I have been slowly working over the 1987 GT I bought from a guy in Ohio. I haven't had a lot of time to roll hard on it, but I am donig what I can, as I can. Last week I replaced most of the rubber on it, radiator hoses, vacuum lines. I have new fuel lines, but haven't done them yet. I replaced the fuel filter, removed the fuel injector rail and rebuilt the injectors, cleaned them, etc. The car only has 983 miles on the clock. I pulled all of the spark plugs, put some PB Blaster in each cylinder and put the old plugs back in...let it set for 2 days, then turned it by hand. It turned very easily. I pulled the old plugs and wires, replaced them all, replaced the coil and rotor/distributor and all of the coolant, cleaned things up a bit and put every thing back together.
I put a new battery in it and went over my check list. I figured I would go ahead and give it a crank and see if it would fire. No love. I checked for spark and was thiinking I may need to replace the pick-up coil, but checked it and it was actually very clean and didn't see any issues with it. I also checked all of the wires connecting everything with the ignition, checked spark and have good spark on all plugs.
I got to thinking it may be a fuel issue (was actually thinking this in tandom with troubleshooting spark), so I did some searching on here, and according to all the posts I could find, you should be able to hear the fuel pump kick on when you turn the key to the on position. I don't hear anything. I also tried one of the troubleshooting processes listed here on the forum, turning on the key for 3 seconds, off for 10 (repeated this about 10 times) and then hit the schrader valve with a punch to depress the valve stem, nothing...zero fuel/pressure. Tried cranking it a few time using the above timing 3 on crank, 10 off. So, I am assuming the fuel pump is bad. Oh, I also put in new relay for the fuel pump just in case that was an issue, and checked the fuses. All see to be good. Are there any more definitive ways to check the fuel pump before I put this thing up in the air and pull the tank to replace the pump?
HAHA! Beige biscuit FTW! I had a mechanic drain the fuel tank before I had it put on the transport truck to get it to Florida. Not sure what he got out of it, but I am sure you are right. I didn't have any fuel come out when I changed the fuel filter, because it was drained, but it did have that foul really old gas smell to it.
Before you start dropping fuel tanks (which is never fun)... first try applying 12v directly to the fuel pump terminal at the ALDL connector. This bypasses all relays etc.
I will give the diagnostic connector jumping a try. I am going to post some pictures coming up next here...I normally use a Mac, so I haven't been able to use the PIP software to upload them...but I am on a windows laptop today, so I will put them up shortly.
Here is the dashboard shot everyone would like to see
Here it is sitting on the street waiting to be pushed into the garage
Shot of inside. It was very clean, needs to be vacuumed out, but still smells like a new car moslty.
Here is a shot of me standing next to it. I am 6' 3" tall...and yes, I do fit inside...with the seat pushed all the way back!
I got the car from a friend who's father-in-law bought it originally. He drove it the 983.6 miles and always meant to do some road trips in it, but had a stroke a few years later and never got to drive it again. It sat in his garage for quite a long time. He had his son start it once a month, back it out of the garage, cycle through the automatic trans and then put it up. Kind of sad for him, but not for me!
[This message has been edited by damittron (edited 08-13-2018).]
Once you get it started you will probably be tempted to take it for a spin.. Before you do take a look at the tires. If they are original they will have like-new tread, but they will also be over 30 years old. If so, replace them asap!
If you are not sure check the date code on the tires. Most Manufacturers recommend replacement at 10 years regardless of other factors.
Once you get it started you will probably be tempted to take it for a spin.. Before you do take a look at the tires. If they are original they will have like-new tread, but they will also be over 30 years old. If so, replace them asap!
If you are not sure check the date code on the tires. Most Manufacturers recommend replacement at 10 years regardless of other factors.
Yep, already ordered new tires from TireRack.com, those tires in the pics are the original tires, they held air, but I wasn't about to try to drive it anywhere with them on it!
I had a problem with the fuel pump in my new Fiero as well. Luckily it only resulted in a one mile walk home...
Before you drop the tank (which is by far the easiest tank I've ever dropped) I'd unplug the wire going down to the sending unit. Get your multi meter and make sure you are getting power on the car harness end when you turn the ignition from 'off' to 'run', should be on for 2 seconds (between tan white and black). Once you've confirmed you have power going to the pump, check the resistance between those two wires on the pump side of the harness. I don't remember what it should be, but it should be something (a few ohms?). I'd also try giving the tank a good thunk with your fist while trying to start it.
