Rescuing my dads old Fiero GT 1987 (Page 18/23)
Repulsiv JUL 10, 04:49 AM
I sucpect that the rad fan have the same problem as everything else, oxide in connectors.. just have to find where..

Hmm ok, if the idle is typical I might leave it as it is, I will fix the little vaccum leak i found (the vulktape thingie) anyway ofcourse.

About the polarity, No! you where right, it was when i swapped the leads it started to work, probably my cleaning fixed the problem, then I introduced a new problem when I accidenticaly swapped the cables. As you or someone wrote they are color marked, but there was not much color left on them after I cleaned the connectors pretty rough (anti oxide spray and mechanical cleaning)

But since the pickupcoils are so cheap and mine look so bad I will buy a new one anyway.

Do you mean connecting a "big" hose instead of those adapters and the thin hard pipes between the intake and the evac ? ..I will look for the other vacc tubes too.

About EGR it doesnt seem to be a good idea just to plug it, readed up in other threads that you should have a program with EGR disabled then ?


Now my MAIN problem is why its so hard to start, when I got the car it started directly, I mean, I hardly even heard the starter it just started, my dad say its always been that easy to start.

But not now, now I have to use the starter 3 or 4 times (about 10s periods) before it start.. it smell gasoline when i crank it so I suspect its something with the ignition, but who knows..

I can think of several reasons, some kind of coldstart system (injector or similar) that doesnt work, a vacc leak, some tempsensor acting up or ignition.. what are most likely ?
tshark JUL 10, 07:33 AM
Is it flooded when it does start? Have you checked the FPR for leaks?
Repulsiv JUL 10, 09:31 AM
Well, it sure smell gasoline before it start, so I guess it is.

What is FPR ?
Rexgirl JUL 11, 02:14 AM
FPR= Fuel Pressure Regulator

You are probably correct that your starting problem is ignition related based on what you have written. As I have said before, storing a car for 10 years can cause plastic parts (and electrical components) to fail when you begin using them again.
If your Tachometer reads 400 rpm or more while cranking, then that means your ICM is trying to work, although I'm not sure why the reading is going quite a lot higher at times (or does it work okay now?).
As bad as your distributor looked inside, it's smart that you will be replacing the pick-up coil. Also, I suggest you might want to do some testing. If you have an inductive timing light (which has a sensor that clips over the spark plug wire insulation), you could hook that on the any spark plug wire (ignition coil wire is best) and watch for spark as a helper starts the engine. That will tell you if your ignition system is producing some spark when starting. Then, check every spark plug wire's resistance with a ohm meter (VOM); resistance should be between 3000 to 15000 ohms. Also, check your distributor rotor and cap; all the metal conductors should read close to zero ohms and look for any crack in the distributor cap's plastic. Or, you could simply replace all of these components with new parts.
Your other five spark plugs may be okay, but you should check them anyway. This GM engine has a small hole/recesses around the plugs that can hold water and so some plugs can rust and seize. If you can't remove them, try loosening them with a good oil like PB Blaster and let it soak in for hours or even days.
Your coil may be okay as well, although I had to replace mine (again, at 70 k miles).
I bet your Father will be smiling when you are driving this car regularly again :smile)
Rexgirl JUL 11, 02:29 AM
"Do you mean connecting a "big" hose instead of those adapters and the thin hard pipes between the intake and the evac ?"

Um, I am not sure what you mean by a "big" hose, but yes, you can use a hose that snugly fits the evap valve's upper pipe and the intake manifold pipe that is now connected to that leaking taped-up plastic line. That will bypass the very long plastic and metal pipe that GM used for now and make life a little easier for you.
Repulsiv JUL 19, 03:28 PM
Ouch, been a hard time lately, the kids been sick, girlfriend been sick, I been sick, the temperature is nearly tropical (about 36C in the shadow) and on top of everything one of the rear brakelines on my SAAB 9-5 Aero broke (common problem in sweden due to the winters), so priority one was to replace both the rear brakelines on that, and then trying to get rid of all the sickness in the family.... anyway..

After cleaning the ignition module, the connectors and especially the pickupcoils connections, AND swapping the wires on it the car starts, but its very hard to start, as I said I usally need to run the starter three or four times for 10s each, then it start to ignite and sometimes it start, otherwise I try again and it usally start but cough a bit but soon go up to around 2000rpm, and after a while down to 1200rpm (all due to the instrument in the car)

Now it doesn't misfire as it dit before, and the car is driveable, I justg dont trust it because its so hard to start.

