hey guys. so i am delving into my heating system as the temps drop. all of it so far with the great knowledge here-thanks. i have replaced the heater core, thermostat,both caps and checked all lines for being crushed or kinked. when tracing the last hose, it goes under the batt tray,around by the passenger taillight and is cut and capped. searching the archives, i found there are 2 types of water pumps with a fitting and without. my water pump must have been replaced at some point without a fitting. the water pump works fine and i would rather not replace it. how did the cars place this hose when there was no fitting on the pump. one thread said something along the lines that it was teed into a line. can this be done? any ideas or thoughts on if i can connect it into an existing line and get the same result? thanks again. johnny
On the '85 and '86 V6, the heater return line goes back to the water pump, via that pipe that goes under the battery tray. But on the '87 and '88 V6, the heater return line goes into the passenger side coolant pipe... the long pipe that runs up to the radiator. The junction where the heater line meets the coolant pipe is near the right front corner of the engine cradle.
What year is your Fiero? And is the heater bypassed or blocked off right now?
Your water pump likely has a plug in where the pipe would enter it. The pipe points to the rear of the car on the top part of the pump. Take a look and see if you don't have a plug in the water pump there, I have never seen a pump with no pipe or plug in it. Then just take the plug out, put in a pipe fitting and plumb it into the pipe that goes under the battery tray. Larry
thanks larry, didnt look for a plug,just a pipe fitting. looking at a picture of the pump from the fiero store site that has one, what kind of plug do you think it would be to take out? socket/screwdriver? just so i know what to feel for-cant see very well in there like if engine was out. thanks
You will ahve to look at it and see what type of plug it is, likely just a 1/2 inch pipe plug with a square head on it, but it could be fancy with an allen head and be brass. Believe me, it will be there, easy to get to. Kind of behind the pulley a little I think. Larry
thanks, i was thinking with the dogbone on top and brittle vac lines in the way it might be a real pain. but i'll look better now i know what to look for tomorrow. thanks again
i was just looking into the car with my morning coffee and found the plug on the pump. its got a square top which should be easy enough to get out. the hose routing has me baffled though. the hose ends past the pump and dogbone. the hose would have to make a u-turn and then hard turn to get to waterpump. couldnt find a hose in fiero store(all they have is non a/c). maybe replacing the coolant tube would be the easier option. cannot ever be simple, i guess thats why we love these cars. you get a sense of satisfaction solving the dilemas they pose. i'll update for the record how i solved it. thanks guys.
ok, so for anyone else with a bad previous owner... i cant post pics i had previously replaced my heater core. threads in archive are better than anything i could contribute. next, i removed plug from water pump, got a 6" pipe with 1/2" thread. put tape on threads and screwed it in. put on fiero store pre-formed hose from near taillight hose to new pipe. routed hoses from thermostat nipple and hose tee to 2 threaded nipples on either side of carb. clamped everything down, filled up system and checked for leaks. nothing obvious so proceeded to start car. let it run for a minute and re-checked for leaks. luckily there were none, so i burped system, re-checked again and then sat it car to feel the wonderful heat. thanks for everyones help.
