed that the air filter box was skewiff. Underneath it I found witness marks on the throttle cable adjustment. I messed around with it a little bit and the car is again completely serviceable, although the tickover is now a little high.
My best guess is that the garage slowed down the tickover during the MOT to squeeze it passed the emissions test and it has wandered a little bit since.
Richard "What do One Car Households do in Situations Like This?" B
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