37 years old..things break down (Page 1/2)
tbone42 MAY 12, 02:39 AM
I'm talking about my Fiero, of course. And I'm ten years older. It's a whirlwind of repairs right now. She just hit 85k miles. With heat and PB blaster for a week, I still couldn't open the bleeders on the rear (original) brake calipers. Sheared em both off, so that means all 4 will be new as of tomorrow as I needed to bleed them because I replaced the fronts last week. Master cylinder is also suspect...with lid off when you press on the pedal, a small fountain raises up from the back diaphragm. Does that sound normal?

I strongly suspect I am also starting to get a rod knocking. My car is generally rattly because it's all poly and solid mounts on a duke...Good vibrations...but now there is a new noise under load at the bottom of every gear. As rpms increase in each gear it goes away. I've never heard a rod knock before, so not aure...tried to test by pulling sparkplugs and pushing down but that angle makes it hard to press the piston down to check.

I was thinking if it goes it may be engine swap time. Or maybe just have it rebuilt and prevent everything. Problem is it's my only running car right now and what I really need is a cheap used car so the fiero can rest..as well as my wallet. Just ordered another speedo cluster because my circuitry was...not good. Had to break in the other day and broke my sunroof latch.

And boy does she need a paint job.

Just another day of owning these cars....I have to tell myself how cool it looks, and it helps...because I don't know of any other car I would put up with this kind of maintenance and repair budget and still love it.

Fieros...we must be crazy.

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IMSA GT MAY 12, 04:56 PM
Sorry, but this is driving me nuts. Here's your sig without the Photobucket crap if you want to update it.

[This message has been edited by IMSA GT (edited 05-12-2023).]

Patrick MAY 12, 05:16 PM

quote
Originally posted by IMSA GT:

Sorry, but this is driving me nuts. Here's your sig without the Photobucket crap...



I haven't had any problem viewing Photobucket hosted images for the last half-dozen years and counting!


quote
Originally posted by Patrick Here:

Just thought I'd bring this back to the top, as this handy utility continues to do the trick.

Available for Chrome, Firefox and Android.

If you can't see the following image clearly, without a watermark, or at all... you need The fix.



[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 05-12-2023).]

tbone42 MAY 13, 01:07 AM

quote
Originally posted by IMSA GT:

Sorry, but this is driving me nuts. Here's your sig without the Photobucket crap if you want to update it.





Lmao now if I can just figure out how to change it! 🤣 Tried clicking on profile and it doesn't take me anywhere, just selects the words and gives me a definition for "view" or "profile".... probably because I use my mobile. I'll keep trying.
cliffw MAY 13, 08:43 AM

quote
Originally posted by tbone42:
Fieros...we must be crazy.



There are many thoughts of what "fiero" means. Perhaps it means crazy, .

About your suspected rod knock. Perhaps so, yet I have ASE Certified GM friends. I suspected a rod knock (2.8) and we did the sleuthing. It was a wrist pin "knock". The wrist pin is connected to the ankle bone, just kidding. It connects the piston to the compression rod.

My friend, 30+ years, said it can last forever and the engine will still deliver. He was right. Twice. I had the same problem with my 85 CJ7 Jeep Laredo and it's still performing. Understandably, my confidence in the engine's dependability is weakened. Yet they keep on getting me down the road.

Your suspected rod knock is where the connecting rod interacts with the crank. Rod bearings. (My friend also diagnosed that issue on my 70 Chevy P/U. He helped me replace them all, from under the truck.) My friend used a engine stephascope.

Rod bearing knock down low, wrist pin, mid engine.
tbone42 MAY 13, 08:11 PM

quote
Originally posted by cliffw:


There are many thoughts of what "fiero" means. Perhaps it means crazy, .

About your suspected rod knock. Perhaps so, yet I have ASE Certified GM friends. I suspected a rod knock (2.8) and we did the sleuthing. It was a wrist pin "knock". The wrist pin is connected to the ankle bone, just kidding. It connects the piston to the compression rod.

My friend, 30+ years, said it can last forever and the engine will still deliver. He was right. Twice. I had the same problem with my 85 CJ7 Jeep Laredo and it's still performing. Understandably, my confidence in the engine's dependability is weakened. Yet they keep on getting me down the road.

Your suspected rod knock is where the connecting rod interacts with the crank. Rod bearings. (My friend also diagnosed that issue on my 70 Chevy P/U. He helped me replace them all, from under the truck.) My friend used a engine stephascope.

Rod bearing knock down low, wrist pin, mid engine.



This is heartening. I kinda have to keep driving it for a while so I hope you are correct in diagnosis. Other than that sound at the low end of each gear, she's been running tip top.

