Hello all!

I recently purchased a V6 106K mile Fiero, and I have to say that when I first laid eyes on her in a lot, tucked in tight next to bloated brand new SUVs, I was seduced! I have been an armchair Fiero fan ever since they hit the streets, but have never owned or driven one until now. I was in highschool at the time the first model came out and even then I remember guys talking about V8 swaps. It was all very intriguing ... and still is!

I wanted to start a post as I diagnose, and (hopefully) solve, this car's many quirks. When I test drove it, 1st gear was a bit difficult to get into. Now, since driving it for a few weeks, I have noticed that it mainly shifts poorly while at a dead stop. As I roll up to stoplights I often depress the clutch and just ease it into 1st to avoid the embarassment of shifting troubles. Also, the car lurches while decerating. This lurching tends to occur under 2000 RPM. I'm guessing this is a tired slipping clutch, although it doesn't lurch at all during acceleration.

I've noticed that the engine idles at about 1500 RPMs until warm. When warm, it bounces slowly between 1000-850. I can "feel" it missing a bit when idling, but it doesn't hesitate at all when accelerating. I'm not sure how close or distant to normal any of this is, but I am reading up on the subject.

Anyhow, I have read A LOT on this forum and I am very excited about this place as a resource! One of my pet peeves though are dead end posts that never give any resolution to some longwinded problem. I intend to post EVERYTHING that I find problematic and the solutions. I am hoping that you'll chime in with your wisdom and helpful comments, all of which are very welcome.

Dave

Congratulations on the purchase of your first Fiero and welcome to the forum.

Pictures of your new ride are mandatory!

Nolan

Bad Oxygen and IAC sensor would be a good place to look to correct the surgeing.
IAC is around $15.00 or so to replace and is a good idea to change that out with the miles that are on the car now, O2 can be pricey and this is one part if you decide to go cheap on can bit you in the a$$, I use Bosh and have never experianced a problem with those.
Also I would recommend staying away from Auto Zone on any electronic sensors, many will tell you stories of replaceing the same sensor bought from them before they go somewhere else for a better quality part.
Clutch can be one of few things. Slipping as you mentioned, air in the line, or the cables need adjusting.
hope this helps a bit.

It probably needs a tune up, new plugs, wires etc. The firewall side plugs can be a PITA to get out as those plugs get rusted in place. Clutch hydraulics can also be a PITA. When I had hard shifting into first gear, the slave and master were replaced, But there still were issues. I ended up replacing the clutch, TO bearing, fork, fork bushings and had the flywheel resurfaced. It shifts fine now, but all that work came at a healthy price.

O2 sensor is about $12 for a direct fit, Denso-branded replacement. Definitely worth it.

Congrats on your new find. I think the loping idle between 1000 and 850 rpm is pretty typical of a Fiero, one of the quirks that it has...Mine still has it even though its been fully tuned up. Also it doesnt sound like a tired clutch on your decel, it might be worn motor mounts or a worn driveline absorber (looks like a tiny shock absorber, near the a/c compressor)

I also have the hard shifting sometimes, funny. I assume you have the 5-speed gearbox. You might consider a slave cylinder rebuild as the Fiero ones are typically troublesome. Get a Mr2 rebuilt kit, they seal better than the stock ones. Also look into a new clutch pedal from the Fierostore, the OEM ones bend slightly which basically makes it impossible to fully depress the clutch, even though the pedal goes to the floor. You won't be able to see it without removing the pedal, so I would recommend just buying the replacement which is like $40.

Welcome to the forum!

Hello, my Fiero Super Friends, and thank you for the warm welcome!

I will try to post some pictures of my '87 this weekend, but I have dinosaur-dialup! She is silver and sexy! I always debate with myself whether a car is male or female. I have decided that most of the cars I have owned are female because they van be difficult (sorry, ladies), but I love 'em!

I have yet to install the new tune-up parts I've been accumulating. I have a new set of plugs and wires and an O2 sensor I will be installing tomorrow.

