The thing is, I've wanted a Fiero for YEARS. Long story short, I think I'm ready to buy one. Now, my main concern is that the seller says there is an electrical drain on the system. The battery dies. I'll try and keep this short and concise, but I would really appreciate the professional insight that you gentleman (and women?) could provide. 1988 Fiero GT, 5sp getrag
BAD: tear in a CV boot parasitic electrical draw the vehicle is 6hr drive away (I haven't seen it in person)
GOOD: super clean no apparent rust seller is upfront about rather serious concern(s) aftermarket camshaft, rockers, ecu tuner aftermarket headers and exhaust stored in garage before current owner acquired it
1) I'm familiar with electronics and troubleshooting, but not particularly experienced (it'll probably take a very long time, but I'm sure I could figure it out). Are there any shortcuts to check for the parasitic electrical draw? Like common culprits? 2) seller was offering a $1,000 discount if I purchased with the drain. Essentially, he said he didn't have time to get to it anytime soon.
Here are a few pics of it for attention and to held categorize whether it's worth it or not:
Price? Looks like a car in pretty good shape. The electrical drain can be a pita to solve. I had one, and solved it by putting in a cutoff racing switch behind the passenger seat on the firewall. No power to anything when off. Good for theft deterrent too! About $12 at Autozone. Looking at your few pictures, if the price is fair it could be a great car. Probably worth taking the drive to go look at it.
...seller was offering a $1,000 discount if I purchased with the drain.
Saying the seller is wiling to drop the price means nothing to us if we don't know the asking price.
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Originally posted by zach99zulu:
no apparent rust
Rust won't be apparent from looking at a few images of the body. It's the rear upper frame rails that need to be checked. There used to be a particular video on YouTube that I linked to here a lot, but for some reason it has disappeared... but there are many others there to look at.
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Originally posted by zach99zulu:
CLICK FOR FULL SIZE
I'm curious about that aftermarket aluminum suspension component. Maybe someone here can identify it.
Car looks great on outside. I would insist on the owner sending you photos of the underside. it is a 35 year old car. or looking yourself. heres a thread on some pain i had by not looking under the car before buying... i doubt yours will be as bad
Battery leaches are easier to find since DC Amp Clamps got cheap now but still often eats time etc.
May have other electric problems or low battery &/or just have OE headlights that may not be halogen bulbs all can make them look dim/yellow to take pic above even w/ best cameras.
"ecu tuner" is exactly what? Depending just what is can be your battery leach because installed wrong. If just a different "chip" in OE ECM then likely only change timing etc.
some aftermarket cams may cause vacuum problems in turn affects power brake booster that needs proper vacuum @ idle & cruise to "recharge" the booster. Need to drive before buying.
Can't tell for sure from pic's above... If the car was lowered then have to watch suspension. Lowering is likely because has aftermarket rear arm shown. Many are lowered very poorly have alignment, "blown" shocks & struts, & worse problems.
------------------ 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 thing is, I've wanted a Fiero for YEARS. Long story short, I think I'm ready to buy one. Now, my main concern is that the seller says there is an electrical drain on the system. The battery dies. I'll try and keep this short and concise, but I would really appreciate the professional insight that you gentleman (and women?) could provide. 1988 Fiero GT, 5sp getrag
I'd need to know how much he's asking for it, in order to say if it's worth it or not.
On the face of it... it's a good year, well optioned, totally rust free, and good paint. Honestly... these cars are not that complicated, and there's not a whole lot going on with them. An electrical draw is probably just a failed relay.
1) I'm familiar with electronics and troubleshooting, but not particularly experienced (it'll probably take a very long time, but I'm sure I could figure it out). Are there any shortcuts to check for the parasitic electrical draw? Like common culprits? 2) seller was offering a $1,000 discount if I purchased with the drain.
