Google John Normans Northstar Fiero! March 1999. There is an article on this one along with Jack Ditters Notchback N*. I believe that they were the very first N* Fieros.
[This message has been edited by dratts (edited 10-09-2012).]
Lothar was a proud German immigrant. The badge held some significance to him.
Devin did your fiero turn black and orange?o.O lol it looks awesome in your signature pic! XD it's a photoshop, right? halloween-fiero! I need to make a sweet signature pic for Celsius now!
Devin did your fiero turn black and orange?o.O lol it looks awesome in your signature pic! XD it's a photoshop, right? halloween-fiero! I need to make a sweet signature pic for Celsius now!
Thanks for the information! I just got a lift put in place so I can start to look the car over better now. I'll have to dig through the records and see if I can find just all that came with these kits. I know that the front suspension was a one off for this car, due to something about the front frame members being incorrectly manufactured from Pontiac. I should start keeping track of where I am reading what. I have so many piles of information on this car, as well as tidbits that Lothar wrote that are published online. This will definitely keep me busy over the winter.
I have not done much with this car over the winter. I did read through every bit of information I got on with the car though. Near as I can tell, The builder was well aware that the PCM will limit the power output of this motor without a traction control system. What is not clear to me is if he fixed it or not. It *looks* like he had a special tune based off the olds Aurora, but I only have one print out that suggests that.
I also found one VERY small scrap of paper that mentioned a performance shift switch. I am wondering if this is what the mystery switch in the center console is for. I also wonder if it is messing with how the car runs, because the switch appears to be shorted to ground no matter what position it is in. There would not be performance shift without a specially tuned chip, correct? I didn't see mention of such a feature looking through the Caddy documentation.
Lastly, I'll have to trace power consumption, because something is putting a decent draw on the battery when it's parked.
I'm looking forward to when the temperature will be such that no more salt will be found on the roads. I want to hook the Cadillac dash up and take this for a diagnostic drive to see where things stand.
I have a northstar fiero( i did not build) , If you find out any info on the traction control please let me know. I believe mine is starting off in 2nd take off is really weak compared to my 3800 car... It makes sense to be starting in 2nd gear... mine also has a push button in between the window switches that goes to ground that I need to trace down and find what it goes to. sweet car you got there,...
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87 GT series 1 3800sc (7.597 @88.53 1.579 60ft) (series II swap in progress) 85GT Northstar 86GT 3800 n/a
One of my N* fieros has a switch on the console that controls the torque converter lockout. It also has the cadillac instrument panel available to plug in for diagnostics and smog.
I clearly have not kept up with this thread. I replaced the fuel pump, some fuel lines, the oil cooler lines, ICM, and half the plugs (guess which bank ). I have had a sort of miss that comes and goes in severity. It went away when I changed the ICM (the old one was physically damaged) but then has come back intermittently, and is worse now days. I wanted to pull the codes off it, and found the Cadillac dash supplied with the car for that purpose could not communicate with the PCM. Some troubleshooting found that the current PROM in the car is causing the lack of data communication to the dash. If the computer (16197429 BKXN) is PROM-less or has the 95 Cadillac PROM (as opposed to the Aurora based BMBS 16208901 PROM) then the PCM reads out trouble codes and talks to the dash.
So at this point, I'm wondering if there is something wrong with the PROM, or if it was specially programmed, and for some reason no longer allows communication to the dash. The build documentation on the car is incomplete enough, that I cannot tell if Lothar was ever able to use the dash to read PCM values after using the current chip. I do have values recorded when the Cadillac PROM that is goes into limp mode was installed.
jb1 or dratts, if you see this, would you mind telling me what PROM and PCM you are running? Also, what trans you have in the car?
Oh, and I've started to remove the LED's that were taped onto the bumper. I've got a better plan (I think...) but that's still in process. I also installed headlights before taking the car to the Dells last year. Those turned out ok for an interim fix. I put some Sylvania H4351 low beams where the turn signals used to be, in the fog light housings (modified) that Lothar had in place. I will want to do something else, with high and low beams, but that will require more measuring, planning, and money. Lots more money. Or, I may bite the bullet and de-glass the headlight doors and have the hood re-painted. But before I put money into the headlights, I want the motor running right.
If anyone is running a northstar with the 4T80E, let me know what you have for a PCM and PROM (if you're running OBD-I).
[This message has been edited by 86fierofun (edited 03-18-2015).]
I clearly have not kept up with this thread. I replaced the fuel pump, some fuel lines, the oil cooler lines, ICM, and half the plugs (guess which bank ). I have had a sort of miss that comes and goes in severity. It went away when I changed the ICM (the old one was physically damaged) but then has come back intermittently, and is worse now days. I wanted to pull the codes off it, and found the Cadillac dash supplied with the car for that purpose could not communicate with the PCM. Some troubleshooting found that the current PROM in the car is causing the lack of data communication to the dash. If the computer (16197429 BKXN) is PROM-less or has the 95 Cadillac PROM (as opposed to the Aurora based BMBS 16208901 PROM) then the PCM reads out trouble codes and talks to the dash.
