Just picked up an 87 SE basket case (Page 6/37)
78_elky MAY 27, 12:20 AM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:

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?




Thanks for the link. I'm going to try and get a better look at the EGR tube.
The previous owner had the distributor out and it may not be adjusted correctly; it was loose and I'm not 100% positive its on right.
I haven't had a chance to get the timing light on it yet.
Lastly I'll check the IAC if nothing else clears this up.

Jessica
78_elky MAY 27, 09:56 PM
Looks like my timing is right, and it looks like there are no major vacuum leaks.
The vacuum gauge I hooked up is showing 17 inches at 3000 rpm
The engine surges when I unhook vacuum lines.


I tried to put my finger over the IAT port in the throttle body and it killed the engine.
I also unplugged the IAC and it made no change to the running of the engine...not sure what that means.

My TPS may be the culprit though; the engine came to me with the throttle body removed and in pieces.
I installed the TPS but never adjusted or calibrated it (never knew you had to).
During my testing I accidentally pulled the plug out of the TPS and the engine started to surge and I got it plugged back in.

Now the car won't start and its like it can't find idle, I think my TPS is maybe the issue.
When it cools down a little I'll get back out there and attempt to adjust it and see it that helps.

Jessica


edit: I checked the TPS and its voltage is from .7 volts and up...and its all over the place so I think its a likely culprit.
The throttle body also has mostly stripped out TPS mounting holes; so I'm addressing that first then I'll try to re-calibrate it.

[This message has been edited by 78_elky (edited 05-28-2015).]

78_elky JUN 01, 02:07 AM
Well the weekend got off to a great start, the car was running and I had the idle down to almost 2000 rpm.

I started to look at the egr and ended up pulling the tube off and I found its a mess and more corroded and broke than together. So I cut up a few block off plates, I may install a new tube in the future but for now this gets that issue out of the equation.


That made a pretty big difference to the idle, but it was still not staying under 1500 for more than a second or two. The MAT turned out to be bad as well so I got one of those, again it helped but not all the way better.

The previous owner gave me an intake gasket set when I bought the car so I decided to dig in and see what I could find.

I had some trouble with the middle intake manifold because my fuel rail and injectors were really stuck but I got that out and found not only blown out gaskets but missing O rings on the injectors.

I don't really want to pull the lower intake because of how involved it looks.

I decided to clean up all the parts because the powder coating is not attached anymore. It lifted up and has a bunch of white corrosion under it.





Also I'm changing things around a bit ;-)



I'm optimistic that if I get this all put back together with new gaskets it should idle lower; I ended up finding enough problems that I think I may have located where my issues are coming from. Also the fuel rail was leaking at the Schrader valve and the block the hard lines go into had a bad gasket.

All kinds of fun!
Jessica

[This message has been edited by 78_elky (edited 06-01-2015).]

78_elky JUN 03, 05:18 PM
I got the second valve cover done. I also made an order from the Fiero Store for a good deal of stuff I need but couldn't get anywhere else. I have to say it was a great experience to deal with them



I'm going to try and finish stripping the paint off the upper intake and clean up the middle intake. Its supposed to be nice weather again in a day or so and I think that means I'll be able to get some more painting done.

Jessica
Patrick JUN 03, 05:23 PM

Is the plan to put clearcoat on to protect the bare parts of the valve covers?
78_elky JUN 03, 05:50 PM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:


Is the plan to put clearcoat on to protect the bare parts of the valve covers?




Thats the plan. Unfortunately all the factory red powder coat was beyond saving.
I also was trying to avoid getting too far into the engine but the vacuum leaks were pretty bad.
I'd like to do a 3.8L supercharged swap someday if I really fall in love with the car but for right now a good running 2.8L should do just fine.

Jess
tshark JUN 03, 11:40 PM
Glad you're making progress--even though green is not my color of choice. For looks, you may want to smooth out those sanding marks in the valve covers. Perhaps use a random orbital sander. That paint is all high-temp paint, right?

At least you're not getting in over your head. I laughed when you said that the lower intake was too involved. I was beginning to think all this was just no big deal for you, but apparently not.
78_elky JUN 04, 01:19 AM

quote
Originally posted by tshark:

Glad you're making progress--even though green is not my color of choice. For looks, you may want to smooth out those sanding marks in the valve covers. Perhaps use a random orbital sander. That paint is all high-temp paint, right?

At least you're not getting in over your head. I laughed when you said that the lower intake was too involved. I was beginning to think all this was just no big deal for you, but apparently not.



Yeah I like green a lot; the body of the Fiero will hopefully be green with black trim when I'm done. The sanding marks aren't sanding marks they are deep grooves left from the corrosion on the valve covers. The car is from Alaska and it has a lot of rust/corrosion. I sanded both valve covers with 100 grit paper and then up to 800 and it cleaned up the one cover pretty good but the one near the firewall is a mess. No one will see it so I quit after a few hours of sanding.

As for the lower intake I could do it; but I'm doing this in my driveway and I just burped and filled the cooling system. Its not a matter of making the project bigger (or more complex) as much as I'm getting lazy and just want the car on the road. I'm also cheap and the more I take apart the more things I find wrong or the higher the likelihood of breaking something that I'd have to buy to get the car back together. Like I said earlier I'm doing a frame off on an El Camino at the same time and this little gremlin of a car is taking a lot more time and money than I had wanted to spend on it right now

Besides all I'm trying to do is fix vacuum leaks so the idle will drop down to where it should be

Jessica
78_elky JUN 15, 12:07 PM
I've not had a ton of time to devote to the Fiero lately; but there has been some progress. I finished painting all the parts I took off the engine and the air filter housing and lid plus I got most of the engine back together. I'm trying to figure out what to do about the vacuum lines that run under the intake, mine are in sorry shape and the rubber ends are completely past their prime. I think thats where most of my vacuum leaks were coming from. That and the injector O rings that were cracked and split.



If I can find some local source for the 90* rubber pieces for the vacuum lines I might have it back together this week :-)

Jessica
tshark JUN 15, 06:57 PM
Wow! That looks nice.

If you find those rubber elbows & ends, let me know. Mine are fine, but won't always be. When I take the engine out, I want to replace as much plastic & rubber as possible.