So I obtained an 84 fiero with the.2.5 4 cyl engine. It's bone stock and white even has original tires! Lol its been sitting in a field for 7 years after it overheated so headgasket time. I am going to attempt that this weekend I've never done one but I have a haynes and am going to figure it out I am very good mechanically and fix lawn mowers and sell them. I've always done my own work on my old 89 jeep Cherokee and my 2004 Nissan Titan.
Head gasket looks more complicated than I originally thought. Took valve cover off and realized one intake and exhaut need to be taken off and gaskets replaced as well, also the thermostat and gasket will need replacing. I am going to take a chance and not get the head looked at ( yes I am aware that if its warped it will happen again) so hopefully ill have funding for that this weekend. Do the head bolts need replaced? Napa doesn't have them on their parts catalog I don't see anything that's going to interfere with timing? I don't have that equipment. Do the valves need readjusting?
After I get that done I will be adding new coolant I have read the special procedure for doing this and will follow it. New oil, new dizzy cap, rotor, wires, plugs, fuel filter, air filter, battery cables, I already got a new battery. Possibly if I can come up with the money new hoses.
Other than that the removable panel the the driver side of the engine I am going to cut and put a 12" fan there to circulate air. other than that I am just wanting this car as a project cruiser not a race car. Anything else that should be looked at considering its 30 years old 156k miles and been sitting in a field for 7 years?
The guy i bought it from said he did some tests (he wouldn't specify) that the head gasket is blown. There is no water in the oil. And on the short drive home I saw the thermostat open but it did continually get hotter the cooling fan never kicked on but i never actually let it overheat.
Not sure why overheating other than the headgasket has a hole and possibly exhaust getting somewhere they werent supposed to.
After I got it home and parked I can't start it back up without starting fluid. It will start up idle at about 800 sputtered and die quickly I press the gas pedal and it dies. Fuel filter is supper clogged but there is still flow in the throttle body. The dizzy cap was loose and is very dirty. Wires are cracked and the plugs I believe are original.. the plugs are so dirty I don't see how they could have even sparked they were completely gummed up. I believe this to be my current starting issue. As for the overheating I am not sure.
Well my naievensss is already past that. I took valve cover off (gasket was destroyed) and the tps sensor which is very very dirty I took 5 head bolts off to see their condition and they came out easy. I was convinced I was going to need to replace top end gaskets so I already started :/ I could put them back I just took out the ones by the valves.
Just put my order in a motion auto supply. (My friend gets a discount) Gaskets: head, intake, exhaust, valve seals, valve cover, thermostat, water pump. Ignition: coil, dizzy cap, o ring, rotor, wires, double platinum plugs. Filter: air, fuel. Fluids: oil + filter, coolant, windshield Serpentine belt. And thermostat (180)
Total $210
Nobody has headbolts.... Napa has none that will work, motion has nothing, carquest, autozone. I went to a fasteners place they don't have them looks like I need to reuse...
I plan on cleaning the egr and tps. I cleaned the engine bay but will clean everything that comes off and everything accessible when things come off. I got my haynes in the mail. I am going to clean the o2 sensor as wrll.
My friend is a retired master mechanic he says that they are ok to re use. Need to clean and chase put the holes. All the auto parts stores says they can he reused.. even the haynes manual says they can be re used. Why is it that you guys think they cannot be.
They came out easy enough. The ones by the exhause were really dirty but were easily cleaned with compressed air. Threads look fine. Heads are not even remotely stripped
Oh ok. I just wanted to make sure because some cars you cannot. My jeep Cherokee we couldn't re use because they were stretch bolts or something I mostly observed that job while my friend did all the work
The intake manifold on this is truly a pita! Didnt realize half the engine is attached to it. Got tps valve out, throttle body out, found out coil mount is attached, then all the intake bolts, and engine torque mount. Then oh look the bracket that holds alternator needs to come out. And for the life of me i cannot get a wrench or socket on the bottom bolt of the mount that's attached to the head.. do I need a special tool because slowly turning it with a screw driver doesn't seem feasible
Disappointment piston #1 has a hold smack in the middle. The walls are perfect and no aparent damage to head no idea how but a giant hole in it. So new questions! Can you replace only one piston? Would you re use the rings? Can you do it without pulling the engine?
