Just picked up an 87 SE basket case (Page 5/37)
78_elky MAY 11, 12:19 PM
Well I tested the fuel pressure and its 0psi. I followed a tutorial on the fiero store and some things I read here and I tried jumping the connector in the console as well as jumping the plug without a relay and it buzzes but there is no pressure. So I'm guessing I have a bad pump or a hose off in the tank or something. I can't check the regulator at this point because I get no pressure so I'm going to hope that it is ok but I may have to replace it later. I also found a pump from a Camaro in my garage that I've been holding onto for no good reason and I am pretty sure it'll work on the Fiero so I may just get away with a much cheaper fix this time :-)

I got a new oil switch sender in the mail, it just needs a new plug and I'll have to get one of those from the junkyard as soon as I can make time to go there.
I also got some gas struts to use on the rear deck lid but I have yet to mount them. I really want to stop using a 2x4.

Jessica
78_elky MAY 18, 11:31 AM
Well last week I measure the fuel pressure and it was a whopping 0psi. So I proceeded to take the tank out to verify what all was going on down below the car and if the pump was in fact bad.

Once I had it out I checked to see if there was anything wrong with the pump or sender in the tank. Everything looked fine so I went ahead and hooked my gauge back up and tried it again. This time I got 60psi with the supply line dead ending at the gauge. I let it sit and it held that pressure for at least at least five hours. I ended up taking the gauge off and releasing the pressure. I think its all OK. My working theory is that the baffles pump was sucking air because of the incline the car is on and there isn't a ton of gas in the tank. So I'm going to put it back in the car and add more fuel. I also had to add a plug for the tank wiring because there wasn't one. Not sure if thats how these cars were stock but it seemed odd to not have a plug to get the wires off the tank.

The next order of business was the deck lid, I was getting really tired of the 2x4 prop rod. I picked up a couple little gas struts off of a car at the junkyard and decided to try and make something. I have one side finished and it holds the deck lid up but I'm going to get the other side on for added security.


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Sometime this week I want to get the tank back in and try to get the car started, but I feel like I made a lot of progress this weekend (I did a ton of stuff on my S10 too; sadly nothing got done on the El Camino)

Jessica

[This message has been edited by 78_elky (edited 05-01-2017).]

tshark MAY 18, 03:37 PM
Looking good. I'm getting worn out just reading through your work.

Yes, make sure that the decklid is held up securely. Not that great when it falls on your head--say when a torsion spring breaks. Tip: Put your head toward the rear window where the impact is less, rather than try to pull away from it.
78_elky MAY 18, 06:16 PM

quote
Originally posted by tshark:

Looking good. I'm getting worn out just reading through your work.

Yes, make sure that the decklid is held up securely. Not that great when it falls on your head--say when a torsion spring breaks. Tip: Put your head toward the rear window where the impact is less, rather than try to pull away from it.



Thank you! I'm even tired from all I've been doing lately. My daily broke down and that was a bit of a fiasco to get it going again and wait for parts. The summer months are always busy with people wanting to do things so if I can get a part of a day to myself to work on these cars I try to accomplish everything I can until it gets dark outside (which cuts into the time I could be going to cars and coffee or other meets). I had the decklid fall on my head and it was lucky I was leaning into the bay to attach one of the struts. At least with just the one strut it slows its fall quite a bit.

I'll have to pull the brackets out and finish welding them and then paint them but at least its a proof of concept at this point. Sometimes I think not fully finishing a project but having it sort of working can be worse because you have to revisit it again.

Jessica
78_elky MAY 21, 01:37 PM
Well I got the tank back in last night but it was late and the battery is dead again Looks like it will be a few days till I know if it will start. Took me a little over two hours to put it all back together. I'm also going to just buy a new relay for the pump. The old one seems fine but for a few bucks I might as well be sure.

Jessica
78_elky MAY 25, 11:38 PM
Well after 9 hours today it runs!!!!

Let me repeat; the car that sat for over 4 years in a storage locker is running again!!!!!

I am so thrilled; I was about ready to tow it to the scrapper ;-)

I had to pull the gas tank back out because I blew two fuel pump fuses and traced my problem to the tank...I mixed up a very dirty grey wire and a black wire and once I cut and resoldered those I was back in business. I got the tank back in and it started up and idles! Its idling at 2800 or 2500 rpm but at least its running. It sounds amazing with a glasspack and a turn down, above 3000 rpm it kind of makes some funny noises and knocks but that could be the very old gas or it may need to be timed. I'm not sure why its idling so high though.

I put the car back up and we tried to bleed the brakes but I think they've got water in the lines, or at least very old (chocolate brown) fluid that needs to be fully bled out of the lines. I'll have to deal with that later. Once I had some brake pedal feel we put it in gear and it moves!!!


So the take away from all this is that the car runs, but not great, and it moves and stops but not great.

Any ideas about the fast idle? I'm going to look at the tps iac and check for loose missing or broken vacuum lines next.

Jessica
tshark MAY 26, 12:24 AM
EGR? Can cause high idle.

Definately flush the brakes...and all other fluids.

Clean the throttle body & injectors, if you haven't. Did you replace the fuel filter? I would avoid running old fuel through it. Make sure you check the fuel hoses. They should probably be replaced to avoid leaks...and fires.
Patrick MAY 26, 03:11 AM
Is there a reason why your EGR tube is naked? It needs to have an insulating jacket on it. Otherwise it'll be releasing a lot of heat into the area of your ignition components. Not good.

[EDIT] Actually, upon closer inspection, it looks like all your heat shields are missing from the exhaust Y pipe. You need them on there!

A friendly tip... Your thread would be a HECK of a lot easier to read if your images were limited to no more than 1024 pixels in width (and less than 300 kb in file size).

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 05-26-2015).]

78_elky MAY 26, 11:04 AM
Thanks guys, I'll look at the EGR. It had some of the heat shielding when I got the car, but it was already more off then on (it was too far gone to save) and there is a crack in the pipe.
I JB welded it and kind of hoped that would fix it but it may still be leaking, or it may have another crack somewhere.
I have the heat shield for the Y pipe it is just off right now.
The exhaust was completely undone when I got the car and the heat shield was in the way of reassembling it so I took it off. I just haven't had a chance to put it back on yet.
I'm not sure if I have the exhaust shields for the manifolds but I have a pile of parts I am still trying to identify (some might not have been from the Fiero).
I'll grab some heat shield wrap for the EGR tube when I go to the store and I'll wrap it after I can inspect that it isn't the source of the leak.


Jessica
Patrick MAY 26, 04:46 PM

quote
Originally posted by 78_elky:

I'll look at the EGR. It had some of the heat shielding when I got the car, but it was already more off then on (it was too far gone to save) and there is a crack in the pipe.
I JB welded it and kind of hoped that would fix it but it may still be leaking, or it may have another crack somewhere.



You might find some info in the following thread helpful...

Is there a trick to bending a Camaro EGR tube to fit the Fiero's 2.8?