Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum here. I bought an 86 fiero about mid september and it has run pretty good up until now. It has an automatic trans and when I bought it the guy told me he swapped in a 2.5 6cyl from a firebird. But there were never 2.5 6cylds made for firebirds. So idk what engine it has. I recently replaced the ignition coiil and distributor cap about two weeks ago and I'm also aware that it has a leak at the exhaust manifold. It was running really great up until today. I was driving with my sister to school and i noticed that my heat was not working, it would only blow cold air (the little flap thing that cuts off cold air is working.) And then about 7 or eight miles of driving i noticed my car was extremely overheating. It got past the red area when I pulled over and shut it off. I had my mom come pick us up and waited about an hour and put some more coolant in it(it only took probably 3 or 4 cups.) Then I tried to drive and it kept overheating. I cant afford to get it towed so I would drive about half a mile and then pull over and let it cool down. I noticed that the coolan resevoir is COMPLETELY full and it leaked coolant out and on the fan and it sprayed all over the inside hood. I took out the little valve ( not sure what its called) Inside of the radiator cap by the engine to see if that was the problem and it helped a bit. Finally i got it into my housing addition and the motor sort of started bouncing and jumping and then the tach quit working so I pulled over and shut it off to let it cool down. After it was cooled down it wouldnt start. (please tell me the engine isnt blown!!) The started just sort of moves a tiny bit but does not engage the engine. Could anyone give me some ideas of what to try? I think the little valve i pulled out might have been the thermostat?

The 4 cylinder is a 2.5

The 6 cylinder is a 2.8. The six looks like this



Which is yours?

I am for sure it is a six cylinder, mine does look like that picture. I know he did swap in a new one because some of the mounts are a little different. My oil fill part is a lottle different from that picture too. And it is an automatic

So before we go for broke let's make sure the battery is fully charged. Running the engine overheated is not good for your engine. Yes it could have killed it. It's somewhat doubtfull however from just overheating.

Was the engine making any knocking noises at the end?

Do you have a spark plug wrench and the ability to take out the spark plugs?

It wasn't making any knocking noises or any noises at all except for the normal exhaust. It just felt like it was idling a little rough, but i couldn't see the revs because the tach quit working.
Yes i can take out the spark plugs.
Do you think that the heat not working has any correlation to this?
I'm going to go check the battery right now and i will get back to you.
Thanks

The question will be what is the battery voltage WHILE trying to start it. I know hard to do with one person. Also it would be good to know the battery voltage just sitting there, and also the battery voltage with just the headlights on.

Okay, it just started like normal and ran normal and i got it down the block into my driveway. When I shut it off, it sounded like the coolant was boiling by the radiator for like 3 seconds after it shut off. I wanted to start it again to see if it would do it again but it wouldn't start after just driving it.
My parents let me skip school today to get it fixed.
I realized i didnt have a voltage meter it was just a battery tester and the battery tested perfectly fine.
My dad thinks the radiator might be clogged with something? or maybe a coolant line clogged?
The oil was good, it was on both sides and was just below the line that says it is too much and above the line that is too little.
What should i do now?

When you filled the radiator and/or thermostat cap housing did you fill it with water or 50/50 mix?

If water then we have to worry about freezing later on. If in the future you have to fill a radiator, always use 50/50 and you never have to worry about your radiator freezing in the future.

I sent you a PM with my phone number - call me

Could be a bad water pump. Some of the aftermarket pumps had a plastic impeller that would spin on the shaft. The fix was to replace with a metal impeller version.

quote Originally posted by jaskispyder: Could be a bad water pump. Some of the aftermarket pumps had a plastic impeller that would spin on the shaft. The fix was to replace with a metal impeller version.

This is a possibility. If you are not getting heat after filling up the engine/radiator, and/or the engine still overheats then this is where to look next.

BTW, I recommend jacking up the rear of the car when trying to get the air out of the coolant system. This will make sure you have a high point in the rear, which is where you want to fill the system, not in the front.

I believe I found the problem. Looking at the engine, I didn't see a belt attached to the alternator or some of the other pulleys. I'm assuming that the water pump is powered by one of those pulleys?
But I did see a smaller belt attached at the bottom of the engine, is this the timing belt?
I think it was overheating because the water pump wasn;t powered by the belt, and it probably wasnt starting because the alternator wasnt charging the battery. Does this seem right?

If you're missing the main drive belt of course you have a major problem. That belt drives the alternator, crank, and the water pump. If it's missing then you need to replace it. The L44 2.8L V6 has a timing chain that can't be seen, not a belt. The smaller belt that you are seeing should be attached to two pulleys, one on each end, and is the A/C belt.

[This message has been edited by Fiero84Freak (edited 11-18-2010).]

NO BELT? :O That lower belt you were talking about is the A/C Compressor belt.

Matt

I'm replacing it on saturday. You said that main belt drives the alternator water pump, and crank. what is the crank?

The wider belt that goes around the crank, the water pump and the alternator is needed. The belt to the right only runs the AC compressor. Usually if your AC isn't working the belt is also left off.

Yes I'm missing that wider belt. But my alternator is mounted on the back of the trunk inside the engine compartment, is that normal?

quote Originally posted by Nitsua: Yes I'm missing that wider belt. But my alternator is mounted on the back of the trunk inside the engine compartment, is that normal?

What do you mean your "alternator is mounted on the back of the trunk"?

The alternator mounts on the engine towards the trunk side (back end), not the firewall side (front), just like the posted picture.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: What do you mean your "alternator is mounted on the back of the trunk"? The alternator mounts on the engine towards the trunk side (back end), not the firewall side (front), just like the posted picture.