So after a lot of thought I am going to rebuild the 2.5 thought about swapping and decided to keep the 4cyl. I will be looking into some different parts to maybe get a few more HP out of it. Going to get the head cleaned and rebuilt at a shop. I am going to replace pistons, rings, oil pump, bearings, and gaskets. In the block as well as clean and inspect everything. Couple upgrade questions
I k.ow some things can be replaced for power such as a different piston and header what are some others and a source for them?
The throttle body is ok and I know the holley is not readily available. What are some other options has anyone switched to carbed?
What can I do to upgrade things outside the engine. Like starter, alt, water pump etc ?
Going to rebuild a '84 2.5 ? WHY ? you would be MUCH better off to get a 1986 2.5 and do it. an 84 had Bad RODS, you need pistons,(there was a REASON it burned a hole in that piston) a '86 block has a roller cam. Just saying.....
Finally an Update I just got a good deal on a 88 2.5l engine for 300 already bought it should be here within a couple weeks. I am swapping this into my 84 i read something about oil pan differences can i swap my old oil pan on to the new engine or what do i Need to do. also is there anything else i need to know. And i cant seem to find a write up on this swap if there is one can someone send me the link?
Finally an Update I just got a good deal on a 88 2.5l engine for 300 already bought it should be here within a couple weeks. I am swapping this into my 84 i read something about oil pan differences can i swap my old oil pan on to the new engine or what do i Need to do. also is there anything else i need to know. And i cant seem to find a write up on this swap if there is one can someone send me the link?
Sell it. It doesn't work with your throttle body. You can't just swap your old intake on because the ports don't line up. It doesn't work with your ECM or wiring harness. An 88 ECM does not swap in place. It doesn't work with your ignition, there is no physical place to put a distributor. It doesn't work with your old motor mount bracket.
Yup, look for 84-86 Fiero engine. 87-88 are different and require a lot of work to swap.
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Originally posted by KurtAKX:
Sell it. It doesn't work with your throttle body. You can't just swap your old intake on because the ports don't line up. It doesn't work with your ECM or wiring harness. An 88 ECM does not swap in place. It doesn't work with your ignition, there is no physical place to put a distributor. It doesn't work with your old motor mount bracket.
I already bought it and am putting it in. Looks like it comes with everything attached including intake and throttle body so to swap it in what am I going to need.
I'm pretty good at wiring, if I have some good diagrams that tell me what each wire does I could prolly figure it out the mounts appear the same looks like some clearance issues with the newer oil pan but also appears that the old one is a direct swap. I have a Haynes book just wondering what other things I'll need at hand
It's just so much more work than getting the right engine.... Jakispyder has more experience with the L4, so I defer to him, but connectors won't match, computer is different, wires will be too short. I think you will end up taking the 84 chassis harness out of the car and installing a 88 harness......
For all intensive purposes the engine is the same how different can the wiring possibly be? And same for the computer I didn't even these old cars had a ecu lol could the old computer be wired into the new engine?
The ignition system is completely different. 84 is HEI with a proximity style (magnetic field) distributor, and the 88 is solid state with coilpaks. the 88 ECM is required to run the 88 engine.
It doesn't change anything. The '88 motor is physically different inside and out than the '84 motor. GM continually refined this engine and each iteration created incompatibilities with previous versions. In your case, the electronics present in the '88 motor won't work with the '84 ECU, and the '88 ECU (which you'd still need to buy) won't work with the wiring already present in the car. Obviously with these cars anything is possible - but the question is whether it's worth the time and money fabricating an entire wiring harness and buying a new ECU and several electronics components just to cram the wrong motor in the car. If you're going to the trouble of buying computers and electronics and fabricating wiring harnesses, you might as well put an actually good motor in the car in the first place. You are going to need to invest lots of dollars and lots of time for 8hp. If you have lots of time and lots of dollars, pick up a V6 and go for 50hp. If you don't, return or sell the '88 motor and go get an '86 motor.
Unless you're a seasoned DIYer, listen to the folks on this forum - they have good advice to dispense and will get you going with a minimal amount of trouble. When someone says "don't rebuild an '84 motor, get an '86 motor" they aren't talking just to hear themselves speak - they're giving good advice to get you a cost-effective result.
Well here is a pic if the culprit. Engine should be here today. Got the car in my garage cramped but fit going to pull engine off trans axle soon. Going to try not to pull whole rear end and just pull the engine from top
