Once its out, I can do the flywheel, fix the EGR tube, change the dipstick from the 3.4 one to the 2.8 one, an find out where the oil leak on the transmission side of the engine is and seal it. Soon as its out, I'll get to work on it and get some pics of what I'm doing.

Till then, go to my other thread

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum1/HTML/041207.html

And let me know where you think my "V6-H.O." badges should go.

--Scott

------------------
VOTE FOR THE FIERO!

Black '87 GT Auto - Daily Driver & Autocrosser
Eibach springs, Koni shocks, Kosei K1s, Kumho Ecsta V700s, poly bushings, rear swaybar, MSD ignition, shift-kit, custom intake scoop

Why are you changing to the 2.8L dipstick? You do realize that the dipstick markings are in reference to the bottom of the engine block for the size of the crankshaft, right? Changing the dipstick will cause you to have the incorrect level of oil. I know many will say that with the Fiero oil pan you need it, But that is incorrect. It is not the amount of oil in the oilpan, it is the level in relation to the crankshaft that is important. A low level of oil and the crankshaft will not sling enough oil up to the cylinders and cause more wear. Too much oil and the crackshaft will cause caviation creating a layer of foam. The air trapped in the oil from caviation will cause less oil to the bearing surfaces and cause excessive wear.

------------------
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR THE FIERO!

Black '87 GT Auto - Daily Driver & Autocrosser
Eibach springs, Koni shocks, Kosei K1s, Kumho Ecsta V700s, poly bushings, rear swaybar, MSD ignition, shift-kit, custom intake scoop

If you take a look at your 2.8, theres a large black hose that goes from the bottom of the throttle body down to the lower intake manifold. Its kind of hard to trace because the upper plenum, distributor, cooling lines, wiring, spark plug wires, and a few other things are in the way. This was my problem. When we put the plenum back on after inspecting the vacuume lines and injector wiring, that line either came off the Throttle Body or was never reattached. So the tube was just sitting there, attached to the lower plenum but nothing else. So as soon as I started the car, the engine was sucking as much unfiltered air in through that tube as it could in addition to drawing air through the plenums.

And there you have a massive vacuum leak and a sure fire symptom for High Idle.

Great to hear all is well. I have not been in hibernation contrary to popular opinion, I have just been swamped with an endless mountian of work. It's still on for the next week or so.

Anyway, I've been folowing the thread when I can, just no time to post in the last 2 weeks.

You'll have to drive over the hill soon and tell us how it handles in the mountains

LOL I can't wait to. Remember, you can drive my 3.4 if I can drive your "Real" Indy when you build it

BTW, if you want to come play Fieros again, hopefully I will get the hoist Sunday and the proper flywheel by early next week, so I can drop the engine again and get the right flywheel on there. Let me know if you want to join in the fun.

If it fraggs the main bearings then I'll pull it apart and fix it, till then I'll drive the snot out of it. In your case I'd fix it now and have the peace of mind. Just my thoughts. Joe

Same thing. It was very smooth (considering the old motor mounts and the aluminum flywheel bushings on it) while idling at 2500-3000 RPMs, so may not have ever even realized my mistake. Now that I know about it, I'm not going to take any chances. I don't feel like replacing the main bearings EVER, much less any time in the near future. Not on an engine with only 39k miles on it. I don't want to have to do any major repair work on it for a while now.

End of next week is what I'm shooting for. Wish me luck!

Bear, I'll probably see you in Chat in not to long, but anyway. I'll get the hoist back MOST LIKELY on Sunday. Till then, I still don't have the flywheel, so having the hoist wouldn't do me too much. I'll let you know if I need the hoist or not, and if you'd like me to pick it up for you, I can keep it here at my dads. 2 hoists wouldn't be a bad idea when picking the car with engine up to get the wheels back on

[This message has been edited by Fastback 86 (edited 05-08-2004).]

Not likely, Slacker!

I was just about to bump this one too! I did a bunch of errands today and got the new flywheel I need from Kragen. Picked up some car working gloves, 1/4" ratchet (mines having problems), and another can of Dupli Color Chevy Red Orange Engine Paint cause the upper plenum got a little messed up while the engine was being reinstalled. Since its off, why not give it another coat so it looks nice.

I'm going to get started disconnecting things today before dinner, but I have to work after dinner, so I won't get too far. With any luck, tomarrow I can drop it, swap that flywheel out, button it all back up, and stick it back in the car. We all know it won't be that quick and easy, but I'm betting I can do it in one long day.

I'll let you guys know sometime tomarrow how I'm doing.

I still have that 2.8 and all those 3.4 parts up for sale CHEAP. Let me know. I'll throw it up in the mall when I get a chance.