But now I am having new and more exciting problems! Yesterday morning, after an uneventful start and first few miles on the road, the car lost significant power under load/acceleration. At first I thought that the clutch/transaxle was giving up the ghost, but, after driving home from work, I am convinced it is the engine. The car idles better than it had before, BUT the exhaust note is much more resonant. Once under load it lacks power until it hits about 3500 when it surges with power/torque.

If you have an idea of what might be wrong please let me know!

Thank you for your help and advice,

Dave

If your transmission shifts fine with the engine off but hard with the engine on, then the problem is that the clutch isn't fully disengageing. Most likely the problem is air in the hydraulic system.

Lurching under deceleration - check your motor mounts. Most likely if they haven't been replaced they are bad. Rock Auto (rockauto.com) sells new ones reasonably.

Fast idle when cold - That's how the ECM is programmed. You can swap a newer ECM in to 'cure' that if you want. Search 7730 on here for info. A nice thing to do at the same time is to delete the distributor and go with a distributorless ignition.

87 2.8 5 speeds came stock with a GETRAG transmission. The MR2 slave piston 'trick' only works on the other two manual transmission's slave cylinders. The other slave cylinder (and thus piston) can be adapted to work with the GETRAG. The added benifit of that is the other slave has a smaller piston size, thus it has a longer standard piston travel and works better to disengage the clutch.

The driveability issue - ALL 6 plugs, wires, rotor and cap and see what happens. Check the AIR filter. Run a bottle of injector cleaner through it Make sure the SES (Service Engine Soon) light comes on at start up. If it's coming on at other times then you neeed to look at that issue.

Changing the front plugs - You NEED to remove the rear deck lid (4 13mm headed bolts) to get enough access to the front plugs.

[This message has been edited by phonedawgz (edited 09-11-2010).]

quote Originally posted by Swanky_Monkey: Yesterday morning, after an uneventful start and first few miles on the road, the car lost significant power under load/acceleration. At first I thought that the clutch/transaxle was giving up the ghost, but, after driving home from work, I am convinced it is the engine. The car idles better than it had before, BUT the exhaust note is much more resonant. Once under load it lacks power until it hits about 3500 when it surges with power/torque.

Your catalytic convertor has likely collapsed (maybe muffler). A new one will solve the problem.

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Great suggestions! Thank you all!

It doesn't appear to be the CAT or muffler, as those have now checked out. At first, that suggestion sounded like a slam-dunk to me! I am going to check the timing, but the distributor doesn't seem to be loose at all (its was recently replaced). Its all very strange to me. Tomorrow afternoon, I will replace the air filter, oxygen sensor, and plugs. But could ANY of these items cause such a massive, and consistent, loss of power and change in the exhaust note? Again, the car seems to idle smoothly, but definitely sounds different, and gains power only at higher RPMs. But I wouldn't call if "running well" at higher RPMs; just an obvious surge in acceleration.

I am truly puzzled and frustrated.

Dave

After reading another post by mattman134, I am pretty sure this current problem is a timing issue, and may of course possibly involve an aged timing chain. Looks like I might have a chance to get really down and dirty with my girl! mattman134 was experiencing VERY similar symptoms. I will let you all know what I find when I find it!

Dave

Just to update,

I adjusted the timing; thanks to a very clear and informative post on distributor replacement by jetman:

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/079386.html

It was retarded quite a bit, but is now purring like a kitten. Well, maybe a kitten in need of timing chain replacement! I am hoping to change the chain, and water pump, within the next few weeks. I'm just happy to have some lower-end torque once again. Is the Fiero Store's water pump a good one to get? I sent them an email about a week ago asking if it had a metal impellar, but I haven't heard back.

This forum, and its members, are truly a treasure! I have been reading and learning more than I ever could from just my manuals!

Oh, and here is the post by mattman134 that led me to the timing chain diagnoses:

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/110291.html