I don't have a stock engine, I'm not really sure even what kind of engine I have.
But my alternator is bolted onto the metal wall on the trunkm it's not connected to the engine like that picture-- it is separate from the engine. I will try to get pictures up tomorrow.

quote Originally posted by Nitsua: ...my alternator is bolted onto the metal wall on the trunkm it's not connected to the engine like that picture-- it is separate from the engine. I will try to get pictures up tomorrow.

...

You're going to have a lot of people anxiously waiting to see these pictures.

It really sounds like a messed up installation.

Anyone else suspect this whole thread is bogus?

Honestly, how the hell could the fan belt be properly adjusted (and simply stay on) if the alternator was mounted on the side of the trunk and wasn't moving back and forth with the engine?

I think someone was trying to have a little fun here.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: ... You're going to have a lot of people anxiously waiting to see these pictures.

I'll see your and raise a

I gotta see this...

quote Originally posted by Patrick: Anyone else suspect this whole thread is bogus? Honestly, how the hell could the fan belt be properly adjusted (and simply stay on) if the alternator was mounted on the side of the trunk and wasn't moving back and forth with the engine? I think someone was trying to have a little fun here.

Or someone did a very odd and bad engine swap.

Please get some pictures up so I can get some sleep. I'm going nuts trying to imagine what this looks like and it's keeping my up at night!

------------------
Jim Martin
White '86 GT
California

If the alternator can't move with the eng you will go through a lot of belts. It's not even reasonable to mount an alternator on the trunk wall unless the engine, transmission, and cradle are solid mounted so they can't move. If in fact this is not a hoax then you have some work to do to get it right. Did your battery light not come on when the engine was running? How about the temp light? Do the bulbs come on when you first turn the key?

edit: And tell us who you bought it from so we can avoid anything else he's selling...

[This message has been edited by 2farnorth (edited 11-22-2010).]

Well you have his cell phone number if you care to call him.

I'd put my money that the alternator wasn't mounted to the rear firewall before I'd bet on it being a fake.

[This message has been edited by phonedawgz (edited 11-22-2010).]

I was COMPLETELY mistaken, the alternator is not mounted on the wall, its just very close and i mistook some other mount for the one that the alternator is on, I'm reallllllly sorry for all the confusion. And the problem was the belt missing, no battery light popped on, but the temperature light (i think the temperature light, it was two squigly lines with like a flag on them) did come on. Sorry everyone, it was just a quick glance and I couldn;t tell unless i looked at it from the side. This wasn't fake either, sorry! And I bought it frome some guy in Princeton, IA. I don't think he is a member here, but idk.

There was a plastic ring sort of thing around the inside of the alternator's pulley that I think keeps water out, and it got dislodged or something and the belt shred it all up and I'm assuming that's what broke the belt.

I'm still working out a few problems on it, but I first need to figure out what engine it has. I can;t tell because I think the previous owner put the stock upper engine (like the part where air goes in) on the bottom of the new engine.

I had to use a 41 inch belt with 5 ribs on it. Does anyone elses engine use this belt? It also has a separate smaller belt for the air conditioning?
Could anyone tell what kind of engine I have just by looking at pictures of it? All I know is that it has 6 cylinders.
I think it's not stock because the po said it was a 2.5 6 cyl from a firebird(they didnt even make those), and the alternator is bigger and doesnt have the little grooves on it like the one in that picture.

Again, I hope you don't think I'm being a troll or anything. I just bought the car on a whim because I got it for 1000(he wanted 1500) and fieros have always been my favorite car since I was like 10.

Sorry, again.

For the Fiero intake to fit on it it would have to be either a 2.8, 3.1 or a 3.4. The year of the Firebird he took it from would help. I don't think the 3.1 was ever used in a Firebird. They did use the 60* 2.8 in the 80's and then used the 60* 3.4 in later ones before they upgraded to the 90* 3.8. The 2.8 and 3.4 are nearly identical externally. Someone else will have to help you verify which one you have.

p.s. Make sure you get the alt/bat light working on the dash. That would have keyed you to look at the belt before it overheated.
and I don't understand what you mean by "little grooves" in the alternator. Pics would be a big help.
At this point I don't think you're a troll or anything like that. It's just the alt mount story threw up a big red flag. We bulls all charged...lol

[This message has been edited by 2farnorth (edited 11-22-2010).]

quote Originally posted by 2farnorth: At this point I don't think you're a troll or anything like that. It's just the alt mount story threw up a big red flag. We bulls all charged...lol

I suspected my post would resolve this one way or another. As I was hoping, it simply motivated the OP to return here and explain the situation.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: Anyone else suspect this whole thread is bogus? Honestly, how the hell could the fan belt be properly adjusted (and simply stay on) if the alternator was mounted on the side of the trunk and wasn't moving back and forth with the engine? I think someone was trying to have a little fun here.

quote Originally posted by Nitsua: I had to use a 41 inch belt with 5 ribs on it. Does anyone elses engine use this belt? It also has a separate smaller belt for the air conditioning? Could anyone tell what kind of engine I have just by looking at pictures of it? All I know is that it has 6 cylinders. I think it's not stock because the po said it was a 2.5 6 cyl from a firebird(they didnt even make those), and the alternator is bigger and doesnt have the little grooves on it like the one in that picture.

If you post a picture, I can guarantee you somebody in a matter of minutes can tell you what engine is in the car.

He's running a stock 2.8 intake manifold so it's a 2.8, 3.1, or 3.4

quote Originally posted by phonedawgz: He's running a stock 2.8 intake manifold so it's a 2.8, 3.1, or 3.4

I don't think it is a 3.1 because the guy at autozone said those use 99 inch belts and mine was a 41
Im going to take a picture of it right now, but it is dark