I got my first fiero a year ago, I have a stock 1987 GT automatic and now I need some help with it as I'm still learning about our cars.

So it all started when a local tire place put my fiero on a lift and busted the coolant line on the drivers side. Two shops worked on it and basically slipped a radiator hose over each end and hose clamped it in place. Ever since then things have been different.

1. Temperature gauge seems to have a mind of its own. Sometimes it works and others times it doesn't
2. The oil pressure gauge will oscillate (below and above 40) and sometimes drop off and the light will come on
3. The battery gauge did drop low enough to turn the light on but has only done this one time so far.
4. Now the engine is making a ticking noise and sounds like its backfiring a little when you give it gas at higher speeds (happened when I was driving it all of a sudden).

So this is what I've found out from reading other threads. The coolant line getting broken at inexperienced shops is common and in addition these shops don't know the procedure for refilling the coolant (to get the air out). And the noise is more than likely an exhaust leak at the manifold.

So my question to all of you is... is this all related? Could the coolant have air in it causing the engine not to cool correctly causing the temperature gauge not to work and in the long run a hot engine caused my manifold to finally fail.

And what is your opinion in moving forward? The car has 151k on it, interior is in pretty good shape, cosmetically it definitely shows its age on the outside. Mechanically I think the transmission has a leak and the A/C doesn't work. In addition to the above stated problems. What would you do?

Thank you!

Most important in my eyes is the low oil pressure issue, i would geta mechanical gauge hooked up to measure your actual pressure. Oil is the lifeblood of the engine and it could be ruined in short order without enough oil flow.
But yes if air got in the syatem it is highly likley that there is still air that needs burped out of the coolant.

Thanks for the reply!

It never used to do this either. It doesn't always do it but it'll just kinda randomly drop, I've noticed it more when I am slowing down to a stop then it jumps back up as I take off. And when it is working normally its between the 40 and max mark.

A spark plug wire that is off will spark to ground making a ticking noise. It will make the engine run rougher and kill your mileage. Did you look to see where the ticking is coming from? Before starting the engine run your hand down and feel the front spark plug wires and make sure they are on. It's kind of miserable to try it on a hot engine.

Low oil pressure is being caused by a worn engine. Did you know your Fiero has lots of miles on it? It does. As long as the light isn't coming on you can not get overly concerned about it. If it is dropping so low that the light comes on with the engine still running then you should consider taking action.

Temperature gauge sending unit. Since your temp gauge still works sometimes the wires are on correctly. Switched the temperature gauge won't work and your TEMP light will be on dimly. Since your gauge works sometimes and not others my guess is one of the wires is loose. Is the connector itself broken and missing and all you have is the terminals? Yeah that happens alot.



Mark down which wire goes to which terminal so you have it for later. One is Dk Green and the other wire is Dk/Green/Yellow. Buy a new connector that fits this sender. Don't let them sell you a different kind of connector and tell you that it is right. Only the one that fits this connector is the one for the temp light/gauge sender. The other temp sensor is for the engine's computer. The sensors don't interchange and parts store counter monkeys like to sell you the wrong one.

The right connector



Replace your broken connector with the new ones. The wires MUST be soldered. You MUST keep the correct wire going to the right terminal. You MUST use shrink tube over your solder joints.

You own a Fiero. If you don't already have a soldering gun/iron you need to buy one. You will need ROSIN core solder for electrical work and you will also need the shrink tube. Solder and gun you can get from your hardware type store. Shrink tube and connector get from your parts store.

When soldering your new connector on - Water runs up the wires under the plastic and corrodes the copper for a few inches from the terminal. Since your pigtail has several inches of wire on it, you can cut the wires back a few inches and you should be able to avoid the black corroded part. If the wires inside aren't looking nice and copper-ery after you are back several inches you then must use a knife and scrape off the black from all those little strands to get down to clean copper wire.



NO CRIMPS unless you want to replace the splice monthly.

[This message has been edited by phonedawgz (edited 08-04-2014).]

quote Originally posted by jholda: Thanks for the reply! It never used to do this either. It doesn't always do it but it'll just kinda randomly drop, I've noticed it more when I am slowing down to a stop then it jumps back up as I take off. And when it is working normally its between the 40 and max mark.

Oil pressure will be lower at lower rpms and higher at higher rpms, this is normal. The light coming on isnt normal. I assume your oil and filter is changed regularly and is also full on the dipstick. Thats the first thing to check.

What was the Fiero in the shop for? It sounds like maybe it needs a regular check up / tune up.

Thanks again for all the posts! I'm going to check all the plug wires and see if any are loose. I did put 6 new plugs and wires in it when I first bought the car. Then I'll check out the temperature sensor.

To answer why it was in the shop. The car was actually at a tire shop getting the tires I bought from them rotated. A shop worker came out and told me I had a coolant leak and that I need to get it checked out. They denied they were the ones who did it and tried to send me on my way. Needless to say I spoke to a manager and got a rental car for the weekend until it was fixed with the rubber hose. The fiero store sells coolant lines but when the box arrived there was a note saying the left side is no longer is production.....

The oil is regularly changed and its due for one too so ill be doing that this weekend too.

Do any of you know of a good fiero mechanic in the saint Louis area? I'm a full time student living away from home in an apartment complex so I don't have my tools or space to really dig into it the way I'd like to. Thanks again everyone!

update

I checked the oil levels with the dipstick again and it wasn't even showing up this time?! I stopped and got a quart of cheap oil just to see what'd happen. Lo and Behold the light never came on once on my way to school this morning. It was running at ~60 except when I'd stop which it would drop to just below 40. Better yet the temperature gauge was working too.

Now my next thought is why it was low in the first place. I didn't do this past oil change, went to a local big named shop (idk if I can mention their name or not). SO either they didn't fill it all the way OR I'm burning oil. Or even a combination. The car doesn't really smoke when I start it, cant smell it when its running, and I never had an oil level problem up until this point. Are there any other ways of knowing if I'm burning oil?

quote Originally posted by jholda: update I checked the oil levels with the dipstick again and it wasn't even showing up this time?! I stopped and got a quart of cheap oil just to see what'd happen. Lo and Behold the light never came on once on my way to school this morning. It was running at ~60 except when I'd stop which it would drop to just below 40. Better yet the temperature gauge was working too. Now my next thought is why it was low in the first place. I didn't do this past oil change, went to a local big named shop (idk if I can mention their name or not). SO either they didn't fill it all the way OR I'm burning oil. Or even a combination. The car doesn't really smoke when I start it, cant smell it when its running, and I never had an oil level problem up until this point. Are there any other ways of knowing if I'm burning oil?

Your pressure is good then. Try and check your oil every gas fill up. No car should really ever go all the way between changes without being checked. Also If I ever have my oil changed at a place instead of doing it myself (I cant rememebr the last time), I double check the level later to make sure they at least filled it to proper level.
You can mention any names you like here.

One quart between changes isnt too much to be concerned about just keep it full. Rememeber to check the level either when the car is cold or wait ~5 minutes after turning off the engine otherwise some oil may not have drained down yet. I would look for leaks, valvecover gasket is common, another one is the distributor O ring.
Another thing to check or replace is your pcv valve, the are cheap and if they dont work they can cause oil some consumption.
One other thing, if you run the longer oil filter like I do, I put in 1/4 or 1/2 quart more oil during the oil change than if using the short filter.
PF52 is longer.

[This message has been edited by 2.5 (edited 08-07-2014).]