So at this point, I'm wondering if there is something wrong with the PROM, or if it was specially programmed, and for some reason no longer allows communication to the dash. The build documentation on the car is incomplete enough, that I cannot tell if Lothar was ever able to use the dash to read PCM values after using the current chip. I do have values recorded when the Cadillac PROM that is goes into limp mode was installed.
jb1 or dratts, if you see this, would you mind telling me what PROM and PCM you are running? Also, what trans you have in the car?
Oh, and I've started to remove the LED's that were taped onto the bumper. I've got a better plan (I think...) but that's still in process. I also installed headlights before taking the car to the Dells last year. Those turned out ok for an interim fix. I put some Sylvania H4351 low beams where the turn signals used to be, in the fog light housings (modified) that Lothar had in place. I will want to do something else, with high and low beams, but that will require more measuring, planning, and money. Lots more money. Or, I may bite the bullet and de-glass the headlight doors and have the hood re-painted. But before I put money into the headlights, I want the motor running right.
If anyone is running a northstar with the 4T80E, let me know what you have for a PCM and PROM (if you're running OBD-I).
Use care on the hood as it is a real piece of crap inside. I am as far the only other person to have one of these hoods yet and I know he had issues as did I with cracking.
I know he re glassed the entire top again as pretty much as I have had to do to solve the issued. Just make sure if you do open things up you do not reopen the issues with the glass in the hood. Odds are you will be fine but just keep it in mind.
When I got my hood from FOCOA it was long on one side short on the other and every uneven. The hood has cracked several times and I am glad I like it or it would have ended up on the wood fire pile. I have read the story on what he had gone through and can relate.
I agree opening the hood back up would be the easiest thing to do. If I had the same issues that is where I would go but I just wanted to warn on of the hood as these can be an issue as I know mine was as well as the one you own. Even the original Norman hood is no longer as I believe it was modified into a new hood. We may have the only two left from what I have seen.
That makes me all the more want to not open the headlight doors then. The paint on the car is good, and I'd rather not have to try to blend into the rest of it, especially with the air brushing on the scoop.
It won't be impossible to add headlights to the car, it just wont be a cheap date. If I am looking at prices right, the lights I want are near 500 a piece. So 2k in lighting... I love pop up headlights, but the car does have a very good look to it with no door lines in the hood.
The engine is a 4.6 liter 32 valve V8 Northstar from a 1997 Cadillac (vin9 300hp) with a T4/T61 turbocharger. It has a PWR barrel type liquid/air intercooler with a Cobra heat exchanger mounted at the front of the car. Boost pressure is controlled by a Turbonetics Evolution wastegate, currently set at 5psi (adjustment shims and springs included). A Greddy blow off valve controls compressor surge. The turbo has an oil sump and a pump to return the oil to the engine. EFI is controlled by a Holley Commander 950 ECU which is tunable using a laptop PC and the included software. The injectors are new 36lb/hr from Holley. The transmission is a new (not rebuilt) 4T65E-HD intended for a supercharged 3800. It has a shift kit from Thrasher and a fresh fill of Amsoil synthetic ATF. The transmission is controlled by a Powertrain Control Solutions TCU, also tunable via PC. It has several modes of operation including fully automatic and manual tap shift using the steering wheel mounted buttons. All books and tuning software will be included.
I clearly have not kept up with this thread. I replaced the fuel pump, some fuel lines, the oil cooler lines, ICM, and half the plugs (guess which bank ). I have had a sort of miss that comes and goes in severity.
snip..
Have you replaced the other bank of spark plugs yet? I have a hunch that could be where your problem is.
I have a N* Fiero as well and ran into a similar problem. At the time mine ran fine at idle but had a miss under mid-heavy load only. I think you mentioned it was worse under load a few posts back, which is typical of an ignition problem. The drip rail at the front of the engine compartment which should channel rain away was removed, so water running between the deck lid and the rear glass would drip right onto the valve cover, and eventually caused corrosion under my ignition coil/module assembly (newer N*) but could also be getting into the area where the plug wires go into the valve cover on an older one. (Pretty sure yours is a remote coil engine) You said the problem tends to come and go, is it possible it is worse during high humidity or after rain?
Might not be your issue, but it would at least be good to rule out the other bank before getting too deep into trouble shooting.
One more thing I'd like to mention, as I've seen it cause the same mid-heavy load miss fire symptom and it's also related to the spark plugs is carbon tracking. It occurs when either the spark plug's ceramic insulator or the rubber spark plug boot have deteriorated enough to allow the ignition voltage to bypass the spark plug electrodes and jump to the plug's metal threaded area. If that happens even once, it will leave a small trace of carbon between the plug and boot. This carbon trace provides a second path for the ignition to follow, and under higher load it becomes more prevalent.
Hopefully you saved the old plugs from the first bank so you can check them out too, and if you find evidence on any of the plugs of carbon tracking be sure to replace the plug wire for it as well if not the entire wire set. Once the rubber has carbon tracking on it, it will wind up doing the same with a brand new plug too.
Hopefully it's as simple as some plugs and wires and your good to go!
[This message has been edited by edmjay (edited 04-02-2015).]
I love pop up headlights, but the car does have a very good look to it with no door lines in the hood.
