Car had a seizure on the freeway today and left me stranded against the concrete center divider. The engine just shut off and the PRNDL and odometer displays went dark, the speedo went to 120, the odometer display came back on with a "no bus" message for a few seconds, and then went back to normal. When I tried to restart, the starter would stutter like the relay was shutting off and the PRNDL and odometer displays would blink in unison. Opened the trunk lid and let things cool for about 10 minutes or so, hoping not to get rear-ended as I sat there. After a few failed attempts, the engine started and ran fine the rest of the trip. I know there are a few 300M owners out there in Fiero land, anybody ever experience something similar? It's pretty tough to find any useable diagnostic info about this engine on the web. Best I could tell, it may be a failing crank sensor.
My boss had a 300M that did the exact same thing. It was a crank sensor.
seajai
JUN 25, 11:19 PM
Finally got around to installing the new crank sensor tonight. As a test, I tugged on harnesses and wire connectors with the engine running to check for a loose connection or bad wire but the engine didn't miss a beat, so hopefully the sensor fixes it. Drove it for the first time since Thursday last week, life always gets so busy and it cuts into my Fiero time.
This project come full circle today with the disposal of the donor car. It's been in my driveway and in my garage for the last 10 months, it's weird not to see it around anymore. I paid $1500 for the car, sold around $400 worth of parts, and got $189 when I scrapped it today, so I'm into it for a shade over a grand. I probably spent another $1100-$1200 bucks in parts and steel. So my grand total is about $2200, not too bad I think.
The car comes home:
The car goes bye-bye:
[This message has been edited by seajai (edited 10-02-2023).]
seajai
JUL 01, 12:22 AM
A short video of the finished product. Hope you like it.
[This message has been edited by seajai (edited 07-01-2013).]
RCR
JUL 01, 04:49 PM
Great job. Looks awesome. Watch out for the potholes, though.
Bob
seajai
JUL 05, 12:28 AM
Another project completed today.... I had been running an air filter right off the end of the intake boot as a temporary setup til i could decide on what I wanted to do. The problem with that setup was IAT readings of 125deg or more when idling around in traffic, and a lack of power because of it. I have been trying to decide between decklid scoop or an intake tube/remote filter, I really didn't want to cut a hole in my lid so I decided on a cold air intake tube. I had to custom make one seeing as nobody carries one for a Fiero with a Chrysler engine. I started out with a 6' length of 3.5" dia exhaust pipe. The curved sections are welded up from a series of pie shaped wedges. The welds were ground smooth and the pipes painted. I built it in 3 sections to make it easier to install and connected them together with rubber pipe couplers. I haven't had a chance to drive it yet, but I'm thinking my IAT #'s should be a lot lower. Eventually there will be a couple of Fiero Fiberglass open side scoops to feed even more cool air to the filter but that's another day.......
[This message has been edited by seajai (edited 10-02-2023).]
seajai
JUL 11, 09:35 AM
Got the car weighed.
LF= 579 RF= 605 Total front= 1184 LR= 873 RR= 825 Total rear= 1698
That gives me a 59% rear weight bias, and an overall weight of 2882 pounds without the driver and a half tank of fuel.
Xyster
JUL 12, 12:50 AM
I love the way that engine bay looks. I can't think of anything uglier than a transverse motor in a car intended to perform.
Normally I dislike an engine/car manufacturer mismatch, but I think you found a very appropriately matched combo.
+1
seajai
JUL 18, 08:04 AM
Installed a receiver hitch in preparation for the trip to The Tyler show. I decided to mount it to my rear transmission cross member and just use an offset ball mount to bring it up. I wanted to make the hitch removable, so step one was to make up some weld nuts. I just welded some grade 8 nuts to a piece of bar stock and cut them into pieces.
I drilled the mounting hole along with 2 smaller flanking holes.
I slipped the nut inside the cross member, plug welded it in place, and ground the welds flush.
Mounted to the cross member. To make the hitch I bought a bare weld-in receiver tube and welded it to a piece of 3/16" plate that had been bent 90 deg.
A pic with the bumper cover reinstalled. I welded the loops shut on a couple eye bolts and installed them for safety chain holders.
Got the new Champion 3 core radiator installed as well. Only $199 bucks on ebay and free shipping to boot! Had to modify the rubber mounts as well as the upper radiator bracket but it fits quite nicely.
[This message has been edited by seajai (edited 10-02-2023).]
Patrick
JUL 19, 04:04 PM
quote
Originally posted by seajai:
A short video of the finished product. Hope you like it.