[This message has been edited by tbone42 (edited 05-13-2023).]

maryjane MAY 14, 12:09 PM

quote
Originally posted by cliffw:


There are many thoughts of what "fiero" means. Perhaps it means crazy, .

About your suspected rod knock. Perhaps so, yet I have ASE Certified GM friends. I suspected a rod knock (2.8) and we did the sleuthing. It was a wrist pin "knock". The wrist pin is connected to the ankle bone, just kidding. It connects the piston to the compression rod.

My friend, 30+ years, said it can last forever and the engine will still deliver. He was right. Twice. I had the same problem with my 85 CJ7 Jeep Laredo and it's still performing. Understandably, my confidence in the engine's dependability is weakened. Yet they keep on getting me down the road.

Your suspected rod knock is where the connecting rod interacts with the crank. Rod bearings. (My friend also diagnosed that issue on my 70 Chevy P/U. He helped me replace them all, from under the truck.) My friend used a engine stephascope.

Rod bearing knock down low, wrist pin, mid engine.



I have done that several times as well as rolled in main bearings several times on a variety of engines...big & small (It helps, to remove the spark plugs, so you can easily push the rod/piston up off the crank throw journal)
Worn main bearings generally won't cause a knock directly but they will help starve a connecting rod bearing of oil and so will worn cam bushings.
tbone42 MAY 25, 04:17 PM
This week I took vacation and was supposed to be working on the bus conversion...and things just keep cropping up. At first it was stuff I needed done on the Fiero that wasn't supposed to betoo hard .... Install new gauge pod, install new e brake cables. Gauge pod went smooth but the e brake cables screwed me.

I was having trouble getting the new cables into the new caliper bracket holes. Even crushing the tangs they were slightly too large to fit in the brackets. So I decided to wallow out the holes a little with my drill. Passenger side went fine, but then on the driver's side the metal grabbed the drill bit, sent it through the hole and RIGHT INTO my CV boot.

Out comes the oil, making a mess and I proceeded with a ridiculous amount of cussing and swearing. To top all this off, my ebrake handle isn't catching anymore, so although all my cables and brackets and springs are new, I STILL can't use the e brake.

After investigation of the feasibility of putting on a new boot, combined with no local guys I like being available for a week, I have opted to just install a whole new short shaft that I picked up for 89 bucks. I had to order it, usually I really like O'Reilly's parts, but they couldn't get one until Tuesday. AutoZone had me covered and I can pick up tomorrow morning. They didn't have a new seal , however, and neither did O'Reilly's. Both long delays on shipping. So I had to call Smyth and can pick one up in the morning as well. Logistics and supply chain snafus as per the usual.

I have no choice but to drive it to pick up the parts. I know it's going to throw grease everywhere but not many other options unless I can borrow someone's car. My bus isn't insured right now (that's a whole other story) so I'm down to just the Fiero at the moment.

Meanwhile, I need stuff from the hardware store to work on the bus...meaning until I get this short shaft replaced, I can't do that either. This work-vacation isn't t letting me work! It's just...a vacation and not a good one since I cants stop being grumpy about poking the CV boot. Thankfully I found an AMAZING thread here by Bloozberry on how to remove and replace an axle, so at least I'm not scared. This forum continues to amaze me after all this time.

Like I said...Fieros... All of us must be crazy. This money pit just keeps getting deeper because of my fix-2/break-1 performance average lately. Can't help but think this 37 year old car has more for me on the horizon.

[This message has been edited by tbone42 (edited 05-25-2023).]

Raydar MAY 25, 04:35 PM
If there's anything good about a "ventilated" axle boot, it's that the grease will sling out in a relatively straight line. It won't splatter everywhere. Just straight out.
At least that's what my torn inner boot did.
cliffw MAY 25, 10:57 PM

quote
Originally posted by tbone42:
This week I was supposed to be working on the bus conversion...and things just keep cropping up.



There must be a rain cloud above your head. That never happens to us, .


quote
Originally posted by tbone42:
... on the driver's side the metal grabbed the drill bit, sent it through the hole and RIGHT INTO my CV boot.
Out comes the oil, making a mess and I proceeded with a ridiculous amount of cussing and swearing.



Grease, not oil.


quote
Originally posted by tbone42:
I have no choice but to drive it to pick up the parts. I know it's going to throw grease everywhere but not many other options unless I can borrow someone's car. My bus isn't insured right now (that's a whole other story) so I'm down to just the Fiero at the moment.



Your Fiero's short shaft has life yet. Let it die for the cause. Your worn short shaft will not let you down. It will give you time.