One would think that driving your engine swapped car for the first time would be wonderful...... Yes, one could think.........
I picked up the car today. After going over a few things and just about ready to leave, it started to POUR! I mean torrential downpour. I have not put the A/C lines on the compressor yet, so I had a drive home, in the summer, no A/C with the windows up. I no sooner got a block or so away from the shop, and the wiper stopped working. It was then I realized I put the crappy wiper arms that DO NOT FIT on the car. So, this is what my drive home looked like for 6 miles:
I got 2 blocks away, and the car is still not clearing up and running any better. It is coughing and sputtering. Light pressure on the gas is OK, any more than that and it chokes and coughs. It stalled at just about every traffic light on the way home. The car is VERY hard to control, and needs an alignment badly now that the swap is done. If I go over 35 to 40, it feels like the back end is just going to go away from me. To top it off, when starting out from a stop, the transmission (Automatic) is slipping and BANGS into gear and chirps the tires, even when taking off at a high idle.
Someone, please let me know when something is going to go right for once..... as I have not found it in 6 years now......
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 06-30-2017).]
Still working out some bugs. Olejoedad sent me some stuff to go over, and I am working on it. I need to borrow a friends OBD professional scanner so I can reset the Cam sensor.
In the mean time, the tire pressure sensor kit came in the mail today. Only took a couple minutes to wire it up. You gotta love OCD I spent 20 minutes getting each of the tires to exactly 36 PSI LOL! You can set a minimum and Maximum pressure. If it goes over or under those, the tire in question will blink in red, and an audible alarm goes off. The alarm will also go off if the tire begins to lose pressure quickly, even before hitting the minimum. Giving you advanced warning of a flat.
I purchased it on eBay, Just search for: Car Solar Wireless TPMS LCD Tire Pressure Monitoring System w/ 4 External Sensor I did not include a link, as the link will be broken when the item ends.
I did not need the solar feature. I got this particular one due to the slim look of it. It fits either on top of the center console, or on the center light console, where I prefer it.
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 06-12-2017).]
I talked to OleJoeDad on the phone today. He was VERY helpful (THANK YOU again if you are reading this).
When I bought the Engine / transmission combo, it came with a few extras. A Northstar throttle body, an adapter plate, a smaller SC pulley and the pulley removal tool. I took it all at face value. Come to find out, it is NOT a Northstar throttle body, but instead a Series II and Series II adapter plate.
The problem lies in the fact that the computer is programmed for the NS TB. How the plugs from the wiring harness, that was supposedly made for the NS, fit in the MAF sensor on the Series II I do not know yet. I have a few things to figure out, and then it looks like around another $400~$500 to convert everything over, new TB, new adapter plate $100 MAF sensor ect ect.
I talked to OleJoeDad on the phone today. He was VERY helpful (THANK YOU again if you are reading this).
When I bought the Engine / transmission combo, it came with a few extras. A Northstar throttle body, an adapter plate, a smaller SC pulley and the pulley removal tool. I took it all at face value. Come to find out, it is NOT a Northstar throttle body, but instead a Series II and Series II adapter plate.
The problem lies in the fact that the computer is programmed for the NS TB. How the plugs from the wiring harness, that was supposedly made for the NS, fit in the MAF sensor on the Series II I do not know yet. I have a few things to figure out, and then it looks like around another $400~$500 to convert everything over, new TB, new adapter plate $100 MAF sensor ect ect.
Hey John,
Usually the N* TB needs a 3 to 5 wire adapter harness. It's possible you don't have the adapter harness and unwittingly just hooked up the plugs correctly. But the wrong MAF will make your car run like sh*t obviously.
Oh and a trip to the salvage yard can save you a few bucks. I paid $174.20 for my whole setup. $35.00 Maf, TPS wire adapters from zzp $75.10 TB adapter from eaby $3.54 TB gasket from Amazon $29.56 N* TB from junkyard $31.00 LQ4 maf from junkyard
[This message has been edited by ignorant prodigy (edited 06-14-2017).]
Ok, seems that I have a Gen 5 blower, on a Series 3 engine. Using a Series II Throttle body, with the second version of MAF. Here in lies all my problems. I am pretty sure the computer was tuned for a Northstar TB, and sensors. I have just drop shipped a PCM to Ryan at Sinister Performance, and he is going to program it to match my setup. it SHOULD be a matter of plug and play when the tuned computer gets here.
I had some time today, and FINALLY got my Automatic Headlight kit installed! Took just a few minutes. Really adds a nice feature to the Fiero. I am so spoiled by the automatic lights on my other cars, that I am always afraid I would get a ticket at sundown in the Fiero for not having my lights on.Chris sells these kits in his thread.
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 06-30-2017).]
I talked to OleJoeDad on the phone today. He was VERY helpful (THANK YOU again if you are reading this).
When I bought the Engine / transmission combo, it came with a few extras. A Northstar throttle body, an adapter plate, a smaller SC pulley and the pulley removal tool. I took it all at face value. Come to find out, it is NOT a Northstar throttle body, but instead a Series II and Series II adapter plate.
The problem lies in the fact that the computer is programmed for the NS TB. How the plugs from the wiring harness, that was supposedly made for the NS, fit in the MAF sensor on the Series II I do not know yet. I have a few things to figure out, and then it looks like around another $400~$500 to convert everything over, new TB, new adapter plate $100 MAF sensor ect ect.
The harness was evidently made for the Series II engine. If made for N*/LQ4 the TPS and MAF plugs would not be correct.
The harness was evidently made for the Series II engine. If made for N*/LQ4 the TPS and MAF plugs would not be correct.
When I bought everything as a bundle, I was told it was a Series 3, N* Throttle Body ^ adapter plate. I have found out over time it is a hodgepodge of parts. Series III engine, Series II TB and adapter plate, S3 MAP, and God only knows what the computer was programmed for.
Ryan at Sinister will have the PCM tomorrow, and can program it for the parts that I actually have. In a perfect world, the PCM would get here, and I would swap it with the one in the car now, and it will run as it should. Everything at this time points to that. However, I know this car, and I am sure there will be some further curve balls thrown through the strike zone......
I can barely go over a high idle at this point, but even then, I have been driving it around the neighborhood a couple times a week.
Got an email from Ryan this afternoon. He was able to hook up the PCM that I sent him, and is able to communicate with it. He should have it programmed soon and sent back my way, total, $123 + $16 for the PCM I had drop shipped to him from ebay.
I still tinker with the car, and am getting really anxious to plug the new computer in. I know it SHOULD fix things, but I have thought that many, Many MANY things would have fixed this car at many different times in the past.
It runs fairly decent at idle, but still fluctuates wildly from lean to rich as the computer is pretty much freaking out with the incorrect information is is receiving.
Some time ago, I had posted a concept video of my RFID fuel door popper. It is all in place now, and neatly installed. I find it much easier when getting gas than unlocking the door, opening it and reaching behind the drivers seat for the lever.
Insert dream sequence, cue the weird music and the fuzzy video: Flashback 1994: I purchased my first White 1984 Fiero, not because it was what I was necessarily looking for, but I badly needed a car, and it was pretty much the cheapest thing in AutoTrader at the time. I purchased it in Ft. Lauderdale, and had to drive it an hour north to my house. It has barely a 1/4 tank of gas in it. I stopped at the gas station, and could not find out how to open the gas door for the life of me. Typical place would be to the left of the drivers seat.... Nope, in the glove box......not likely.... I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure this out when a man walked over and asked me if everything was all right. I explained the situation to him, and he immediately went........ to the floor next to the drivers seat Him looking in that area, and around the drivers sear, under the dash.... forced me to go to the passenger side to watch him look. It was then, from the passenger side, I could see it on the B pillar.
Anyhow, back on topic.... I got the RFID kit for like $10 on eBay, and used a door lock solenoid from some random hatchback in the junkyard. I just hooked the solenoid to the pull cable. If something were to short out, or go wrong, I can access the cable close to the air filter in the engine compartment and open it manually.
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 06-25-2017).]
Just looking for something to do this weekend on the car for the most part. I am getting anxious to get the PCM back from Ryan and see if I can drive the car.
I purchased a binder from amazon for $10, to hold all my paperwork for the car, insurance, registration, AAA stuff ect. It is nice, but it needed a little something I found some stencils I made a couple years back with my dye cutter, and a half full can of metallic blue spray paint.
.
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The binder fits perfectly in the dash pocket, and keeps everything nice and neat.
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 06-24-2017).]
I still tinker with the car, and am getting really anxious to plug the new computer in. I know it SHOULD fix things, but I have thought that many, Many MANY things would have fixed this car at many different times in the past.
Ryan will have that thing purring like a kitten! (No pressure at all Ryan lol)
We are all rooting for you John! Keep up the cool tinkering...these projects you are doing are really cool.
Ryan will have that thing purring like a kitten! (No pressure at all Ryan lol)
We are all rooting for you John! Keep up the cool tinkering...these projects you are doing are really cool.
I just exchanged a few emails with Ryan. Fast enough that it was more like texting back and forth hahah.
Anyhow, I just paid an additional $25 for the expediting fee. He says he should be able to ship it out tomorrow. I really want to have the car for the long 4th of July weekend, and a car show that I heard about. I am in the hopes that this will solve enough problems that by just plugging in the new PCM, the the car will be drivable.
Here is the way she sits tonight. When I eventually get it running, and the bugs worked out, I will start to tidy things up. Re-running wires, tucking everything away, relocating the MAP and so forth.
I do have a very nice reveal coming up, hopefully soon. A brand new fuel line setup for the 3800. I am hoping to have the prototype installed here in the near future when the person completes work on it. I can not say any more than that..... well I can say that the fuel lines, running to each of the cylinders, will not be visible (It is something that will be available for purchase down the road)
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 06-26-2017).]
This ship notification is being sent to you by the U.S. Postal Service® at the request of RYAN GICK. A package with a Click-N-Ship® label created on usps.com is scheduled to be shipped on 06/27/2017.
Type of Service: Priority Mail® 2-Day
If all goes well, I could be driving her this Fourth of July weekend :-)
Originally posted by VanGTP5000: What car show where you referring to by the way?
Crap, I got it mixed up. I thought there was a Cars & Coffee the last Sunday of this month.... It is the last Sunday of NEXT month, the 30th. I will be in Frazee MN that weekend for the 8th annual Tyler Shipman Memorial Car Show.
I have always said that I have fixed just about EVERY SINGLE THING on this car 2 or 3 times. Here is an example of how this car just defies everything that I try to do.
WARNING: For those that have not read this entire thread, this is a long rant, and is meant to sum up most of the previous 19 pages of this thread:
When I purchased my Fiero, the sunroof leaked. I removed the old tracks, cleaned out the sunroof area, and replaced them with the Fiero store tracks and a new Fiero store gasket. I siliconed around all of the bolt holes, and used rubber washers in every bolt to prevent water from seeping in around the bolts. I then drilled the drainage holes in all 4 corners. The car sat for a year while I continued to work on it, and when I checked the tracks, they had turned to pretty much orange powder. They were completely rusted out. The car was out in the rain many be ONE time, other than that it was under cover all the time.
I found a vendor on the forum that sells stainless steel replacement sunroof tracks, and ordered a set and installed them. With the Fiero store gasket, and the new tracks, it still leaked
I searched high and low, and finally found an OEM sunroof gasket, and paid a pretty penny for it. I removed the Fiero Store gasket, and tried to install the OEM one. It was VERY hard trying to get the gasket into the tracks. After almost 2 hours, I found a small piece of the Fiero Store track that was still in tack, and saw that the gap on the Stainless Steel tracks was narrower. I contacted the vendor, sent these back, and he sent out a replacement set, Finally it is all installed! Today, I checked the seal with a hose, and guess what.... waterfall in the Passenger side. I verified all 4 drain holes were clear by blowing my air compressor into each one. Still, it leaks like no tomorrow.
At this point I was stumped, and ordered a new pull down latch assembly, and shimmed it up so that I really had to apply force to close it, ensuring a nice tight seal. Yep! Still leaked like a sieve. Although, highly unlikely, I thought maybe the glass was somehow warped, or had the wrong curvature or something from the factory. I found a OEM one here on the forum from Pro Source Glass, ordered and installed it. Yep, $700 or so later, it still leaks like it is raining inside the car.
Frustrated, I moved on to the wipers to make sure they were working Ok. I turned them on and the motor ran, but the wipers barely moved. I then remembered that I bought the S-10 wipers that someone wrongfully recommended. DO NOT BUY THEM! READ THE WHOLE THREAD At this point, aesthetics are out the window and I just do not care. I grabbed the drill, POUNDED the wiper arm on with a rubber hammer and aligned it to the correct place when It was off, and locked the little lever into place. I proceeded to drill a hole through the base of the wiper arm. I put a set screw in the hole, and turned on the wipers. They moved perfectly, but hovered over the window and wiped no water off. I removed the set screw, and lifted the arm to point it up. (The wipers can be moved up and out of the way to clean the glass) as I lifted the arm, the base that goes around the shaft split. Ok, I took the passenger wiper arm off, and moved it to the drivers side. The wipers are different lengths, so when I went to remove one of the blades from the arm, the little plastic clip that holds it onto the arm snapped. All was well for a week till I was on the Interstate, and lost the drivers wiper, in the rain, at 60 MPH,
If you are still reading this, I am impressed.... this is a pretty long rant that sums up many of the things in this thread! I have been fighting this car for the past 6 years.
This is the 3rd engine, and the 3rd paint job. (And I have still yet to be able to drive it more than a couple times before something major happens) I have done the COMPLETE interior 2 times now, once as a restore, and then all over again after MAACO ruined the complete interior leaving the car out in the rain with the windows down, no sunroof or front window glass in the car. I had to pull and reinstall new carpet, floor mats, door panels, speakers, shorted out gauges cluster, Aux gauges, headliner......
Another side effect of the MAACO disaster, has been that I have taken everything off of the car, and put it all back together no less than 3 times now. This includes, the side mirrors, quarter windows, sun roof tracks, all side molding, markers, reflectors, headlight doors, tail lights, fuel door, and interior fuel "cup", drip rails, front windshield, Rocker panels, hood, decklid, and other miscellaneous parts... 3 times taking EVERYTHING off, and 3 times putting EVERYTHING back together again.
The brakes on this car have always been REALLY soft. I replaced the Brake booster with a new S-10 one, and still no better. I replaced the front calipers with Grand AM calipers, still no better. I replaced the lines with Stainless Steel lines, and bled probably a 1/2 gallon of fluid through the lines. Still soft. I replaced the back calipers with Grad AM ones, still soft.. I replaced the master cylinder...... yep, still soft. To this day the brakes are very soft, and the pedal goes within an inch or so of the floor.
I went to have my quad headlight buckets powder coated at a local large company, Toliver Powder coating. When I picked them up a week later, they were bubbled and had huge drip marks all over them. I refused to take them, and had them re-do them, and when I got them back, they were bent all over the place. I left them with a photo, and said fix them. I get a call a week later that they are done. I go to pick them up, and they tell me they can not powder coat them, and refund my money. When they get them to hand back to me, they sand blasted them, removing all of the galvanized coating. They were completely rusted, and still deformed. Needless to say I had to purchase another set of buckets, and powder coated them myself after buying an electric powder coating gun.
Most people would buy a wiring harness and all would be well. Not with this car! My brand new wiring harness had bad connections, and criss-crossed wires in it. 2 of the wires were going to the wrong location, some came loose from the butt connectors, and 1 wire was not connected to anything in the middle of the harness.
The Scion TC wheels I purchased from a forum member touted as brand new wheels and tires, came with the stickers still on the tires. When I took the car for an alignment, they pointed out how they were badly dry rotted. Using the code on the tires they were determined to be around 13 years old. Needless to say, I had to purchase 4 brand new tires. The wheels them selves have started to bubble all over the place, and look terrible, so looks like my second set of new wheels in in the near future.
Back to the alignment, it took a total of 6 trips to Firestone, to get the alignment right. Each time it felt like driving an ice cube on a hot griddle. The last time, I insisted that the manager take the car for a test drive. We got onto a nice 3 lane straight road with no traffic, and he commented that it was driving "true" At 45MPH I told him to go ahead and change lanes..... the next thing out of his mouth was Woah! Changing lanes felt as if the back of the car was going to come around and pass us.
I had the ignition in the column replaced last year by a lock smith, as the other one was sticking really bad. Just today, I noticed that I do not need a key to start the car, or to go back to the Accessory position. Looks like a second replacement of the ignition.
When I had the passenger side glass replaced, it took the company 4 times out to the house to complete it. The first time, he could not get a couple of the rivets out. He went ahead and installed the new window motors and lock cylinders I purchased. The Next time he had a better drill, and he got the rivets out. The rivet gun he had was not long enough to go in and replace the rivets, so he came back a third time. This time he popped the rivet gun, and shattered the new OEM glass. It took the glass company 3 weeks to source a new window, and on the 4th time he succeed in installing it, along with brand new electric window motors. I had completely restored the regulator tracks by sanding them down smooth, and powder coating them. I greased them up real good, and with the new motors and glass, I still have to pull the passenger glass up with my hand to close it. The drivers window I have to go up, down a tiny bit, up, up, up, down a tiny bit, and up again to get it to close. Looks like I need to take the doors all apart again and start over.
The quarter windows I received from Chris Cook, never did fit correctly. There was a gap at the top, and at the bottom where you could see the white tape. I went back and forth with him in emails, and he insisted that I installed them incorrectly.. I told him I wanted to purchase another set, but at a discount as I had already paid full price for the badones and explained that I just did not just want a free set. He refused. When MAACO screwed up the car for the second time, (Overspray all over the plastic quarter windows, and then trying to sand it off) they purchased a replacement set. They paid for them, as there was over spray all over them, and they attempted to sand it off! When they realized what they had done, they painted the windows in clear to hide the scratches, sealing the rest of the black over spray underneath the clear, and leaving the quarter windows with severe orange peel! When I compared the new ones they bought, with the old ones, they were exactly 1/2" shorter from top to bottom. When I installed them, they fit perfectly.
I purchased new "Chrome" bumper covers that go above the exhaust pipes in the rear bumper from the Fiero Store. When they arrived, I noticed that they had rust all over the back, and light surface rust on the front the day I received them. I called them, and they sent out another set. I have had them on the car for just about a year now, and they are completely rusted to the point there are rusted holes around the edges. Looks like time to take the back bumper off and replace them again.
So you can see, this car has been more than an absolute nightmare for the past 6 years. I can not believe I have stuck it out, and not taken the VERY large sledge hammer to it at some point. Trust me, I came damn close many many times.
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 05-09-2021).]
I read the first few chapters in your novel post (thanks for not adding an index, table of contents, and chapter headings). Are you sure you didn't miss a few things, like engine wiring harnesses, ECU's, exhaust, intakes, ICMs, etc?
If it makes you feel better, I can just about match you in quantity of problem items, but mine weren't as major. I didn't go to MAACO, though.
Hey John As I read through your rant I was realizing how lucky I was with my formula. I know your road has been uphill all the way but I'm pretty sure you are almost at the top of the crescent. I am aware that it may not be over yet BUT think of this ..... if you remember the famous night in Frazee, times were pretty hard but the build team pulled through ... and even today the Shipman's are still pulling through. These quirky cars are not owned by quitters .... keep your head up and dont give into the DARKSIDE .... if she fights you again step back breath in ...and let her know ya won't give in... I really am planning to one day go out on a ride with you... greatest regards...
I paid the extra $25 for Ryan to get the PCM to me before the Fourth of July weekend. He came through, it came in the mail a couple hours ago. I took a half day at work, and I got it all installed, and took her out for a test drive.....
Absolutely no change whatsoever. Still will only run decent at an idle. If you give it any gas, it coughs and pops and spits. I did manage, in only 10 seconds to get the car all the way up to.... well almost up to 35 MPH !
Honestly, when does one just throw in the towel and cut their losses.... A person can honestly only take so much of this.... it has been 6 years now.... and each time I think this is the time it will be fixed......
Remind me. What transmission does it have? I ask because mine had a similar issue with no power, couldn't get it over 1,500 RPM in gear. Ended up being a transmission issue.
You need to get a reader on there, and see if you're getting proper fuel/air mixture. You can also do data logging to see what else is going on.
Remind me. What transmission does it have? I ask because mine had a similar issue with no power, couldn't get it over 1,500 RPM in gear. Ended up being a transmission issue.
You need to get a reader on there, and see if you're getting proper fuel/air mixture. You can also do data logging to see what else is going on.
Did you get the leaky sunroof fixed?
In this case it's not the transmission. If I pop the decklid and give it throttle manually on the throttle body it's still coughs and chokes in park.
I have an OBD2 reader for my tablet. I just don't know what to make of a lot of the numbers, to know what Is good and what's not.
I apologize for the barrage of individual posts. It's pretty hard to multi quote on a phone :-)
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 06-30-2017).]
it could be any number of things.. bad coilpack, bad wire, bad plug, bad injector, bad sensor any codes?
All the sensors are new, spark plugs wires are a year old, plugs are new as of last week. It is not throwing any codes, even after unplugging the MAP sensor.
my gut tells me a bad coilpack, icm or case learn? You can test the coil packs with a multi-meter and paper clip... might be worth a few minutes?
I just ordered 3 coil packs. With the holiday, they will not be here till Wednesday with "2 day" shipping. This is not a case of just throwing money at the problem, as I intended to get new coil packs anyways. Just sooner than planned, and rule out one thing from the get go.
As for the ICM, Don't they usually die outright? Verses works perfect at idle, and intermittent as rpms increase...
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 06-30-2017).]
Ryan emailed me, and said to unplug the MAF sensor, I misread the email, and unplugged the MAP sensor instead. I wrote him back and said I unplugged the MAP sensor, and there was no change. He said, to unplug the MAF and NOT the MAP. I told him I misread what he sent.
I just unplugged the MAF sensor, plugged back in the MAP sensor, and took it for a drive around the neighborhood. No change what so ever.
If I accelerate very slowly, and maintain accelerating slowly it will get up to speed. I had it up to 60 MPH and it was running very smoothly. If you press the gas even the slightest too much, to try to accelerate quicker, it will start popping and backfiring. It is at the point where I can JUST start to hear the whine of the super charger where it starts running very badly.
Yesterday, I pushed through the popping and backfiring, and continued to accelerate. It just gets worse, and I could see black smoke coming out of the exhaust. I then backed off the acceleration a bit, and it smoothed right out and maintained speed.
Have you checked your fuel pressure? With something so drastic normally a code would set pretty quickly. What I have seen is the hose between fuel pump and sending unit split and you would have the same issues, and a lean code would set after awhile.
Have you checked your fuel pressure? With something so drastic normally a code would set pretty quickly. What I have seen is the hose between fuel pump and sending unit split and you would have the same issues, and a lean code would set after awhile.
I have a gauge permanently attached, for now, to the fuel rail. You can see it in the photo a few posts up. It is holding steady at 50 ~ 53 PSI.
[This message has been edited by JohnWPB (edited 06-30-2017).]
I have a gauge permanently attached, for now, to the fuel rail. You can see it in the photo a few posts up. It is holding steady at 50 ~ 53 PSI.
Thats when your decklid is open and you are idling .... do you see this pressure when running on the road driving ... sound like engine starvation (gas) if ya accelerate it sputters and backfires ... not enough gas or ignition ... My V8 had the same symptoms on the highway ... at idle everything was normal.
Danyel
[This message has been edited by Danyel (edited 06-30-2017).]
Just an extreme shot in the dark, but what did you gap the plugs at?
I just recall years ago putting a supercharger on my LS1. Forgot to re-gap the plugs, idled fine but the second you were into a tiny bit of boost BAM no sparky
[This message has been edited by wgpierce (edited 06-30-2017).]
I found some stencils I made a couple years back with my dye cutter, and a half full can of metallic blue spray paint. 
