What caused Pontiac Fieros to catch fire? (Page 3/3) hyperv6 SEP 25, 10:30 AM quote Originally posted by Raydar: I think I remember seeing a 2.8 or two with ventilated blocks. Not sure about Dukes. Never heard of a 6000 or Celebrity burning down, though. Ever. I have seen. The V6 but they were modified modified engines. I did have one V6 on a fleet of Citations we serviced lose a rod but not the block or pan. It had less than 500 miles. You will not likely see and front engine Iron Duke burn as the air coming through the grill and fans kept the engine compartments much cooler. GM never needed fans on the coil or alt of a front engine Duke as temps were much much lower. This is why you see Ferrari and Lamborghini fires as temps are much higher. The flash point of oil is really high and mid engine compartments can ignite on the manifolds. The covers dripped down on the manifolds Note GM fixed it after the issues. GM will never say what caused it in public. The lawsuits would eat that up. David Hambleton SEP 27, 10:14 PM Here are excerpts from the GM recall: Here's the oil capacity revision that came as a stick-on page for the owner's manual: I understood at the time that the oil capacity was shown erroneously in the owner's manual as 3 quarts. Until the thread subject article (which I also saw online some weeks ago) I'd never heard of a 3 quart capacity oil pan. It seems unlikely that the Tech 4 would have a different oil pan for the Fiero from all the other vehicles using it. The spec was corrected to 4 quarts & a longer dipstick with a longer tube was installed to make the dipstick easier to use. I wonder how many failures resulted from people putting 3 quarts in and not checking the dipstick... hyperv6 SEP 27, 11:47 PM quote Originally posted by David Hambleton: Here are excerpts from the GM recall: Here's the oil capacity revision that came as a stick-on page for the owner's manual: I understood at the time that the oil capacity was shown erroneously in the owner's manual as 3 quarts. Until the thread subject article (which I also saw online some weeks ago) I'd never heard of a 3 quart capacity oil pan. It seems unlikely that the Tech 4 would have a different oil pan for the Fiero from all the other vehicles using it. The spec was corrected to 4 quarts & a longer dipstick with a longer tube was installed to make the dipstick easier to use. I wonder how many failures resulted from people putting 3 quarts in and not checking the dipstick... If I remember correctly the original was shorter than the other cars since the Fiero sat lower. They added a larger filter to add more capacity. The dipstick I was just remarked to reflect the added oil. They gave you a large metal plate gor the condole that said yo check oil every gas fill. I have one in English and a French Cansdian version of this. The oil loss was due do tge the valve cover. Most cars cars would eat up a rod bearing and knock badly. I saw a number of these fail. Never saw a rod break but spun bearing many. The Tech IV as it was renamed had more oil, a new filter set up and no oil leaks. The Filter came out of the pan with the drain plug that was large. Patrick SEP 28, 12:38 AM quote Originally posted by hyperv6: The Tech IV as it was renamed had more oil, a new filter set up and no oil leaks. The Filter came out of the pan with the drain plug that was large. The '87 Tech IV had a conventional oil filter. The '88 version is the one that got the weird oil filter as well as balance shafts. hyperv6 SEP 28, 10:06 PM quote Originally posted by Patrick: The '87 Tech IV had a conventional oil filter. The '88 version is the one that got the weird oil filter as well as balance shafts. Yes they received improvements over several years.