You have the potential to get that discount with very little effort! It could be many things but this is the easiest to check. Have seller connect battery an hour before your arrival. When you get there, touch each headlight motor with caution. The warm one is the thousand dollar discount. If both are warm, push for another $1000. Easy replacement and new ones are still available. Spring for a pair and the odds of them raising at the same rate are improved.
Spoon
------------------ "Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne." - Kurt Vonnegut
I also have a parasitic drain that I am determined to find the cause of. But that takes time. So to give me that time I also installed a battery isolator on the Negative post (Die Hard brand knife blade style from Advance Auto). Pros: no modification or drilling required to the car. Can be easily removed in the future if the source of the battery drain is located. Very solid and well built. Cons: I had to reverse the pieces to align with my battery cable - but that was simple to do since all the parts are held together with screws (not welded). Tight fit in the battery box when tightening battery post back down since the negative post is on the right side of the battery. And finally Ihave to open rear engine lid to shut to reach and operate it since it attaches directly to the battery but I don’t have to remove the black grill cover. I might have picked a different solution if this was my daily driver but this is my weekend fun car so it is not an issue for me. Good Luck!
Thanks for all info, guys! Battery cutoff switch definitely sounds simple enough. Any disadvantages to it? Vehicle clock isn't accurate and just stuff like that? lol.
Listed for $10,000. With the drain, $9,000. I forgot how many miles. I'll update when I get that info. But I think it was a little over 100,000.
Thanks for all info, guys! Battery cutoff switch definitely sounds simple enough. Any disadvantages to it? Vehicle clock isn't accurate and just stuff like that? lol.
Listed for $10,000. With the drain, $9,000. I forgot how many miles. I'll update when I get that info. But I think it was a little over 100,000.
The car definitely looks decent enough. I think it's in good shape. It's hard to say because the cost of things has gone up exceptionally over the past couple of years, which includes used cars. So I'll say that based on what I've seen for used Fieros, this is about what you can expect for a really good condition / non super rare / non super low miles Fiero.
I think $9k is OK... you're paying what it's worth. If that helps?
To me, a six-hour drive to see a car is a 'road trip'. If you're really interested to purchase THIS car, meaning the price/condition/issues, my suggestion is to spend the time to inspect and drive it.
"On Paper" it sounds good, but in my experience, in-person often is different.......
IMHO: I enjoy 'stock' vehicles more than the aftermarket camshaft, rockers, ecu tuner, headers and exhaust.
You have the potential to get that discount with very little effort! It could be many things but this is the easiest to check. Have seller connect battery an hour before your arrival. When you get there, touch each headlight motor with caution. The warm one is the thousand dollar discount. If both are warm, push for another $1000. Easy replacement and new ones are still available. Spring for a pair and the odds of them raising at the same rate are improved.
Spoon
Headlights motors shouldn't be the cause since it is 2nd gen (88).
As for the OP, what Ogre said. I would be questioning the aftermarket rear suspension as well. Just be aware 88 suspension and brakes are specific to the 88MY and as such are a bit harder to come by, now throw in custom parts...
General rules of thumb (rule of thumbs?) when buying a used car.
1. A car that well maintained is generally going to have had regular maintenance. So less chance of mechanical failure/decline due to poor care.
2. A car with aftermarket performance parts has probably been driven hard. 20K of hard driving puts more "wear and tear" on a car than 50K of normal driving. So higher chance of mechanical failure/decline due to abusive driving.
That being said $9K sounds like a good deal if you have basic mechanic skills. I really like the wheels.
BTW is it a white car sitting in shade or is it silver. I really like white on sports cars (unless they are old enough to have chrome), but I don't see it that often.
Parasitic draw could be a stuck oil pressure sender, keeping the fuel pump energized. I've had brand new ones to stick. Easily unplugged to test.
Edit - Before you do much of anything else, pull the trunk carpet back from the "short sides" of the compartment, to see if there's any rust. This is usually where Fieros first start to rust, along with the plugs in the floorboards.
This is what the trunk sides should look like. (Some Fieros had white/yellow putty, sealing the seams, instead of black.)
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 12-01-2023).]
