Good evening,
Just thought I would get on and say hello; I have been creeping around reading all your good tips and stories so i registered today. A couple Fridays ago I bought a new daily driver that looks to have always been registered in GA. My first Fiero was a daily driver too but it was also the car that got me back and forth to work on the weekends. I lived in CherryPoint NC and worked in Pax River MD. So my last Fiero was an 1984 Ttop 4 cyl 4 speed manual (well my memory says 4 speed) hmm. I sold that car to a friend before I left NC in 2003 to move to GA. I brought a 1974 CJ5 here with me and sold that and got a 2000 Camaro - got a bigger boat and sold the camaro to get a bigger truck (I like the way my wife thinks). so this truck of mine gets about 11MPG so I decided to get another fuel economy car: Civic - nope: miata nope: Corolla- nope: they just were not that fun to drive - And then it hit me - I wanted my fiero back. so began the craiglist search. There is a Red one in dalton GA I liked - and an 88 gt still for sale. I chose a metalic blue 85GT it was in pretty good condition; no rust, the last owner had it 12 years and didnt really want to sell his first car. It needs little TLC in places but very driveable.
Thats the first part of my introduction. I look forward to chatting I have lots to ask and learn about again.
On to my issues - I will list what I found today while just lifting the car to bleed the Brakes:
So I was just under the car at a friends garage to bleed the brakes; and we found a few more issues i didnt know about: found that the bleeders for the front caliper are way too tight and I cannot bleed the brakes unless I use a braker bar on the bleeder valves and thats not quite right; one in the rear is broken off but the calipers look new. hopefully I can find some bleeder valves that fit before my next attempt.
So why not look around since I have it on the lift...
-Random Coolant leak forward side of engine near water pump but doesnt apear to be leaking until after the car is off. (known issue at purchase and had a dealer pressurize the system no leak (two weeks ago) - cant find any leak. well until today it poured out right after pulled on to his lift and I shut off. still a mystery cannot pinpoint the location going to have to R&R the Water pump im sure just to trouble shoot.) Well I thought better of that and am looking to R&R the Thermostat housing and all the parts under that before I go pulling the water pump off.
- Left Engine mount looks like it is coming apart; i didnt get the chance to look at the right one.
- there is a little shock on the forward engine cradle, and it seems to have the wrong size bolt holding it on, it is going all the way through and touching the oil filter now; i found it because it was almost all the way backed out. So I spun it back in against the oil filter and drove home. have to get the right size bolt for that one.
- the last owner replaced all bushings with Poly but skipped one area - so he gave me the extra (left lower control arm) two and now thats on the list too before the alignment. (know any good place for the aligment? I hear they are a bear to get right if you have never dealt with a fiero.)
- I am running a little rich - And the EGR valve has been broken off - I am Replacing that valve - the old one may be wide open all the time. who knows the tops missing. ( havent even began to verify the timing just noting the obvious.) RPMs solid 900-1000 hardly any surging either.
- Seems to be getting to the Closed loop too; things I know. Thermostat (185) Fan switch ( 176) (had the thermomaster chip in it but he kept that.) I think thats a good thing. It reads that the op temp is right at 165 (doesnt sound right but RPMs are at 950 - if it wasnt in closed loop I would expect higher right?
- found some replacement seats for cheap on Craigslist R&Rd the drivers bottom for one not broken I have extra tracks now and seats to toy with. current seats have speakers in them - those are fun jsut need a little more mid range some day.
I know this seems like I am focusing on all the bad. - well if the bad wasnt there I would just be driving it to and from work and I would not be typing on the forum cause I have a perfect Fiero.
- Did I say I miss being a Mechanic - well my former life I worked on KC-130 aircraft - today a lot more paperwork and a lot less maintenance.
Anyway glad to be here. if I can get the show stoppers figured out I will try to get the wife to make the run with the GA club to NC.
Randy of Acworth, GA
