GRRRR, ok I have an 87 Gt auto. 88k miles. I always buy new parts and replace IAC, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, and ignition coil with MSD pro coil on every Fiero I buy. Regardless if old owner says he already replaced. I have learned these issues the hard way and always replace them to be safe. I take off and clean the TPS as well. Ran like a champ after I did all that for 5 months. Now here comes the main issue. Runs great drive 80 mile round trip as usual with no issues, then pull up to a red light and car bucks idle jumps down to 400 or so tries to correct back and dies/stalls. I say oh s**t. I immediately start car right back up, it does like nothing is wrong, cranks up perfectly. So cool I continue on my way. BTW when it stalled it acted as if I was a noob with the clutch and I stalled it out, this is an AUTO trans of course. So next red light its cool and then the next ones miles away it does EXACT same sequence of buck drop stall to the tee. Restarts again like no bodys business. Does this buck drop stall again 2 more times. Then Fiero decides it was done being bad and drove like normal the rest of the way home like 18 miles or so. OK my first thought is IAC but its new new, then 2nd thought is MAP, 3rd is TPS, 4th is Fuel Filter, 5th is longshot of crap gunk oil filter caused a drop in oil pressure that killed out engine as maybe shop 'forgot' to change out wicked old oil filter that was in car, or 6th is Control Module?? I have ZERO vac leaks, EGR and tube are groovy, EGR soln is A-ok, every new part I installed is earning its keep correctly, I had ALT and Batt tested and they were given 2 thumbs up. Reason I went to have ALT and Batt tested is because my volt gauge is on crack and sometimes shows I have too high volt via needle moving almost to say 15 or 16 and the red light faintly lights up. That usually happens at high RPM's like passing someone or cruising at like 85 on expressway. BUT if I touch the brake real quick gauge corrects itself and is reading solid and in correct range with no hint of moving. I thought my ALT was putting out too much juice via the voltage regulator. But no, it passed all scans well within correct ranges. So all that being said for most info possible what is up with me stalling out at stops in drive? Also fuel pump is Joe Montana solid, no pre getting weak and dead clues like whining or humming when fuel tank is below a quarter tank or the like. Good pressure. FYI. I have ZERO check engine lights, and it does work correctly like when I turn key but dont start up car. I did get a code like 4 months ago because a vac line fell off my EGR soln so I replaced tube and reset and rocked out just fine. So please let me know if I am on the right track or if I should think about lock up converter on trans? It functions like it should so I dont feel that is the issue but I may be wrong. Also I have started noticing a longer shift from 2nd to 3rd mostly always when engine and trans are not at op temps, but I noticed lovely shop dudes over filled my trans when I had it checked at same oil and 'filter' change so I feel my longer shifting is due to being over fill on fluid. I am removing the over fill tomorrow so hope it fixes the crap shifting. Trans was smooth as silk before fluid over top off. Sorry so long but I need Fiero brains to get all the info to make an educated determination. Thanks yall !

[This message has been edited by tntcary (edited 02-06-2013).]

It is the torque convertor lock up solenoid that is giving you problems. on the tranny there is a square plug right by the top towards the front unplug it to test if the car doesn't do it any more then there is your problem but i would almost bet a hundred that is your issue

CRAP. Of course the one thing I dont wanna mess with is the lock up. People have said its wicked easy to replace but very time consuming. I will remove the plug from it and rock out like I just pushed the turn off overdrive button on the shifter. And see if it doesnt go Cape Fear on me. I think I would rather just put in a Getrag as it is tax season. lol Thanks for the reply Dudewithoutfiero!!!! Its always what you dont want it to be.

Yes, most likely the TCC solenoid. Unplug it and drive it for a while. If the issue disappears, then you probably need a new TCC solenoid. The part isn't too expensive and on everything but the 88 2.5/Auto they are fairly simple to replace (just take off the side cover and its right there).

Thanks, it is now unplugged. Lets see what happens. Just for arguments sake could the overfill of trans fluid cause this problem with the TCC? Like it seems like it should cause a drag in the exchange. It was waay overfilled btw.

quote Originally posted by tntcary: Just for arguments sake could the overfill of trans fluid cause this problem with the TCC? It was waay overfilled btw.

Did you check the auto tranny fluid level while the engine was running?

Checking the auto tranny fluid level while the engine is off will show a false high reading.

yes, while idling and at full opp temp and doing the usual gear selections too. I unpluged TCC, Just went and drove the S**t out of it HARD around town and expressway with ZERO issues. Crap TCC !!!! So I am going to remove excess trans fluid plug TCC back up and see whats up. If it bucks and stalls again then we know for 100% its the TCC solenoid and it was not messed with by the massive overfill of fluid. I did see a little foam on stick when rechecking fluid levels again. Fluid level has held and is just as high as before and causes a foaming due to too high level. So wish me luck. At least my list has shrunk way way down on the maybe its this list. Thanks so much for reply!

