Brand New here. Need some wisdom (Page 1/5)
Liberty MAY 17, 08:30 PM
Hello all!

I'm new to this forum and new to owning a Fiero. I'd really like to restore this vehicle and get it to a "reliable" state. It was put together by an aeronautical engineer who owned it for a number of years. Then it was sold to a second owner who neglected the hell out of it. It sat for 2 years not running before I went and trailer-ed it home. It's an 87' GT. It has a turbo, not sure if that is stock, I'm guessing NO. Anyhow, after several hours of prep work, I got it running. I went through a whole tank of gas and half way through another until it DIED... engine just turned off... no sputtering, hiccups, lurching, etc... just STOPPED. I got a ride home, came back with the trailer and brought it home. Started testing everything and found it has NO SPARK. It was running fine... then no spark... I'm a little lost. I took the distributor cap off (never seen a distributor like this before LOL) and it looked like this (see picture). It looks like trash to me... but again... first Fiero so I have no idea what's normal, etc. I'm looking for any wisdom in this area as to why it was running, and now suddenly it's not, AND what you think of the distributor's condition, AND any trouble shooting steps, etc I can take to identify the NO SPARK problem.





BTW, the kit or "car" is called an ALDINO. My understanding is that they didn't sell many of these kits and the company no longer exists. The vehicle also has a number of real Ferrari parts on it, installed by the first owner when he built it. No idea where he got the Ferrari parts... Thanks in advance for your insight.
Spadesluck MAY 17, 08:59 PM
Welcome to the forum. That's a very rare car indeed, very nice.

Chances are the ICM (ignition control module) went out. In that distributor is the ICM. It's that black triangle looking piece with a 2 pin plug on it. Try changing that out and see if that fixes it.
Liberty MAY 17, 09:28 PM
Thanks Spadesluck. I'll try that. Another question however... As I said before I've never seen a distributor like this before.... do I need to mark any positions, things like that BEFORE removing this part? I know on my Toyota if I remove the distributor, the timing gets out of wack and it's a pain in the ass to "reset" it. ANYTHING I need to know or do before I yank this part? Thanks again bud. Love your FAST response =]
fierofool MAY 17, 09:40 PM
To add to Spadesluck;s info, the inside of the distributor isn't attractive. Ozone created by the spark between the tip of the rotor and the plug wire contacts causes the inside to rust. Yours is in great conditon compared to some, and they just keep on running. Don't worry about it.

When you replace the ICM, you may find a small package of heat sink grease inside the box. If it's clear, throw it away. Ask your parts store if they have a tube of heat sink grease in either white or silver. You can usually find it at an electronics or computer store. White and silver conduct heat much better. Put a good even coat on the metal plate on the bottomof the ICM and install it. Don't overtighten the screws that hold it down. They are very fine threads and the screws are usually aluminum. Just use your fingertips on your tool to tighten them down.

The pickup coil pigtail that plugs into the back of the ICM is a little long and as such can easily be pinched between the distributor base plate and the cap. Twist the wire a bit so it's twined around itself. That will help to shorten it and keep it from being damaged.

Congratulations. Good grab. Welcome to our side of Pontiac Excitement.

Edit to say----When you purchase your ICM, get 2. This is the one item that most V6 owners carry as a spare, along with some heat sink grease. You may never need it, but when you do, you won't need a trailer to get the car back home.

[This message has been edited by fierofool (edited 05-17-2019).]

Liberty MAY 17, 10:32 PM
Thanks fierofool! That's some good tech on twisting the wire to keep it out of the way and short (I do the same thing on my trailer chains/hooks so they don't drag or catch. So is the "coil" part of the ICM or two separate parts? If I'm changing out the ICM, might as well swap the coil if it's two different parts... while I'm in there ya? Good advice on having a SPARE one of these handy. If this IS in fact the part that failed... geez, a spare would be a life saver... that and the tools needed to remove, replace, etc. If this fixes the problem... I'm going to make a ICM repair bag that will have EVERYTHING needed for an on the road job LOL. Good info on the grease.

Couple questions of course =]
1. Can I clean the contacts/prongs/whatever they're called on the distributor when I take it out? Suggestions for doing such if so?
2. Neither of you have mentioned whether I need to mark anything, put distributor back in a certain way... I don't want to mess up another thing trying to fix the first thing. Would be incredible if I don't have to mark anything and it just comes out and goes back in, like PnP... tell me it's so =]

Thanks again guys, good info.
dremu MAY 17, 11:23 PM
The coil is separate from the distributor. It's an actual electromagnetic coil, a black black box(ish) a few inches on a side, IIRC farther towards the back of the car. Follow the center spark plug-looking wire from the distributor, it's the shortest one. On the other end is the coil. I wouldn't bother with a spare for that.

The ICM fails as it's a semiconductor and doesn't like heat, which is why all the talk of the thermal goop. If you've ever built a computer, it's just like the CPU, where you put thermal goop on it to pass the heat onto the cooler. This is the same, but the cooler is just the metal plate at the bottom of the dizzy.

The only time you need mark position on the distributor is if you remove the whole assembly. At that point you'd be retiming the engine, which is easy enough, but you should probably have a service manual or read up on it here first. You shouldn't have to remove the distributor to replace the ICM, so don't leap into that just yet.

As for the bits inside the dizzy, maybe blow it out with compressed air. I wouldn't go whacking it with a wire brush or anything ... maybe like a brush with plastic teeth (get them at the auto parts store) or an old toothbrush, if it bothers you that much. I haven't bothered.

-- A
Patrick MAY 18, 12:03 AM

I love the Aldino!


quote
Originally posted by dremu:

The coil is separate from the distributor.



Let's be clear here. The ignition coil is a separate entity., whereas the pickup coil is inside the distributor.
dremu MAY 18, 12:55 AM

quote
Originally posted by Patrick:


I love the Aldino!

Let's be clear here. The ignition coil is a separate entity., whereas the pickup coil is inside the distributor.



(hangs head in shame) I'll read better next time.

-- A
Patrick MAY 18, 02:53 AM

quote
Originally posted by dremu:

(hangs head in shame)



Heh heh, no need for that. I just wanted to clarify the coil issue for the OP.
Liberty MAY 18, 11:43 AM
dremu, thanks for the input. I found some at my local auto zone and saw pictures of it. It's got a metal base plate which I imagine is where the thermal compound goes? AH, so the distributor does not need removal to replace the ICM, got it. I'm not going to clean it/brush it off if it will work fine as is... it just looked fuzzy with debris so I figured I'd ask if that'd normal or needed attention. I also looked at the cap and button. They are seriously scorched... the inside upper half of the cap is almost completely WHITE lol. The button looks like the end has been melted back... so I'm going to change these as well... only like 20 bucks for a new set. Gonna go pick them up shortly and get them installed and report back. Thanks again for the help =]

Patrick, Thank you for the clarity. I'm a big fan of this "Aldino" as well. The little bit of driving I have done in it before it died... people are going bonkers for it. I had never seen/heard about one before I found this, seems there are not many around. I googled and found TWO... so I guess I'm #3 :P. As 99.9% of people know NOTHING about cars or mechanical workings (which I find incredible considering we use/RELY on them EVERY DAY), they are convinced it's a Ferrari and surprised when I tell them it's a 87 Fiero GT. The kit is modeled after the BB512... which runs about 350-400K for the real deal LOL. No way I'd be farting around town in a car that expensive.

So no one has commented yet about the turbo. Is turbo stock on the 87 GT or was this something added when this kit was built?

Thank you everyone, will report the outcome of installing the new ICM soon =] Have a great weekend.