ecotec swap (Page 3/98)
wftb NOV 17, 09:45 AM
wftb NOV 17, 09:50 AM
tis is how i got rid of the ecotec power steering pump .it is sealed with hi temp rtv.the oil pressure is not high here ,just enough bleeds out to lube the pump bearing.
wftb NOV 17, 05:38 PM
i have been working on installing the fiero shifter back in to the car .i have been using the cavalier shifter since i got the car on the road ,but i have not been real happy with it. it didnt have a real smooth 1 - 2 shift and it sat up fairly high in the car .the problem with the fiero shifter is that the gear selector arm goes backwards compared to the cav shifter. also since the cables feed from the wrong side of the tranny you have to either join two sets of cables together or use extender rods.so there are two ways to make the fiero shifter work : make a custom bracket to make the gear select cable pull from the other side of the tranny or leave the cables where they are and modify the fiero shifter to reverse the action.since i dont want to drop the cradle this winter ,i decided to modify the shifter.like this:

[This message has been edited by wftb (edited 04-22-2011).]

wftb NOV 17, 05:43 PM

edit:this shifter mod is something that i did not think worked very well but other factors were involved .
1- i left the long bolt that goes through the shifter pivot and holds on one side of my throw reversing bracket too loose .i thought it needed the slop to avoid binding and i was wrong .i recently tightened it up and now my shifter is a lot better .positive shifts , low effort .
2= a lot of other problems were caused by my old crappy steel hydraulic clutch line .constantly degrading and corroding slave cylinders .i think i have gone through 4 of them .do your self a favour and when you buy a fiero , install a stainless steel line for your clutch .then bleed out all the old fluid and you will never replace a slave again .the rusty fluid that the carbon steel line creates causes corrosion pitting in the slave cylinder and ruins it .

[This message has been edited by wftb (edited 04-21-2011).]

wftb NOV 17, 05:51 PM
this shifts really well .i was hoping to be able to use the orginal fiero trim around the shifter but the extender rods interfere with it.so i have to make a piece to trim up around the shifter.the cavalier shifter installed :
StuGood NOV 18, 11:26 PM
Thanks for sharing the pictures and info! Don't know about anyone else, but I'm impressed with your work.

You may have already covered this in another thread, but I have a question: When you adapted the Fiero shifter to work with the Cav. transaxle, did you have to reverse the direction of only the shift (fore-and aft motion) cable, and not the select (side-to-side motion) cable? Or did you reverse the direction of both cables?

Also, the ecm that I believe you said you mounted forward of the coolant tank: Would this be a silver metal box that's mounted to a bracket on the Cavalier's firewall, like 4x 4" square ? I'm guessing that it can withstand engine-compartment heat quite readily, since that's where they put it (if that's in fact what the silver box is) on the Cavalier. But it also entered my mind that since ordinary coolant is electrically conductive, I'd not want to risk splashing coolant onto the ecm. Is the stock Fiero coolant tank still present in the front?

Oh, yes - are you using Dex-Cool (think that's what they call it) for coolant - the stuff GM recommends for the EcoTech?

How's access to the plugs and oil filter housing? I realize you've not put enough miles on it yet for an oil change, but curious how it looks to you.

Do I ask too many stupid questions?
wftb NOV 19, 03:46 PM
all good questions,only the gear select cable needs to be reversed .the ecm is the silver coloured metal box with the cooling fins on it. it seems to be sealed up pretty good.the fiero puke tank is still in use at the front and thats where i do my top ups .i left it on because i didnt feel like running another line from the cavalier bottle to the rad .for whatever reason there is four lines that connect to the cavalier bottle and it is pressurized the same as the rad.i didnt use the dexcool i used a dexcool compatible antifreeze that is suitable for aluminum engines and mixes with normal coolant.i did this because it is near imposible to get all the coolant out of a fiero.the spark plugs sit under a cover on the top of the engine , easy access.the oil filter isnt so easy.some of the normal eco stuff makes it a bit ackward and i will have to cut some tywraps and move wires to get the filter out.id rate it about a 4 out of ten for accesability.i have noticed that the cavalier tranny is quite stiff shifting when it is cold . is this a trait with all 5 speed cavaliers.i put in the exact amount of fluid reccomended by gm ,i will check and see if it is low.once the engine warms up it works fine.
thanks for the kind words .(edit) i realized later that the stiff action of the shifter was caused by yet another failing slave cylinder .the f23 getrags shift quite nicely .

[This message has been edited by wftb (edited 04-22-2011).]

Fosgatecavy98 NOV 19, 04:04 PM
How many mounts did you use? Because my Cradle is custom for a 87 3.8 it has different mount locations. One, lucky enough lines right up, only if I get rid of the AC comprssor. I dont need it anyways. But I am trying to figure out where another location should be. I was thinking about using the stock dogbone location at the top. Then I know the ecotec has a lower motor mount on the side of the trunk in a fiero.

I order my megasquirt stuff monday so I can atleast get the motor running and tuned. BTW if you are looking for perfomance for this motor go to Ecotecforums.com People are getting a well tuned stock 2.2 ecotec into the 160-170hp range! Add a couple bolts-ons and these little things could be sneaking up on 200.

Your post has got me all excited, to bad its 33 degrees here and snow/rain
wftb NOV 19, 10:39 PM
the mounts you see in the pictures are all stock cavalier mounts.there are 2 on the tranny and one up near the cylinder head of the ecotec .none of the steel parts of the fiero mounts were used except i bolted a plate to the fiero engine mount support that is welded on the cradle.i used this plate to locate the dogbone.on the eco ,the dogbone goes on the bottom.
el_roy1985 NOV 20, 01:05 AM
I want an Ecotec in my Fiero. I'll be watching this thread, maybe I'll end up goin with one after all.