I say its the solenoid also... I had 2 fieros with this problem an 85se 4banger and an 88 gt. I had a tranny shop do it and all it costed was 125 bucks I believe. Good luck... if it happens again and people are looking just tellem your learning how to drive a stick shift

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88 coupe 4 Banger
86 SE v6 problem child
86 GT needing TLC

bahahaha, exactly! Thats what it exactly felt like. I got that burning feeling in my face when it stalled out just like I used to when I was learning to drive a stick. So funny. Yeah one way or another its the TCC solenoid. If by some wicked crazy chance the over fill on fluid caused it to go Ray Finkle on me or it just went bad on its own, it def the TCC solenoid. Thanks. I will find out for certain tomorrow and keep yall informed.

Sounds like a TCC mine was doing the same thing. Pretty easy to change except on the 86 1/2 up 4 bangers only have one trans mount that blocks the side cover and has to be removed from what I here anyway. I know mine is an 86 and it had the mount there. Not 100% sure on the v6.

yeah it doesnt look difficult to do on the 87 gt, just very time consuming. Take off this to get to that and that to get to this and then take off the trans side plate and then bake the cake at 350 for 30 mins. I will say I like the feel off the trans and power feel I get with the TCC unplugged better. just feels meatier this way. I may not replace the solenoid at all. the RPM difference on expressway is of course slightly higher with it unplugged, but not that much really. Car also feels meatier on expressway with it unplugged. It doesnt feel like it is working too hard at all. Now doing 90 or so for a long stretch I could def see the benefit of the TCC keeping RPM down slightly. But I dont rock out that fast often and not for miles and miles anyways so its kind of redundant to even replace it and plug it back up if I dont like the feel it provides anyways. I really dont see adverse long term damage or the like keeping it unplugged. Someone please correct me if I am mistaken. TCC plugged in and working I cruise at 3700 to 3900 on expressway (I have a radar/laser detector that saves me) with it unplugged I am cruising at or around 4000 give or take. Difference is obvious but not logically practical to my needs/wants it seems. Now if this is a huge no no and failure is high level then I will replace. But to me this is causing LESS strain on my trans as it is now simplified to 1-2-3-2-1-chill instead of 1-2-3-tcc-3-tcc-3-tcc-3-tcc-3-2-1-chill under normal driving conditions. Or am I looking at this too Jordan vs Bird?

You have a Fiero mechanic right there in Douglasville, just off Chapel Hill Rd. Aerodonamic. One of the best around. You can find his information on the Georgia Fiero forum or PM/email me for his info.

Fierofool. Yep, I have known Aerodonamic Don since I was a kid. I bought my 2nd Fiero from him and he has done uncountable amounts of jobs on many many Fieros over the years for me. DON ROCKS and is Mr. Fiero Genius and the nicest guy ever! I am actually sending another forum user to him and his son tomorrow. If I cant get the job done myself for some reason then my ONLY choice is Don or his son.

Yup! Don is "the man".

Regarding the TCC... You can leave it unplugged forever if you want. You will use a little more fuel and your revs will be a bit higher on the highway.
There are those who say it will damage the tranny from heat generated by the slippage in the torque converter, but I don't think it's ever been proven. I drove my Formula for over a year, that way, and never had any issues.

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Raydar
88 Formula IMSA Fastback. 4.9, NVG T550

Praise the Lowered!

Raydar, yeah I actually like the feel better with it unplugged. So I am gonna be edgy like. lol I just got two replacement fenders from Don and a rear bumper/clip. I painted my Fiero Blue, like close to factory blue, and someones white car in ingles parking lot thought my car was hot or something and rubbed all down my fender. No note no nothing, they didnt even buy my Fiero a drink. So I attempted to sand it down and then got the bad idea to save time and get a hook and loop paint stripper pad for stripping fiberglass for my DA . FACE/PALM I totally burned into the fender and made it look like a concentrated hail storm of baseballs had been hitting the fender. So i OF COURSE called Don to get saved with his wide selection of Fiero body parts. Then I decided I hated the Blue anyways so I blocked off all the blue and went with Nissan Metallic Black and then put a wicked amount of clear coats. I am now doing a DA foam pad polish with Meguiars ultimate polish. After I of course wet sanded forever and 3M rubbing compounded it with a wool hook and loop for 40 years. I am so ready to be done with all this paint work. I did not take off the long base board ground affect cause I didnt want to replace the crap rivets/plastic metal stupid retarded bolt things that GM thought was a great idea to use. So I figured out a way to get the fender with the ground affect attached to fender into the base. it was super easy once I figured out the way. Cuts out hours of break down and reassemble time. But i degresssss.....

Bump for johnyrottin

Thanks guys. I will check this weekend and report back in.