Fiero’s and poor timing- Do you have a story too? (Page 1/2)
Kitskaboodle DEC 20, 08:40 PM
It is very rare but my daily driver (my Toyota Pickup) has developed an erratic idle issue late last week so I parked my truck and started driving backup car number two last weekend. (85 Fiero GT) Anyways, over the weekend it started to rain off and on so I started to use my wipers on “delay”. Well, I noticed my wipers did everything but delay! (constant back and forth action) I thought, no big deal. I can live with it since I would be driving this car all next week to work. Well, after work on Monday I was leaving the parking lot, got on to the freeway and the wipers totally died. 😩 And, it was really starting to rain. So, I drove all the way home without wipers. And, it’s supposed to rain all week. I made it home safe, which is good. The next morning (Tuesday) I grabbed backup car number 3 (my Reatta) which I’m driving now.

In retrospect, I have never had a wiper failure in any car I have owned. I think it’s horrible timing that my wipers went out when I really needed them, 😠
Do you have a Fiero bad timing story?
Kit

[This message has been edited by Kitskaboodle (edited 12-20-2023).]

Patrick DEC 20, 09:07 PM

quote
Originally posted by Kitskaboodle:

Do you have a Fiero bad timing story?



Years ago... the very first time I tried to do the ignition timing on a Fiero 2.8, I couldn't understand why the engine wouldn't run properly. After a lot of messing about... it turns out the outer ring of the harmonic balancer had slipped, and the timing marks were therefore out in left field.

And that's my Fiero bad timing (true) story.
cvxjet DEC 20, 10:03 PM
It was getting close to time for the Golden Gate Fiero Club Coast Run.....My Fiero was running slightly "off"....So I replaced the ignition (No Change)...replaced the six sensors (No change)...replaced the injectors (No change)...and then there was a change; The clutch slave cylinder failed!

So I had to go on the Coast Run driving my minivan (Aarrrgggggggggggg....)

(And yes- I did have my ten-lbs sledge-hammer next to the car (For intimidation) and I used up all the words in my French dictionary- still would not "straighten up and Fly right")
Frenchrafe DEC 21, 04:15 AM
Yep! Bad timing twice over:
After having installed the 3800 motor, I wanted to take my wife out to celebrate this new found rocket ship!
Cocktail at the seaside.
Long story short; the LIM plastic coolant elbow let go and we waited 2 hours in the middle of nowhere in central Brittany for the tow truck.
(Use only the metal elbows by the way.)

Fast forward a few years, and I proposed to pick her up from work and go celebrate the start of the holidays in the Fiero. Cocktails again.
Pretty much in the same area as before (ie: in the sticks/Brittany countryside), the heater hose ruptured and again no coolant very fast!
This time, a fellow old car enthusiast stopped (old Peugeot 205) and offered his 5 litres of coolant reserve and his help.
This time, I managed to splice the ruptured hose together so we could get home under our own power.
We gave him the money that was supposed to be for our drinks!

We never did get to drink that cocktail....

Cheers,
Rafe

------------------
"Turbo Slug" - '87 Fiero GT. 3800 turbo. - The fastest Fiero in France! @turboslugfiero
https://youtu.be/hUzOAeyWLfM

[This message has been edited by Frenchrafe (edited 12-21-2023).]

cliffw DEC 21, 08:16 AM

quote
Originally posted by Kitskaboodle:
Well, after work on Monday I was leaving the parking lot, got on to the freeway and the wipers totally died. 😩 And, it was really starting to rain. So, I drove all the way home without wipers.



RainX


quote
Originally posted by Frenchrafe:
Yep! Bad timing twice over:
After having installed the 3800 motor, I wanted to take my wife out to celebrate this new found rocket ship!
Cocktail at the seaside.
Long story short; the LIM plastic coolant elbow let go and we waited 2 hours in the middle of nowhere in central Brittany for the tow truck.



Many times people take a girl for a date and 'run out of gas'.
hyperv6 DEC 22, 08:02 PM
I was driving home and a Dodge van pulled out in front of me with no room to stop. He never ever saw me. I did walk away but hit the steering wheel hard enough to bend it over the turn signal.

But I have had many times good timing and just pure good luck and the grace of God saved me.

One was driving up a freeway. We were forced to the left lane and there was a hole in the barrels for the off ramp. Some old man stopped dead in the lane and I am doing 60 MPH.

I moved left and saw the wet grass in the median so I kept the left two tires on the pavement. I made it past and did not spin.
Raydar DEC 23, 12:19 PM
I traded in my 85 GT for an 88 Firebird Formula. Two weeks before they announced the cancellation of the Fiero.
At the time, IIRC, a Fiero GT was more expensive than a Trans Am.
Spoon DEC 23, 07:50 PM

quote
Originally posted by Kitskaboodle:


I think it’s horrible timing that my wipers went out when I really needed them, 😠



I believe it is rare that wipers would go out when you "didn't) need them. On the other hand "I feel your pain". I was several hours from home on a job when a terrible storm cropped up and I went for wipers and there wasn't any. I pulled into a nearby Home Depot for shelter and investigated. A rusted clip had fallen off the drive mechanism. My assistant suggested that I find some Rain-X and a sponge to apply it to the windshield. He said some members in his GTO club don't even use wipers anymore. So I was surprised to learn Home Depot sold just what I needed and better yet, it worked.

Another Plan B episode, lol.

Spoon


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"Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne." - Kurt Vonnegut

cam-a-lot DEC 24, 07:40 AM
Patrick is getting mellow in his old age... A few years ago he would have reminded you that more than one Fiero is spelled as "Fieros". Not "Fiero's" LOL
Patrick DEC 24, 12:07 PM

quote
Originally posted by cam-a-lot:

Patrick is getting mellow in his old age...



Nah, I more likely missed it due to failing eyesight.

[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 12-24-2023).]