Gold 86 GT Needs Service/For Sale

[Fierofool]

My Minister friends Gold 86GT 5-speed is still sitting at the garage, untouched since I returned it to them.  Prior to my working on it, the garage had charged him somewhere around $800 when he took it in for a tuneup.  They said it had a vacuum leak and pulled the intake manifolds off to replace gaskets.  Since then, it appears that it's only running on 3 cylinders.  The garage says they haven't had time to correct the problem they caused, nor do they know what the problem is.

He is looking to sell the car as is, or is also willing to let one of our members try to diagnose the problem.  I believe it has something to do with the wiring underneath the plenum, but I didn't want to get into it that far and have the garage put the blame on me.  He is now deciding that the garage isn't interested in making the car right.

Anyone interested in taking on this project?  The car only has about 70,000 miles, and has been well taken care of, so I know the problem isn't in the engine.  I don't believe the car had a vacuum leak in the intake manifolds, either.  Everything works on the car and while I had it, I rebuilt the headlight motors and replaced the limiter switches in both.  There were several other things I addressed, but don't remember what they were. 

Roger, Ron, Raydar, you guys are the electric gurus.  Either of you interested?  The car can be delivered to you. 

[pgackerman]

I'll ask for them.  How $$$?

[Fierofool]

I've been trying to get a price for years but he's stuck on dealer prices.  It's come down to wanting the car to not go to waste so he's willing to come down.  In our conversation today, I did find out that he won't take $3000 as-is.  I think the car could bring $4000 in a private sale and I suspect the problem might be something that would only require fixing without putting money into it.  I know it's not mechanical. 

[f85gtron]

I'll take a stab at it. Is this a paying job, or do you want us to walk you through it?

My first thought is like yours, they probably disturbed and punched a wire to the injectors.

[Fierofool]

It would be a paying job but hopefully not at standard shop rates.  When I had it, I could pull 1, 3, and 5 without getting a change in the sound of the engine.  2, 4, and 6 would cause an audible skip.  All the plugs had fire and that's what puzzled me.  The garage reported that 1, 3, and 5 were getting fuel because the plugs smelled of gasoline.  I tested compression and they were all up around 150.  I also saw the garage check and they got comparable readings. 

[Raydar]

As a quick check...
One bank of injectors (I forget which, but it's in the manual, if you have one handy) also shares a fuse with the EGR solenoid. If the solenoid shorts out, it will kill one bank of injectors, too.
Unplug the EGR solenoid and check/replace the fuses. (I believe they are labeled INJ1 and INJ2)

It could easily be something else, but that's the first thing I'd check.
Since the EFI is batch fire (or "bank fire") there are two injector circuits, It's possible that one of the injector drivers in the ECM is blown. If you want to check the injectors, remember that 12V is constant (through the INJ fuses) and the ECM actually switches ground, to fire the injectors.

[Fierofool]

I did check the injector fuses as well as all the other fuses and nothing was blown.  I didn't substitute my spare ECM to test that, though. 

[f85gtron]

Bust out the ohm meter and check for continuity. That's what will show the problem, starting with the injector paths.

[pgackerman]

Paul's Fiero price guide says a good, well equipped PM/PDL/etc '86 GT is worth (max) $3050. 

That's if it's running well...

[Fierofool]

I understand that, but he feels his car is worth more.  I've been trying to buy this car since I first found it languishing away in a carport back around 2001.  It took over 5 years to get him to put it back on the road.  While I could afford it, he'd never give me a price and wasn't sure he wanted to sell it.  Now that I can't afford it, he is willing to sell. 

It is a nice car and he's taken good care of it.  Every time this garage has told him he needed something, he had them do the work.  Thousands of dollars.  Probably much of it unneeded.  But he trusted the garage.  Now, he's beginning to open his eyes.

Heck, I don't think I'd take less than 3k for my 87.