I was just curious.... When I received my dad's 88GT due to his passing, I've never seen these heat shields before. I found them at a junk yard in another Fiero and I had to buy them. Got them dirt cheap too.. So now they are all buffed out with a wire wheel and installed. All of them even had the certain paper type sleeve also.. I felt I scored!!

Sooooo....what years had them? Mostly wondering about the 88..but Does yours have them...and what seam to be the benefits in having the shields?.. Did GM find something wrong with them in any way..?

I figure, the obvious and the plus factors.. shields the heat from the manifold. They slip into the sparkplug area nice and snugg so that's good for no build up of debri in the spark plug hole... Keep it out... So in all... Unless someone in research found otherwise... I think there great!

[This message has been edited by unboundmo (edited 11-09-2015).]

quote Originally posted by unboundmo: Sooooo....what years had them? Mostly wondering about the 88..but Does yours have them...and what seam to be the benefits in having the shields?

I believe the shields were factory installed on all V6 Fieros... from '85-'88.

Some people remove them, saying they're unnecessary... but I've retained them on my '86 GT and '88 Formula. I figure they help keep the worst of the heat from the exhaust manifolds away from the spark plug boots.

I painted mine with engine paint silver color as were rusting so look as good as new.

[This message has been edited by Australian (edited 11-09-2015).]

I have often found them on one side of the engine but not the other. I've obtained extras and have them on all 6 cylinders, now. They can be a great aid in removing the spark plug wires. I've had spark plug boots wring off, leaving the lower half bonded to the spark plug. This is especially troublesome on the front side of the engine where access and vision is limited. Trying to cut the remaining pieces off can be a blood-letting experience.

I just posted in another thread that I put a liberal amount of dielectric grease in the spark plug boot before installing. This can help prevent the boots from sticking to the plug ceramic. When removing, grasp the metal heat shield, give it a twist and pull. The sleeve exerts the twist to the full length of the boot, not just the part you can get your fingers on.

Personally, I don't think the sleeves help to keep all the debris from around the plugs. It's always a good idea to blow out the area with compressed air before removing a plug.

My Formula has them.

I've owned 85, 86, 87 and 88 Fieros, all with the V-6.

They all had the heat shields.

Yup, all V6s had them.

My 87 had em, anybody ever seen these sold new?

quote Originally posted by lordbg0205: My 87 had em, anybody ever seen these sold new?

Sold new? They came stock on the V6 engines.

They are still sold as new items. I've seen them listed, but can't remember what GM vehicle had them. Maybe the late year Grand Ams.

From finding them at the junk yard and with no rust on them... Are they NOT stainless? They looked like it before I buffed them so I wasn't planning on putting a high heat coating on them

quote Originally posted by unboundmo: Are they NOT stainless?

I believe they're aluminum.

Zinc plated steel

quote Originally posted by olejoedad: Zinc plated steel

Seriously... all years? Wow, I'm surprised. I'll have to try the magnet test on mine.

quote Originally posted by olejoedad: Zinc plated steel

This ^ ^ ^

Zinc replaced Cadmium plating due to enviromental concerns.

I guess I just assumed they were aluminum (now I feel dumb) because I didn't think that zinc plated steel could polish up to a reflective surface. I never thought it could get so shiny.

Learn something new everyday!

A fellow Fiero guy once corrected me in a conversion when I referred to them as heat shields. He said they are not heat shields but are for RFI suppression. Kit

quote Originally posted by Kitskaboodle: A fellow Fiero guy once corrected me in a conversion when I referred to them as heat shields. He said they are not heat shields but are for RFI suppression.

Why would V6 Fieros require this extra "RFI suppression" be installed on the spark plug boots when other cars, even the 4-banger Fieros... don't ?

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 11-12-2015).]

I think I'll put a really high heat clear on them since there not stainless.

Had mine powdercoated when I was redoing everything in the engine bay.
Rich

I take them off, as I find spark likes to jump to the shields, or at very least pull them all the way up on the boots. I remove them on every V6 I work on.
GM said they are for heat, I have yet to find a melted boot, even with exhaust leaks.
Look at night and rev it a bit, see if you have any spark jump.

quote Originally posted by sardonyx247: Look at night and rev it a bit, see if you have any spark jump.

I understand that the arcing that occurs between the metal shields and the heads is due to electrical induction, and is not due to any sort of shorting/grounding of the plug boots.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: I understand that the arcing that occurs between the metal shields and the heads is due to electrical induction, and is not due to any sort of shorting/grounding of the plug boots.

No, otherwise it would always happen on every wire all the time, and it is not all the time or every wire, just enough to make me remove them.

quote Originally posted by sardonyx247: No, otherwise it would always happen on every wire all the time, and it is not all the time or every wire, just enough to make me remove them.

I've seen them all glowing/arcing, and the engine ran fine. I was concerned, and puzzled when I first noticed it one night... until I learned about the induction taking place. I'm no expert, but I believe it's harmless. This isn't the same thing as an ignition wire with damaged shielding that's shorting to ground. In that case, spark from the coil is not making it as far as the spark plug's electrodes, and a misfire results. With electrical induction, spark to the plugs is unaffected.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 11-13-2015).]

either way high voltage A/C hitting the block can't be a good thing

quote Originally posted by sardonyx247: either way high voltage A/C hitting the block can't be a good thing

I don't know about it being "high voltage A/C", but I suspect it's absolutely harmless. Haven't you ever pulled a sweater off over your head in the dark and seen (and heard) the mini-electrical storm created? No one's ever been reported killed by this phenomenon that I'm aware of.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: I don't know about it being "high voltage A/C", but I suspect it's absolutely harmless. Haven't you ever pulled a sweater off over your head in the dark and seen (and heard) the mini-electrical storm created? No one's ever been reported killed by this phenomenon that I'm aware of.

But I have seen monitors fry from the static from pulling it out of the box, old Gateways were good for this.

quote Originally posted by sardonyx247: But I have seen monitors fry from the static from pulling it out of the box, old Gateways were good for this.

Lesson to be learned from this is to never protect a Gateway monitor with a woolen sweater during sub-freezing dry weather.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 11-15-2015).]