So...
A few weeks ago I changed my belts for the first time in the old 2.5.
All went smoothly, but the battery tray bent a bit when was re-attaching alt pulley and I did not even notice. Belts were changed and the car ran like a champ.
Weeeellll, a few days later I happen to pop the deck and there was a poop load of rust everywhere on the pullery. Yes indeedy. The battery tray had bent just enough to not seat the battery perfectly. The sucker (aka the battery) had shifted and been sitting on the pulley, which proceeded to eat a small whole in the bottom of the battery and allow acid to leak out. Not a lot fo acid mind you, just a trickle which over a few days lead to a TON of corrosion.
So, I hit the whole thing with rust stop, cleaned it all up, and put in a new battery. No problem...
Then today I couldn't get the car to start. I checked the NEW battery and had 12 volts. Checked the connections and found the negative loose. I shifted the battery over to tighten the connection and then proceeded to crank it to see if it was the problem. Of course it was, and the car started right up..the engin ran maybe 5 seconds and I turned it off. I went back to close the hood and noticed that I had shifted the FREAKIN battery onto the FREAKIN pulley. I found a small whole in the bottom that trickled acid if I tilted the batery just right . Yes, 5 seconds of forgetfulness and another $60 later I had my second new battery in 2 weeks.
I realize that I should not tell these kind of storys on myself because I will be negating any credibility I might have established (which probably aint much), however I am looking for some sympathy here. Anyone else got a fiero fixing story they are willing to tell on themselves to make a poor kid feel a little better about himself?

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D: "We'll just give it the smoke test."
B: "What's the Smoke test?"
D: "Turn it on...and see if it smokes"
---The above is from an actual Fiero repair conversation. Names have been omitted to protect the ignorant.

hee hee. well you know what they say, "Sh!t happens".

i was going to trade my duke with another member in June. got to the other side of st louis, about 250 miles from home and she died on the side of the road. i had tools but couldn't get it going. its some sort of fuel delivery problem. anyway, had to get her towed to a motel and have my 65 year old in laws rent a dolly and tow me home. cost me about $450 that i didn't really have, a bunch of I Owe You's to my in-laws and the other member that i was to swap with probably thinks i'm a douche.

I did the same stupid thing, although I can say I didn't make the same mistake twice. You got me beat on that one.

Jim

Yeah, the old fiero sometimes leaves you feelin like a genius for figuring out a fix, and other times leaves you feeling like...well...you said it sostock

As for you Jimbolaya:
SCORE
Jimbolaya-1....NextFiero-2

[This message has been edited by NextFiero (edited 11-04-2007).]

I'm in love with my 4.9 Fiero, but sometimes it comes up with the goofiest problems you ever saw...I'm tooling along on the way back from Bowling Green...and it suddenly starts with this exhaust noise that sounds like a blown doughnut gasket...I get it home, can't find an exhaust leak ANYWHERE...start it up, noise is DEFINITELY exhaust, from the front manifold nearest the passenger compartment. Great, I think to myself, I've got a cracked manifold. I finally get out my trusty mirror-on-a-stick, and lo and behold, the O-2 sensor (which doesn't connect to anything; mine uses the rear sensor only) has blown out of the manifold, and jumped ship.
Was really glad it wasn't a cracked manifold, but I never cease to be amazed at the things this car throws at me sometimes.

Ok, as far as tales of stupidity (still can't believe I did this)...was having trouble with my second GT-750 not firing on all cylinders (not unlike its owner on this particular day)...thinking the baffles in the expansion chamber (muffler) might be clogged, I looked down into the pipe, using a Bic as a light...now, why was I looking in there? Cylinder not firing, equals unburnt fuel, correct?
The term afterburner is not generally applied to motorcycles (unless you're Jay Leno) but for a brief instant, I had one...and it afterburned my eyebrows right off my face...
Fortunately I was not injured, other than pride, lol...

i got one. a few yrs ago i was loading an old grease gun. had it filled and was standing over it trying to compress it together. dang thing slipped (go figure grease gun covered in grease) and popped me right in the forehead. knocked me on my butt, dazed, sitting on my garage floor for a minute or two. left a nice knot on my forehead, if it had hit my mouth probably would be wearing a partial right now.

I have to say guys, it is rare that I ACTUALLY laugh out loud at a post, you know really laugh...but these are definitely making me feel better.
Keep 'em coming, I think this stuff is great

------------------
D: "We'll just give it the smoke test."
B: "What's the Smoke test?"
D: "Turn it on...and see if it smokes"
---The above is from an actual Fiero repair conversation. Names have been omitted to protect the ignorant.

quote Originally posted by Vonov: Ok, as far as tales of stupidity (still can't believe I did this)...was having trouble with my second GT-750 not firing on all cylinders (not unlike its owner on this particular day)...thinking the baffles in the expansion chamber (muffler) might be clogged, I looked down into the pipe, using a Bic as a light...now, why was I looking in there? Cylinder not firing, equals unburnt fuel, correct? The term afterburner is not generally applied to motorcycles (unless you're Jay Leno) but for a brief instant, I had one...and it afterburned my eyebrows right off my face... Fortunately I was not injured, other than pride, lol...

Here’s your sign.

I just couldn’t resist.

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Technology is great when it works,
and one big pain in the ass when it doesn't.
Detroit iron rules all the rest are just toys.

quote Originally posted by NextFiero: I have to say guys, it is rare that I ACTUALLY laugh out loud at a post, you know really laugh...but these are definitely making me feel better. Keep 'em coming, I think this stuff is great

I finally got around to reading this post and I'm laughing out loud too. Good storys guys and all of my stories are boring.