However, today I bridged A/B in the ALDL connector and readed error codes, and I have a code 42, "electronic spark timing".

That seem to usally be bad ignition module, bad ignition module ground, bad connections or bad sparkplug wires.

But im not sure how old the code is, it can be for before I cleaned every connector.. How do I remove the codes so I can see if it set it again ? remove some fuse for a while ? ECM fuse ?

..I also created a groundcable for the other end of the engine (gearbox end), I dont think it would make a difference here and now, but good ground is always good to have.


Timing light, yes I should have one of those, I just have to find it, havent used it for many years now, but I will try to see if I have spark while cranking or not. (before it actually start ofcourse)

I have checked and cleaned the rotor and the cap, and I will order new parts when i order from rockauto.. mainly because they are cheap and I know from other cars that those can create troubles if they are old, especially in rain..(on my old Honda CRX I had a lot of problems with that..)

Im also going to buy new sparkplugs ofcourse, and maybe wires too, they are pretty cheap.

But it really bothers me that it was so easy to start before.. something have clearly happened..


..I also removed the cooling fan relays and cleaned their connectors (those where full of some black goo..) but no difference, the fan still dont start. Tried to remove the connector from the sensor on the engine but didnt understand how to remove it, going to try again.

[This message has been edited by Repulsiv (edited 07-19-2018).]

Rexgirl JUL 19, 04:22 PM
You can remove the ECM error codes by disconnecting a battery wire for 30s to a few minutes.

A spark timing issue could easily be a distributor pick-up coil problem, as that is where the ignition timing signal begins.. New spark plug wires are a good idea and inexpensive, and while your ignition control module may be okay if it is the factory Delco unit, having a new replacement in the car is something many of the guys here have recommended.
My car seems to thrive having the ignition system perfect. Otherwise... really not so much.

I suggest buying and installing: distributor pick-up coil, spark plug wires, Delco ICM+ spark plugs+ tan color distributor base seal (Delco # 10477565), and maybe new ICM screws.

The fan relay grounding switch (on the engine) connector needs to be squeezed to remove. I've never done it so maybe someone here can describe it better?
Patrick JUL 19, 04:54 PM

quote
Originally posted by Rexgirl:

The fan relay grounding switch (on the engine) connector needs to be squeezed to remove. I've never done it so maybe someone here can describe it better?



You're correct. The plug is oblong shaped. Use appropriate pliers to gently squeeze (no need to crush!) the wide part of the plug together and it will easily pull off.
Repulsiv JUL 25, 03:50 PM
Today I finally found my timinglight, yay!

I also talked my girlfriend into helping me turn the key while I operated the timinglight.

If I connect it to the cable from the ignition coil to the distributor I get flashes all the time (good), if I connect it to the lead to sparkplug 1/3/5 I get flashes.. well, now and then. And I can actually hear that the times when it nearly start is the times I get flashes.

So I removed the distributor cap again and cleaned the connectors even better with a fine sandpaper, both inside and outside, I also cleaned the rotor and also used pliers to tighten up the shoes on the leads to the sparkplugs.

I also removed sparkplug 1/3/5 (the easy ones) and looked at them, they where all black (rich fuel I guess, but it doesnt say so much since I havent been driving the car normally), I cleaned them and checked the gap, on 1/3 it was around 1.1mm (that should be fairly correct if I translated from inch correctly) on 5 it was larger so I adjusted it.

But still no difference, maybe it started a BIT faster.

When its not starting i get the same thing with the timinglight as before.

Its very strange, I never seen a rotor/cap fail in that way before, so im not really sure it its the problem, but I want to swap them.

Im not sure if its much use to continue to fix this without having a fresh rotor/cap/cables/plugs, since I'm going to replace them anyway.


..And by the way, the "starter does not work" problem got back again today, after 5-6 trys it just clicked.. I waited a while and trhen it worked again.

[This message has been edited by Repulsiv (edited 07-25-2018).]

Rexgirl JUL 25, 05:18 PM
Your starter pulls a massive amount of current and any oxide on it's electrical connections will cause a failure. You could clean the battery wire's connection at the starter solenoid and make sure the starter's mounting bolts are tight (for grounding). If that doesn't work, the heavy contacts in the solenoid may be corroded or the starter brushes worn down.

Spark plugs and wires are a good idea, and maybe it would be easiest to buy a new "CARDONE SELECT" distributor, Rockauto part # 841633. You may want to add electronic paste under the ignition module before using it, of course. Keep your original GM distributor as a spare.

Hope you will stay far away from the wildfires.