1985 Fiero SE crank no start (Page 1/1)
hmmhunter DEC 13, 12:15 PM

This is a long story but hopefully someone will have an idea because I’m almost clueless at this point.

I bought a 1985 Fiero SE (2.8 v6) from the original owner, and it had been sitting in a barn since 2004. It had half a tank of gas in it so I just filled it with fresh gas and put a can of sea foam in to clean it up. I changed the oil, coolant, and fuel filter, and it started right away. I found a coolant leak and had to replace the water pump.

After that it ran fine for about 10 minutes and then when I tried driving it, it kept dying on me and getting really hard to start so I went back home and it started idling really rough and then died on its own. Now it won’t start at all.
I pulled the plugs and they had spark but they were dry—and starting fluid didn’t help it. Then I pulled the injectors and checked them, they were pretty gross looking but the coils all checked out.
It was at this time that I thought to check the main power wire for the ECM and realized it had a bad connection. I tightened it down and put everything back together, and it won’t start. This time the plugs are wet with fuel and still sparking but it still won’t start. I also checked the ECM for codes and found nothing.

Any ideas what it could be?
Gall757 DEC 13, 01:51 PM
You can figure out how to start the car, but it will not be working well at all. The main issue is the 17 years it sat without use. The fuel system must be cleaned out, and that means dropping the fuel tank and cleaning it, cleaning the injectors, and checking for fuel pressure at the rail. There may also be electrical problems, but you really cannot work on those without an operational fuel system. Adding fresh gas to old gas does not remove the sludge and varnish that probably formed within 5 years of storage.

P.S. Welcome to the Forum! Don't mean to be a downer on your first post, but I don't think there is a shortcut with seafoam.

[This message has been edited by Gall757 (edited 12-13-2021).]

hmmhunter DEC 13, 02:09 PM
Thanks for the response, I was afraid that would be the response; it’ll definitely be my next step though.

I know sea foam and new gas do nothing to fix it, I was just hopeful since it did run for quite awhile on that old gas.
Any suggestions on or advice when cleaning out the fuel system? I can drop the tank and drain the tank as well as all the lines, replace the injectors and fuel pump, anything else?
How should I clean out the fuel lines and tank?

Thanks!
Patrick DEC 13, 06:14 PM

quote
Originally posted by hmmhunter:

This time the plugs are wet with fuel and still sparking but it still won’t start.



How are you checking the strength of the spark? Being able to jump 0.045" outside of the combustion chamber means nothing. At atmospheric pressure, a healthy spark will have no problem snapping across a full 1/4" gap to ground.