1989 Yugo GVL Long-Term Road Test

1989 Yugo GVL: Tiring of the Bullet's Fuel-Saving Auto-Stop Feature

August 13, 2015

Back in 1989, insightful Zastava engineers were already looking to reduce tailpipe emissions with bleeding edge auto-stop technology. Okay, so credit actually belongs to the Italians for this one, as our Balkan Bullet shares engine heritage with the Fiat 128. And the auto-stop is more of a passive function on our 1989 Yugo GVL that occurs randomly and sometimes while we're still moving.

We don't really know the cause of the engine stall, er, auto-stop function, but it is beginning to provide a challenge that many staffers would rather not undertake during a rush hour commute. I'm also convinced that this is likely the sole reason people haven't been fighting over the Yugo keys at the end of the day.

Having already renounced fastidious carburetors, due to prior personal experience, it was the first obvious thing to blame. Why wouldn't it be the reason behind our torment?

Acting upon instinct, I quickly ordered a carburetor rebuild kit from RockAuto.com, which stocks a surprising amount of Yugo replacement parts, and decided to take a stab at the issue. The complete kit set us back $40.95 in total, shipped to our offices in Santa Monica.

The patina on the included instructions leads us to believe this rebuild kit could also be from 1989.

We're not sure if this is the answer to our Yugo's environmentally-conscious quirks, but at least it'll allow the carburetor to pass blame if it isn't.

Jonathan Elfalan, Road Test Editor @ some amount of miles