Greeting all,

After four years of storage, I've decieded to put my 87 GT back on the road. Now I have perfomance issues. This is what I did so far to remedy my situation.

1. New distributor, new module, pick up coil, new cap, rotor, wires and premium plugs, timing 10 degree BTDC, good blue spark from coil
2. New gas, fuel filter, fuel pump pressure 40 psi.
3. Took out my O2 sensor, it felt like I got a little more power so I cut out the cat. converter to see if it was plugged
4. The cat had nothing inside, so I guess the material ended up in my muffler
5. Took another check ride, loud, but still seemed like there was power loss, low/slow responsiveness when I put the pedal to the metal.
6. Tomorrow, I get a new muffler and cat, any recommendations on brands? I like the stock sound, quiet..
7. its like the timing is retarded, slow responsiveness, boggs down on the road at 55 mph - please help me find my power, I seemed to have lost it...

I'm thinking plugged injectors? should I try seafoam to clean the injectors?

Thanks to everyone in advance for the help

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Aloha

Juan
Charleston, South Carolina

Yeah a good injector cleaner is in order.
How much gas was in it when it was stored? Did you put any Stabil on the gas tank before storing it?

No advice, but congrats on putting it back on the road! =D Another Fiero for us to peek at, how about some pics!!

Matthew Hanson
101st

Get it full of new gas as soon as possible, with cleaner. Ill bet most of your problem is the bad gas.

I'd post pictures, but I can't figure out how too. if anyone know how, I would appreciate it. New gas going in today.

Thanks

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Aloha

Juan
Charleston, South Carolina

Email them to me at aconey1@sc.rr.com and I will gloadly post them for you...

BTW, check your PM, and welcome to the forum

quote Originally posted by surfkorea2001: ....(edit) 4. The cat had nothing inside, so I guess the material ended up in my muffler 5. Took another check ride, loud, but still seemed like there was power loss, low/slow responsiveness when I put the pedal to the metal. 6. Tomorrow, I get a new muffler and cat, any recommendations on brands? I like the stock sound, quiet.. ...(edit) Thanks to everyone in advance for the help

I went through the same routines - getting my 88 Formula back on the road after storage. Lack of use can cause a multitude of problems. I offer two thoughts based on my experience:

- if your cat contents disintegrated, the debris could still be blocking up your exhaust system - or at least obstructing the flow. This would certainly affect performance. This happened to mine: the engine would scarcely rev, and couldn't breathe properly. You may find that if you replace both the cat and the rest of the exhaust system beyond it, things will improve.

- check the handbrake cable and overhaul the rear calipers, especially if the handbrake was 'on' while the car was in storage. The self-adjusting mechanism needs regular exercise, and the brakes can bind or seize if the car isn't regularly used.

Since the UK emission rules allow my car to run without a cat, I replaced my cat with a "Devil" muffler (it's a UK brand, US ones may be different). It works OK but it's noisy. I've heard that Magnaflow make a muffler which fits in place of the cat and which is quiet. Of course if you have to get a new cat, then you'll have to look at different options.

Good luck in your efforts - let's keep these cars rolling!

br1anstorm

I'd post pictures, but I can't figure out how too. if anyone know how, I would appreciate it. New gas going in today.

Thanks

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Aloha

Juan
Charleston, South Carolina

Juan, I got your email, but I am at work and can not upload pics from the office. I will post them when I get home... another option is to download the PIP software from teh link at the bottom of the screen and go from there.

Cheers!

[This message has been edited by topcat (edited 10-21-2008).]

Lessons learned.

1. Never store a Fiero too long.
2. Remove fuel if you are going to store it.

- I finally got my car running correctly, I replaced the muffler because it was plugged with material from the Cat. I removed the old fuel, replaced the fuel filter and filled up with Premium fuel, added one pint of seaform to clean up the line and injectors. new distributor and wires.

Thank you for all your support.

Zoom Zoom...

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Aloha

Juan
Charleston, South Carolina

I saw a red Fiero driving down Ashley-Phosphate near Dorchester on Wed around 5:30 pm - was that you?

I was in my daily driver and honked the horn, but then I realized you would not know my POS T-bird anyway.

the Fiero looks really nice!

quote Originally posted by surfkorea2001: After four years of storage, I've decieded to put my 87 GT back on the road. Now I have perfomance issues... loud, but still seemed like there was power loss, low/slow responsiveness when I put the pedal to the metal...its like the timing is retarded, slow responsiveness, boggs down on the road at 55 mph - please help me find my power, I seemed to have lost it...

quote Originally posted by surfkorea2001: I finally got my car running correctly, I replaced the muffler because it was plugged with material from the Cat.

This is VERY interesting to me. I’m going through something very similar with my ‘86 GT which was stored for six years before I bought it earlier this year.

Juan, does all this (from This thread) sound similar to what you were going through?

quote Originally posted by Patrick: One concern I do have though is whether or not the contents of the original cat are currently plugging my muffler. One reason I’m suspicious is that I don’t feel the engine has a whole lot of mid-range to top end power. The engine is smooth, it just doesn’t seem to get up and go above 3000 RPM or so. This is my first V6 Fiero, so I’m not familiar with how they should go.

quote Originally posted by Patrick: You know, more and more I’m beginning to suspect my muffler is clogged with the remnants of either the current cat or the original one. When I was re-doing my ignition components a few days ago and revving the engine by hand while at the back, it seemed to me that I could see fine white "dust" of some sort flying out of the exhaust tips. Hmmmm..... The day my GT left me stranded (as reported Here), I was revving the heck out of the engine on the highway to get it good and hot for the emission test. I was driving on the highway mostly in second gear (with a 3-speed auto). Perhaps the contents of the current cat (which was sitting for six years before I bought the GT this spring) have broken up and are now choking the muffler? Hmmmm..... I found something awfully interesting Here. What do you guys think? In ALDLView, I put my MAP readings over top of my RPM readings. I see several examples I believe are similar to what this fella is discussing. I'm not trying to jump to conclusions, but I'm getting a little excited. Let’s look at the situation: 1) Failed emission test with high readings for HC and very high for CO in the Driving part of the test, but the Idle readings were quite low and well within limitations. 2) Car starts fine, idles fine, accelerates smoothly, but it’s absolutely gutless at mid to high RPM. 3) Fuel economy is terrible. 4) Saw clouds of fine white “dust” flying out of the exhaust tips while accelerating engine at the TB by hand. 5) Perhaps a little too much heat being produced in engine compartment as reported by the MAT sensor. 6) MAP sensor readings are a little high, and seem to mimic problem addressed by fella in article I linked to. Okay, I’m very interested in getting some feedback on all this.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 10-31-2008).]