My '88 Fiero - The Never-Ending Saga

[Drewbdo]

Well, a little at a time, it's coming along.

[GTRS Fiero]

Very slóooooooooowly.

[GTRS Fiero]

I read somewhere that the 4.9 with the Ocelot exhaust was too quiet.  Raydar's post, IIRC.

I will have Rodney's cat, and a Spintech muffler.  Any idea how that will sound?

[Drewbdo]

I read somewhere that the 4.9 with the Ocelot exhaust was too quiet.  Raydar's post, IIRC.

No... my car, which won't run... that's "too quiet". lol

[GTRS Fiero]

Yeah, I want to hear mine, but not share the sound with too many people at once.

[GTRS Fiero]

Well, it does drive under its own power, but it has no power.  I think it's in the wrong gear.  All the shift points are wrong.  It idles fine in park, but seems to have a miss when put into drive.  It falls on its face over 1,500 RPM.

Any ideas?  The suggestion of a bad coil pack has been floated.

Edit: And I think it's the wrong VSS.

[Roger]

Where is the timing set?

[Fierofool]

Sounds like the timing was set without jumpering the ALDL.

[GTRS Fiero]

Thank you both.  I'll have him check.

[f85gtron]

If dis, then no mechanical timing.....only in programming. Do you have a copy of the .bin that you could post?  I could look at it to make sure the spark settings are correct.

[GTRS Fiero]

Yes, DIS.  No, .bin.  Ryan G. did the programming, so in theory...

I think we may have figured it out.  I'm exhausted.  Will test theory later.

[f85gtron]

If the timing sensor wiring is reversed, or not twisted enough, you may experience the same symptoms as you're describing.

[f85gtron]

Is it a 2.8?  If so, how's the timing sensor rigged up?

[GTRS Fiero]

Well, it's a 3.4, now, but sshhhh.  I'm saving that for the reveal, so don't tell anybody.  LOL!

I don't know how it's hooked up.  It's in Texas.  I'm not.  I've been working through this with the guy doing the work.  I guess I'm the type of customer who gets charged extra for "helping".  Actually, as long as things were going well, I just asked for pics and updates, which was in the contract.  Now that completion is almost a month past schedule, and I've had to reschedule pickup twice, well, I'm ready to drive my Fiero.

This project was started almost 3 years ago with planning, getting info, gathering parts, etc.  Getting good info was a difficulty, partly because there is conflicting information, and it was difficult to get answers to direct questions.  I got a lot of "it should work, but YMMV", and "Well, the only way to know is to try it", and "Hmmm.  Let me know how that works", and the like.  Some of the info out there is completely wrong.  The hardest part was finding someone who could and would do the work.  A local guy pulled out on me, because I'm doing "the most boring swap known to man".  A guy in Chicago who owns a shop would never get back with me, and wouldn't give me prices on anything, just saying that he'd charge me whatever he paid.  For someone who's done this work many times, that's disturbing.  He couldn't source a transmission.  I'd tried oldjoedad, but we didn't really get anywhere.  I don't remember what happened, but I think that fell through because the local guy was supposed to do the work.  The guy in Texas has done the same work he's doing with mine on several Fieros.  I drove one of them.  Mine is the second '88, though.  So far, this guy has been correct about the things that needed to be done.  Really, my only complaint is his time management.  We're going on 7 months for something he expected to get done in 3 weeks.  But, it sat untouched for 4 months.  Not that he did nothing.  He got the transmission and some parts I hadn't picked up, like an AC compressor.  Then his baby was born.  Next comes Round-Up.  Things would be so much easier if I were nearby, but I'm not.  Now, I'm hoping I have it back before Fierorama.

[f85gtron]

One more thing, the vss signal might be a 24000 ppm signal and the ecm may be expecting a 4000k signal. Over 4 so mph, the ecm thinks you're hitting 255mph and cuts fuel and spark. To test, unplug the vss and drive. If normal, the problem is the program, if not, then another problem.