Ouch.. Had a similar situation with my 88 so I ended up completely re engineering the battery tray into a battery box.

I salvaged the batter by putting RTV on the hole to seal it up.

RTV, I wish I had thought of that. Yes, as I was washing the battery acid out of my right eye I should have thought RTV...dern it. The pulley spins at just the right angle to launch the acid directly in to the eyes of a 6 foot tall man in tennis shoes. I had to run into the resturaunt we had just left and ask them if I could use their bathroom. They were closing and were hesitant, but once I mentioned the battery acid burning a whole in my right eye they were very gracious. --This really happend... and only added to my frustration and feelings of inadequecy.

------------------
D: "We'll just give it the smoke test."
B: "What's the Smoke test?"
D: "Turn it on...and see if it smokes"
---The above is from an actual Fiero repair conversation. Names have been omitted to protect the ignorant.

well, not on my Fiero...but, I have forgetten lugnets before.....
and, left off the drain plug when changing the oil - luckily noticed the puddle....

quote Originally posted by Pyrthian: and, left off the drain plug when changing the oil - luckily noticed the puddle....

Been there, done that once. As a working college student, I had everything under control. I had planned to change the oil at my parents over the weekend so I took all the necessary items home with me and used my dad's tools. Unfortunately, my parents lived abut 20 miles out in the country. Had to wait till mom got home then borrow her car to go to town and get more oil. Grass still hasn't grown in that spot and that was over 25 years ago.

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Ron

Never, never do anything or wear things that you don't want to have to explain to Paramedics, it can get very embarrassing. They talk!

Anyone else wnat to chime in, or are these the only people who have ever made mistakes while working on their Fieros?

.

[This message has been edited by JazzMan (edited 12-08-2008).]

When I was redoing my rear suspension in my 88 I managed to install the lower pieces that attach to the knuckle (one you can adjust the other you can't) in the opposite order. It was taking me a long time to buy all the pieces for the upgrade so it never touched the ground before I looked at the manual a bit more closely and thought something was a bit different then what I had done.

That wasn't as embarrassing as time I was trying to remove the axle hub bolts with my 1/4in wrench and the handle part of my hydraulic jack as a cheater. I was pulling on the cheater bar with almost all my power towards myself while sitting on the floor which then slipped off the wrench handle and smacked me in the head. I bleed for a few minutes wondering whether I'm going to need stitches or precautionary measures in case of a concussion but it was not a deep cut at all nor did I feel disoriented so after a minute I returned to the garage and laughed at myself for the next half hour while removing bolts by pushing cheater bars away from me. I would have loved a pic of my face as it hit my head.

Back in the early 70s a neighbor had a nice 66 Chevy Impala 2dr Hardtop that he couldn't get a right front end vibration fixed. Said he had to a couple of different shops and they said the front end would have to be rebuilt.. He sold me the car for $75. I took it home jacked it up, popped the RF hubcap off and noticed that some of the lug nuts were sitting at odd angles. Then I looked closely at the rim and saw a Chrysler symbol on it. Went to the auto parts store got 5 new lug nut studs, mounted the good tire on the spare, put it on and took it down the road just a smooth as could be.

For those who don't know, at that time Ford, Chrysler, and GM all used different lug patterns and were not interchangable.

Never told my neighbor what I found. Didn't want him mad at me.. lol

Ok, this is a hard one to admit. I recently moved and had 2 project fieros in my garage. One was still together but the other had the cradle removed. To make it easy to tow it on a dolly, I decited to put the rear end back on (cradle, control arms, struts, tires, etc) but didn't install the engine/tranny because I'm still working on those. Anyway, I was in a hurry because the move was coming up soon and didn't think about what happens when you don't have the axles installed. No axle means no axle nut to hold the damn tire on. So, we put the front tires up on the dolly and drive it around the front of the house and all is good. I get in the Uhaul and my buddy who is towing the fiero pulls out and suddenly stops, flashes his lights at me. The rear of the car is on the ground and both rear tires have come off. The wheel bearings blew right out on both sides.

That was pretty damn embarassing.

Dave

I have been working the last few months on a 3800 swap and I managed to start it for the first time, no coolant or exhaust, a month or 2 into the build and it was awesome, getting to hear it actually run was amazing, and this was about 3 in the morning, I shut it off, and having just installed the WCF transmission shift bracket(4t65eHD), with the car off, I shift through the whole set up. Well the next day I come out and turn the key and nothing, no fuel pump priming, and the starter didn't even try, but the battery was giving power. I spent the next 2 days doing everything I knew, at least twice, I added 2 grounds, and took the ground from moving the battery up front, from the radiator mount all the way back to the block, until the next day after working on it for about 5 hours I reach back, and since the shift cable wasn't perfectly in place, and clicked the transmission out of reverse and into park, and I put the key in and it started right up no hesitation....

Chris

NextFiero, you had better get that battery tied down or you may have an even worse experience when the two posts make contact with metal. The arc that will be created makes a great welder and could set your engine bay on fire if there is anything flammable in the vicinity. This advice has been given by a guy who used to use a bungie cord as a battery tie-down. I guess my dumb-dumb moment happened when I flipped the rods fro the disconnected column shift out of the way when I was under my 57 Chevy truck. They landed right in my brake master cylinder pedal mechanism. I didn't realize my mistake until I gave my wife her first and last ride in my "new" truck and we were one telephone pole away from a steep hill and a plunge into the lake. She wasn't too impressed! Luckily, the pole held fast and there was minimal damage to the heavy gauge bumper.

At least you didn't tazer yourself.
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...050410-6-029702.html