She's almost ready to drop. Everythings disconnected but the brakes. Unfortunately, I didn't get home from work (DJ service) till almost 2 last night, so I didn't get up till late and didn't get started on the Fiero till almost 11. Its 2 now and I'm getting some lunch. My friend Cullen helped me work on it this morning, but he had to go to work. Hopefully, my friend Toby can come down in a few and give me a hand.

Still To Do:
Drop engine
Seperate Engine and Trans
Replace flywheel
Put engine and trans back together
Put engine back in car
Reconnect

Dropping it and changine the flywheel really won't be bad. No meticulous stuff, nothing extremely hard to reach, and no tight spaces. Disconnecting and reconnecting everything are what takes forever, cause theres so much little stuff, and its all in some hard to reach corner.

I did get hung up a bit this morning also. When I drained the coolant, it came out a really gross color. I know that the engine sat for a while before I bought it, and the water pump on it was rusted from some coolant still being in the engine, so there was probably some gunk in the engine. In addition, I know its been a while since the cooling system was flushed. So while I had my buckets and what not, I proceded to flush the cooling system for good measure.

More later!

Ok, since I already put up a post in Tech that gives it away, here ya go:

Rear Main Seal

RRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrr I'm not happy. On the other hand, at least I found the problem, know how to fix it, can fix it, and have the engine out of the car where it will be easy to work on. I have to work tomarrow, so this won't get done till Sunday. *Sigh* Oh well. Hopefully it will get done then. Change the seal, put the new flywheel on, clutch and pressure plate on, back on the trans, back in the car. Assuming the rear main seal isn't too terrible, hopefully I will be able to start the car agian Sunday night.

Please God, let there be no more set backs.

Please go to my thread in Tech and throw out any tips and tricks you may have for changing the rear main seal!

------------------
'84 Fiero Sport Quad 4 coming soon
'87 Blue GT 3.4L Swap in progress!!!!!!!!
http://www.lasvegasfieroclub.com/
Rate me if I'm usefull

First up, can we all guess which is the new flywheel and which is the old? I'll give you a hint, the new one doesn't have that *&^% weight on it.

Next, I was unhappy that the upper plenum got messed up (the paint did) during the swap, so while I had it off looking for that high idle problem, I hit it with a few more coats of Dupli Color Chevy Red Orange Engine Paint.

Here's a look inside the bell housing. Without ever looking at the engine, you can already tell the rear main seal is bad

And here's tonights wrap up pic. The engine is now on a stand. Note the mechanics gloves in the bottom left corner. Finally caved and got em. Stupid me didn't start using em till I'd made 2 blood sacrifices to the car. Then I finally got it through my head. I like these gloves.

------------------
DON'T FORGET TO VOTE FOR THE FIERO!

Black '87 GT Auto - Daily Driver & Autocrosser
Eibach springs, Koni shocks, Kosei K1s, Kumho Ecsta V700s, poly bushings, rear swaybar, MSD ignition, shift-kit, custom intake scoop

Rear Main Seal is a very important seal that goes on the rear of the crankshaft, near the flywheel. It keeps the oil in the engine and not shooting out the back. So as you can imagine, its rather important. Its also a VERY common problem; a leaky Rear Main is a common source of oil leaks for most cars. The best time to fix it is now, while its out of the car. Otherwise, you'd be laying on your back under the car working above your head to do it. And before you got that far, you'd have to get the oil pan off, which is not easy to do with the engine on the cradle. If you have your engine out, replace the Rear Main. Cheap and easy insurance.

For me personally, most likely the seal was fine (only had 39k miles on it) until I ran it with that unbalanced flywheel on there. I don't doubt that is what caused the seal to fail, due to the vibrations. So since I already had the engine out and off the cradle, and realized it was a problem, I'm changing mine.

As for the mechanics gloves, they are just that. They're nice, synthetic, breathable gloves made for mechanicing. They have patches of leather or something similar over all the knuckles to protect them, grip well on most surfaces, and, surprisingly, don't make it hard to feel what you're doing. The main reason I never used gloves before is that I thought that if I was feeling around for a bolt or something, I'd never find it cause I wouldn't have the same sense of touch with the gloves on. While you are a little disconnected, its not bad at all. Best of all, they save you from all the little cuts and scratches you get from all the sharp things in the engine compartment. I can point out several places on the gloves that definately would have resulted in blood loss had I not been wearing the gloves. Worth the money to me (they were only like $15).

Ok, I need to get back to calling every parts store in the county.

Few things to do tomarrow. Put the starter back on, reconnect the exhaust, reconnect a few sensors and such, things of that nature. Need to sand off the top of the upper plenum, make it all shiny again. Then I'll get a few extra hands and we'll get that thing back in the car. Then I reconnect everything and I'm ready to go FINALLY.

No pics tonight, the camera battery died right after the last picture I took. I'll get a few up tomarrow.

Sooooooo close...

------------------

For now, I need to clean up the garage a little more and get everything out of the way and the hoist and what not in place. I really think I'll be driving it tonight!