A friend of mine who has had Porsche Caymans sent me a link on what they do to repair a valve cover leak. The process involves pulling the engine from the car to gain access, the valve cover forms part of the camshaft cover and its not possible to remove it with the engine in the car. Many of the posters on their forum advise living with the leak if its small because of the difficulty in fixing it and the chance that other things will leak after you try to fix it. The problem with living with it is that the leak causes a burning oil smell in the cabin.
Working on a Fiero is not worse than any other FWD car and better in some cases.
I just ran into some guy who claimed to be a Fiero owner that told me you have to drop the cradle to change the plugs/ I know he had the cars as he had photo's of 4. But he either had no skills or never worked on a Fiero before.
Even the people I see struggling here often struggle as they do not have a good guide or direction on what to work on. They do twice the work to do something not all that hard. There are tricks to this as any car you just need to learn. A lot of times they take off a lot more than needed to replace one part.
Working on Fieros is pretty easy; honestly one of the more easier cars to work on. I too don't understand the problems people have. It's like people are amazed and baffled by it being mid-engine when it carries most of the same maintenance procedure as any other car.
If you want to feel pain, try working on any common transverse FWD V6, especially when you have to remove nearly all the upper intake and such to get to plugs because every manufacturer feels the need to make intakes on FWD V6 cars push as far back as possible for design aesthetics. In any FWD beater I've ever bought I go straight for the four cylinder version - even if a V6 is offered - simply because I don't want to deal with excessive crap-tastic work. I worked on a DOHC 3000 GT one time for a friend and swore at that point I'd never own one just because of the massive amount of crap Mitsu thought they could shove up front.
Well, oil dripping on exhaust manifolds does tend to smell like burning oil.
And yes, boxer engines are a pain to work on, whether they're in a Porsche or a Subaru. Mini Coopers are also a pain to work on. You have to remove the whole front bumper and slide the radiator and bits forward, to perform some work.
Well, oil dripping on exhaust manifolds does tend to smell like burning oil.
And yes, boxer engines are a pain to work on, whether they're in a Porsche or a Subaru. Mini Coopers are also a pain to work on. You have to remove the whole front bumper and slide the radiator and bits forward, to perform some work.
bumpers come off in less than 5 minutes. It is four bolts and 6 clips. Just about every German car requires the bumper to come off for some repair.
Originally posted by bmwguru: bumpers come off in less than 5 minutes. It is four bolts and 6 clips. Just about every German car requires the bumper to come off for some repair.
Dave
It definitely wasn't 5 minutes when I did it on my Mini, in my driveway.
But everything's easier when you've got a fully equipped shop with a lift, and have done it a hundred times.
Which makes working on these cars much easier than other manufactures. Don't be afraid of it just because it says VW, Audi, etc.
I am afraid every time I work on the wife's Cabrio. I have worked on a lot of cars and this one is about the worst one. Some of the design/engineering the Germans use is absolutely idiotic. Three examples are that rediculous oil cooler box that blows o-rings every 30-40k, the great idea of using a thin-walled plastic thermostat housing with a small rubber o-ring and mating it with two small 10 mm nuts onto a hot, aluminum cylinder head. Lastly, auto trans level checking kinda sucks...when you have NO dipstick. Kit
The Germans are the best and the worst of engineering things to be worked on.
I had a Benz Diesel I used to service for a customer and it was well thought out and easy to work on. The oil filter was on the firewall and the Injector pump had a primer on it like a large truck would.
Then I had one BMW from the 70's that had a I6 that was like it was designed for one car and put in another. To change the oil filter you had to remove the bracket for the filter or remove the sway bar to get the canister out. Also major issues on plugs on later BMW.
Fieros are so easy to work on other then 25+ year old nuts and bolts. My Audi though...any engine work involves removing most of the things around the engine.
Only car I hate working on is my 91 300ZX. Pain in the ass, or fingers and knuckles. I will work on a Fiero any day, I dread that Nissan. I am to the point of seriously considering swapping in a 3800sc and a stick from a Camaro. I hate that Nissan engine that much Smart cars are a distant second, but they make me money, and most everything just pops on and off with a few push clips and screws. Love working on my Mini. It is under warranty, someone else gets to do it I just have to go behind them and make sure it is right and everything put back together like it should.
If you like doing puzzles, then repairing German cars are for you. They are set up where you must take apart things in a certain sequence and some parts are designed to just barley fit to be removed. Removing bumpers to change a belt, headlight bulb or just make things easier to get at is the norm. I looked in my shop yesterday and saw three Audi bumpers on the floor next to the cars. It is true that it is easy if you do it everyday. I used to be Acura/Honda certified prior to opening my German only shop and I would never look back. Although something about the interior smell of a 1970's Benz kinda skeeves me out. Dave
One of my other cars is an 87 Corvette. Designed and built by the same company as the Fiero during about the same time frame. Should be similar design and manufacturing philosophies, right???? Not even close---I'd rather do almost anything on the Fiero rather than the same job on the Corvette! I recently removed the heat/airconditioning module on the Corvette to fix the deteriorating foam on the various flaps and such. It took about 8 hours to pull the dash, the main wiring harness, and the cross car brace to get the module out. I've done the same thing on the Fiero in about 2 hours and a lot less pain! One example--the wiring harness that runs behind the dash on the 'vette is connected to the doors for power windows, mirrors, locks and such, but the connectors are buried down inside the doors themselves, which means you have to partially gut the door to disconnect it! Same harness on the Fiero has the plugs down in the kick panels and they are easy to reach with no door diss-assembly at all. About 12 years ago, I took my 88 GT completely apart down to the space frame. The only thing I didn't remove was the rear window. All the wiring, sound deadening and such was out, and it only took me 24 hours of work, by myself with no lift, to take the entire car apart for restoration. I don't think too many other cars would be as easy..........
------------------ Rod Schneider, Ball Ground, Ga. "You can't have too many toys!" 1988 Fiero GT 1988 Porsche 928S4 1987 Corvette 2001 Chrysler 300M Van's RV-6 airplane
If you like doing puzzles, then repairing German cars are for you. They are set up where you must take apart things in a certain sequence and some parts are designed to just barley fit to be removed. Removing bumpers to change a belt, headlight bulb or just make things easier to get at is the norm. I looked in my shop yesterday and saw three Audi bumpers on the floor next to the cars. It is true that it is easy if you do it everyday. I used to be Acura/Honda certified prior to opening my German only shop and I would never look back. Although something about the interior smell of a 1970's Benz kinda skeeves me out. Dave
I can relate, having had an Audi 5000 and currently tinkering with a 928S4!
------------------ Rod Schneider, Ball Ground, Ga. "You can't have too many toys!" 1988 Fiero GT 1988 Porsche 928S4 1987 Corvette 2001 Chrysler 300M Van's RV-6 airplane
I have worked on a lot of cars and this one is about the worst one. Some of the design/engineering the Germans use is absolutely idiotic. Three examples are that rediculous oil cooler box that blows o-rings every 30-40k, the great idea of using a thin-walled plastic thermostat housing with a small rubber o-ring and mating it with two small 10 mm nuts onto a hot, aluminum cylinder head. Lastly, auto trans level checking kinda sucks...when you have NO dipstick. 
Smart cars are a distant second, but they make me money, and most everything just pops on and off with a few push clips and screws. Love working on my Mini. It is under warranty, someone else gets to do it 
I just have to go behind them and make sure it is right and everything put back together like it should.
