He sold his car in 08 and the next owner just drove it, and it now has issues that I need to address.
I'm looking for more detailed engine pictures. There is some stuff that is disconnected or not working. Like the cruise control and overdrive. The engine needs plugs and wires among other things. If you have any pics archived please post them.
I took some pics of the engine compartment and reviewed them on the computer. It looks like some mice or rats have chewed up the wiring. I guess that's why the car was only $2500.00. I drove it for two days and clocked about 250 miles. The cars driveability progressively got worse to the point the beater car was preferable. Here's what I found.
This is probably why the trans shifts late and has no OD.
Why it runs so crappy.
Probably going to reroute the throttle cable to where it should be and reconnect the cruise control. I love cruise control.
I remember that car, now. I have a 4.9 with the Allante setup. I retained the throttle cable that the Fiero Factory installed with the original 4.9 installation. Basically an 88 Duke throttle cable. I fabbed up a clip/clamp affair to attach to the throttle lever. It sort of looks like a V6 throttle cable might have actually worked better, assuming it would reach. But I just worked with what I had. Six years later it still works fine.
Hey Raydar. When you perform a tune up on your engine do you remove the Allante intake? I'm probably going to just to make the job easier. When I still had the 87 with the 4.9 I could get to the plugs from underneath the car. This car has true dual exhaust. I'm hoping that I can get to the firewall plugs from the bottom. I bought the iridium AC Delco plugs and MSD wires. The goal is to get the issues resolved on Friday while the kid is in school. We'll see.
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Originally posted by Raydar:
I remember that car, now. I have a 4.9 with the Allante setup. I retained the throttle cable that the Fiero Factory installed with the original 4.9 installation. Basically an 88 Duke throttle cable. I fabbed up a clip/clamp affair to attach to the throttle lever. It sort of looks like a V6 throttle cable might have actually worked better, assuming it would reach. But I just worked with what I had. Six years later it still works fine.
Fat plug 3 wires looks like OP sender plug... Upgrade to 88 plug and sender. If they fail, won't leak pressurize oil out of engine. See my Cave, Oil Sensor
------------------ Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should. (Jurassic Park)
Thanks. I'll put that one on the list. I have had a OP sensor leak like that before.
Working in the cold today. I picked up my MSD wires. It turns out they ordered the wrong set. They have 90 degree ends instead of the straight ends. So I'll go back and get a credit. I'll probably go with what they have in stock and revisit the wires in the spring. I found the miss fire. It's cyl 1 injector cable. Something chewed through it. I'm going to pull the plug to see how bad they are. If they look good I'll roll them into the spring tune up.
Started on the firewall side. I'm surprised that this car even ran. Here is the cyl 4 wire.
I went back out and started pulling the plugs. I've got all but #6. The car has true dual exhaust and the cat is right in the way. So I'm trying to get it from the top. I found some good stuff under the car. Aluminum cradle bushings and poly control bushings.
[This message has been edited by JetroGT (edited 12-09-2016).]
I've only had the plugs out once, since I did the Allante setup, but yeah... it has to come off. Unless you're a lot more limber (and thinner) than I am. Not really a big deal, though. Throttle cable; 3-4 vacuum lines (All the ports are NOT the same. Mark them with tape tags or something); Three or 4 sensors; Four 13mm nuts hold the whole thing on. You can leave the throttle body attached, or remove it. Whatever is more convenient for you.
With that said, I had very little trouble getting the plugs out from the top. Not really any more difficult than the V6. (I absolutely *hate* lying on the ground under the car.)
Mine also has the 88 oil pressure switch. I've had several of them short out and kill the battery, due to the pump running all the time. I ended up changing the wiring on the fuel pump circuit to "switched". That will horrify some people, but it's worked fine for me, for several years.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 12-09-2016).]
A switch on the fuel pump circuit is a good idea, and a nice anti-theft feature. On a side note I finished replacing the plugs wires and removed this blockage from the intake. lol
From a stop it's like a rocket, but the transmission is still an issue. It's shifting into all the gears, but it's just shifting very late. 1st gear 5K. If I floor it, it goes past the red line. At 70 it tachs at 3.5k with no Over Drive. I'm used to the DeVille 4spd where at 80 the tach is sitting at 2K and I'm getting 30+mpg. I still have to ask Jeremy how much it is to swap out a transmission.
[This message has been edited by JetroGT (edited 12-09-2016).]
Contrary to popular belief, the Fiero Factory (if they did the swap) do NOT change the tach calibration. At least they didn't with mine. At WOT, it will shift at ~6K as indicated by the V6 tach, In reality, it's closer to 4500. If you are not confident, get a scan tool and plug in. It will tell you the correct RPM. (You probably are idling at 1000-1100 indicated. Probably closer to 700-800. )
The stock ECM has a rev limiter, so even if it's NOT shifting until late, it should shut off the injectors before anything breaks.
The temp gauge is pegged / upside down. I think I remember reading that if the operating temp does not reach a certain point, the engine will not go into closed loop and will not engage lock up. I need to find the temp sensor to measure it's resistance and measure the resistance of the plug.
The temp gauge is pegged / upside down. I think I remember reading that if the operating temp does not reach a certain point, the engine will not go into closed loop and will not engage lock up. I need to find the temp sensor to measure it's resistance and measure the resistance of the plug.
Temp sensor should be in the intake manifold, right next to the thermostat housing. There is also a heater hose outlet, right there at it. With that said... There is normally only a provision for one sensor on the Allante manifold. I tried the 3 wire sensor - the one that had the circuits for both the ECM and the gauge. I never could get the gauge to read correctly. It would go from "cold" to "pegged", in about five minutes. I figured that either the resistance was wrong, or there was a ground loop somewhere. In any event, it just wasn't worth the trouble to sort it out. I ended up adding a "T" in the heater hose, just outside of the heater hose outlet, and running the stock Fiero gauge sender. The one in the manifold is the regular 2 wire sensor for ECM.
I can take pics of anything you want, if you need them.
I would suggest borrowing a scanner and seeing what the ECM thinks it's seeing. It will provide a wealth of information. ALDL does not support the Caddy ECM. You'll likely need a real scanner.
FWIW... I also drilled a pin hole in my thermostat, to prevent air from getting trapped. (If yours is not warming up, it may have had the thermostat removed.)
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 12-10-2016).]
I'm going to have to make a full inspection of all the critical engine management parts. I'm hoping I can make the Dells this year. This year will make 7 years that I've missed it.
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