I recently bought a 76k mile 88 Iron Duke Fiero from out of town and expect delivery tomorrow. This is in replacement for my 88GT that recently died a sad, violent death. I read up a bit on the 2.5 and saw that the driven, micarta timing gear is expected to fail after 80k miles. A visit to fierostore.com found a set of timing gears with a steel driver and an aluminum driven gear. That sounds more like it.

As a newbe to the Iron Duke I thought it wise to hear advice from those better initiated. Will I have to drop the pan? What gaskets will I need. Inquiring minds want to know.

quote Originally posted by gem1138: I recently bought a 76k mile 88 Iron Duke Fiero from out of town and expect delivery tomorrow. This is in replacement for my 88GT that recently died a sad, violent death. I read up a bit on the 2.5 and saw that the driven, micarta timing gear is expected to fail after 80k miles. A visit to fierostore.com found a set of timing gears with a steel driver and an aluminum driven gear. That sounds more like it. As a newbe to the Iron Duke I thought it wise to hear advice from those better initiated. Will I have to drop the pan? What gaskets will I need. Inquiring minds want to know.

Sold my 88 2.5L with the original timing gear... 150K+ miles. The one in my '87 went out way before that (40k?). Luck of the draw and the 88 does have the balance shaft, which may have something to do with helping the gear last longer ????

Anyway, I have a writeup at www.michiganfieroclub.com under tech tips

BTW, I haven't heard anything about 80K for timing gear....

[This message has been edited by jaskispyder (edited 06-01-2016).]

In many engines, Cam runs Distributor and Oil pump.
Bad Distributor or Oil pump problems will shorten the life of timing gear/chain.

DIS engine loses Distributor issues.
88 have oil pump in balance unit but balance unit have problems too. Dead balanacer can Kill the engine to the point their junk or a core for Jasper etc rebuild.

You can run Aluminum Cam gear (All Crank gears are steel.) but might not matter and could add noise.

See my Cave, Cam Gears

Note: Aluminum cam gear is not really a "Performance" part. Just made stronger for older engines running oil pump and distributor.
TFS Could be CLOYES 81016 come w/ 3 key ways on crank gear to advance/retard ~2-4° cam timing plus OE timing but images does not show that crank gear. Cloyes or someone else offered a Al cam gear w/ OE crank gear but don't see them listed.
Real Performance part, CLOYES 81018, uses Iron gear w/ Straight cut (Spur cut) gears that will make noise. Also uses 3 keyway crank gear. DL Cloyes' Performannce PDF

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 06-02-2016).]

The Duke isn't an interference engine, so you don't need to proactively replace the timing gears. Also, 80k seems a little soon for a timing gear change. Maybe the person thought you were talking about a timing belt?

The camshaft timing gear is pressed onto the camshaft. To do the job properly, you need to remove the camshaft from the engine, then press off the gear and press on the new one. That said, people have devised ways to change the gear without removing the camshaft. But that must be a huge PITA, considering the cramped space.

I bought an 88 base model Fiero last week. AC is inoperative. Won’t take refrigerant. With my previous 88 GT this was not an issue. It would take refrigerant until the low pressure switch tripped and all was peace and love. With this Fiero the compressor does not kick in (as of yet) so I thought that maybe I needed to bypass the low pressure switch. There is a two conductor connector hanging down by the dryer that I thought my be just for this purpose. I checked and one pole has 1.3V to ground with the AC on and 0V with it off. Ok. So I shorted the two conductors hoping to hear the compressor kick in but it didn’t. Need help here. Being new to this car, I am guessing. FYI: I checked all of the fuses.

The base model uses a variable displacement compressor that does not use a cycling switch (the little switch on the side of the accumulator in the V6 cars.)
I think that once it's on, it's on. The variable displacement does the "cycling" in order to maintain temperature.
Any pressure switches will be on the compressor itself.

AC should take 1-2 can Without AC compressor on.
Often 1 can will trip low pressure switch to on.

If would take any w/o compressor then something is wrong w/ AC or Tools to fill.

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave