Hello everyone.

My Grampy passed away last year, and left me his 1986 Fiero GT. He was a Pontiac mechanic for many many years and had two Fiero’s - a daily driver and this GT. He went to Fiero meet-ups in the Chicagoland area often, so if anyone knew Woody Chilson - then you know he was a great man!

This car is in pretty great shape, aside from a few little things like the fuel and temperature gauge not working.

My question to everyone is what would you do to begin sorting through the car? It’s been sitting in his garage for at least 4 years. It’s got a new battery and a bit of fuel in it. So far my plan is to get some fuel conditioner in there and fill the tank, double check the oil and coolant, and then start troubleshooting the gauges.

Other than those things, please give me some tips or tricks to take care of this thing. It will be garage kept and only driven in the summer. My grampy loved this car and I loved him so I want to do the best I can!

Thanks in advance!!

-Max

Welcome to the Forum!

There are a lot of resources here for you.

Car park for months to years can have water pump die soon.
Can have problems for brakes too.

Seals in them "leak" a very tiny bit to prevent rust and other problems.

New battery now or new years ago?

------------------
Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

[This message has been edited by theogre (edited 05-22-2022).]

Welcome to the Forum. It's great to see someone want to take car of a family treasure.

If this car is a manual trans you might find the clutch slave cylinder or master seals fail. I've gotten 2 Fieros now that were not driven for a while and the slave went out after just a few miles driving and the master later. With an unknown car like that I would advise you to drive locally at first ... no long trips before you've checked everything over.

I see that it's an automatic. I would drain the fluid and replace the fluid and filter in the transmission. You can lift the car, remove the fuel filter and fit a rubber hose tightly over the line from the tank. Then by jumpering the ALDL fuel pump terminal, you can pump the old fuel out of the tank. I have had a car that sat for about as long as yours and it started up and ran well on 4-year-old fuel, but there's no guarantee. Since you don't know how much fuel is in it, adding fresh fuel and stabilizer might not be enough to raise the quality sufficiently. Just in case the rings have stuck, you don't want to break them.

Even though the car has been stored inside a garage, remove the heater blower motor and the ballast resistor beside it. Be sure to clean out all debris and critter bedding that may be in there. If you connect a battery before doing this, make sure that the HVAC system button is in the OFF position. If in the ON positon, the ballast resistor can heat up and ignite any debris that is against it. The fan motor and resistor are easily removed from the front compartment.

I see something is missing that I had originally put in my response. It was that you should remove the trunk side plugs at a minimum and fog the cylinders with oil. Let it sit at least 24 hours, then just bump the starter once. Let it sit for an hour or two, then do the same again. Maybe 3 times before trying a normal start. Just in case the rights have stuck or there's some rust on the cylinder walls. You don't want to break rings at this point of resurrection.

[This message has been edited by fierofool (edited 05-23-2022).]

If your grandfather was a mechanic then we might assume that the car was cared for but all the tips here are good just in case. Fuel stabilizer works great on fresh fuel but it won't restore old fuel.

------------------
" THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, P-log Manifold, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, Champion Radiator, S10 Brake Booster, HP Tuners VCM Suite.
"THE COLUSSUS"
87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H
" ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "

I'd drain the fuel first. Then get it to fire. If it will fire reliably, then add a gallon or so. If it actually runs, check other things before adding more fuel.

My approach is to be careful about adding too much fuel just in case you need to remove the tank for any reason. Step by step.

------------------
88GT 355 CI, AED HO 750 Double Pumper, AFR milled 180, Dyno'd at 427 HP, 360 WHP, F40 6-Spd
anderson@gdsconsulting.com

Im glad you came here for advice. Welcome. We obviously love fieros and will passionately help you in any way that we can. Do not be afraid to post, within the rules of course, whatever you are needing. If you are experiencing it, it’s likely someone here has seen it. Members here have helped me in so many ways.

I strongly recommend an overall safety assessment of the vehicle before you take it on the road. At least jack it up and take a look under and around for anything obvious. Definitely look closely at those tires. We want you to be successful and not injured or have the car damaged.

While up on jack-stands, draining the tank wouldn’t be too hard, but you’d be surprised on how things will run on old fuel, although 4 years is a long time on todays gas. If you can find non ethanol premium, you can dilute some of that old gas in the tank, depending on how much you are starting with in the tank.

I echo the previous comments about fuel stabilizer not being able to freshen old fuel. The problem lies with the ethanol during into water over time I believe. Hopefully the gas tank is solid.

Overall I’d say enjoy the car! I’m sure your grandpa did. Tinker with it, learn about cars and yourself in this project, honor your grandpa.

And I’m sorry to hear about his passing. May be Rest In Peace.

Welcome aboard Max!

1986 Owners and Service Manual in PDF here:
http://fieroinfo.com/

------------------
My World of Wheels Winners (Click on links below)

3.4L Supercharged 87 GT and Super Duty 4 Indy #163