In the last installment we had managed to uplift the Fiero’s appearance but now it was time to move on to some of the mechanical concerns. The overhaul of the oily bits started well, then took a bit of a wild (and somewhat self inflicted) turn.
First up was a new battery, which our neighbor was able to source for a good price for my son. After the battery was installed we were able to test all the electrical components in depth, as well as take the car for a very brief shakedown run. Next up was an oil change which was a fairly straightforward process. My son had helped perform one on our previous Toyota Tercel so he was familiar with the basic steps. Oddly, the pile of spare parts included a brand new oil filter which did not fit the Fiero. The spark plugs and wires looked quite new so they were left alone. The engine bay was not all that dirty but was given a clean to get it better looking. I have always thought the intake manifold on these Fiero V6 engines is quite attractive.
Not my photo but sourced from http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum9/HTML/000004.html
After the oil change was complete it was time to check all the other fluids. First up was coolant, which looked okay. Brake fluid was the same. Then disaster struck when checking the transmission oil level. To do this on the four speed transmission you have to unplug the electrical connection to VSS (speed sensor), unbolt it and pull it out. It contains a gear wheel and a dipstick. When I pulled out the one on the Fiero it came out with a bit of a pop and dropped the plastic gear wheel into the gearbox oil where it floated for half a second before disappearing into the depths of the box itself. Unfortunately, various grabber tools failed to retrieve it. After a bit of research I realized this had happened to a few other people as well. The general consensus was that one could either a) drop the gearbox to retrieve the gear wheel or b) buy a new one and let the plastic gear wheel be ground up by the transmission. The replacement part was said to be extremely cheap. So we went with option b) and a test drive. The gearbox oil level was just fine, as an additional insult.
The test drive ended quickly with the Fiero building up temperature before heading into the red on the gauge. After some diagnosis we determined that the coolant had been filled improperly, and the new looking thermostat was frozen shut. To properly fill the Fiero with coolant, one needs to take out the thermostat, fill the system at the thermostat housing (at the engine end), run the car for a minute, check the level at the thermostat housing repeating those steps until it stays full. The oddities of having a radiator at one end and the engine at the other, I guess. We did this with fresh coolant since it was likely due to be changed. In addition while the radiator fan would come on if I bypassed the switch, it never seemed to be triggered by the switch installed into the engine block itself. A quirk of the Fiero is that the switch does not trigger the cooling fan until it hits the red on the temperature gauge. My son’s car did not even seem to do this. There is a bit of a debate in the Fiero community if a lower temperature switch from another GM car is beneficial, with some claiming it mucks up the fuel injection computer. I ordered a slightly lower temperature switch which was more expensive than the stock one, but seemed worth it. My son sourced and installed a new thermostat that did open and close. The thermostat itself has a bit of extension on it to retrieve when passed down the neck of the housing.
The coolant was filled correctly and with the new thermostat this appeared to cure the general overheating issue, which was good timing as we were hit with a bit of a heat wave. I hoped the new switch would bring it back to perfect operating condition. When the new “lower temperature” switch arrived, it did work but only when the temperature was into the red range of the gauge or higher. Ugh. To fix this I wired in a manual override switch such that either this manual switch or the temperature controlled one would kick it on. Initially I used whatever I had lying around in a crude proof of concept. This worked a treat so we could buy and secure a proper switch. I suspect one of the reasons the previous owner gave up on the car was this overheating, judging by all the new cooling parts the car had including a nice looking radiator.
Before driving too much, we would need tires first to replace the very old and cracked ones on it. There are a limited number of places to buy 14″ tires these days so we went to a certain Canadian chain that sells tires. Unfortunately, when my son brought it home the car made a clunking sound from the rear passenger side when going around right hand corners. I did a bit of troubleshooting that led to swapping the rear tire sides. This meant the noise happened when turning around left corners now so it was obviously an issue with the tires. I also noticed a rather large and fresh scratch across our newly sourced hood. They also ripped out all my temporary (and admittedly ugly) wiring for the fan override switch for some unknown reason. Due to it being a weekend we had to wait a couple days for them to re-look at the car. Amusingly, when we picked it up the service advisor showed us some wheel weights, looked at us accusingly while stating “this was found inside the tire.” Ummm … yeah … that was exactly part of the job we paid you to do. Sigh. At least the tires were now safe to drive on. Next time they get four rims not a whole car.
We redid the wiring work for the switch which now looked at least 75% less ugly. I used a spare Ikea bracket for mounting it. I have previously used these brackets for motorcycle turn signal relocation and on the wing for the pig themed Toyota Tercel so they are certainly handy.
I attempted to order the gear wheel but discovered it was discontinued and out of stock. A Fiero used parts yard in Michigan would have had one but sadly had flooded and closed. I certainly should have verified availability before driving. We drained the transmission oil and were able to get a single chunk out so at least I had a visual reference to compare to. The race was on to source a new gear wheel in order to get the speedometer working again.
Maybe they might have some here.
https://www.jegs.com/p/TCI/TCI-Speedometer-Gears-and-Accessories/762271/10002/-1
This one might fit, but I’m not sure.
https://www.jegs.com/i/TCI/890/880036/10002/-1
I agree- The four speed in your 85 GT was built by Muncie, so this gear may work.
I was going to suggest an upgrade to a 5-speed, but while the internet shows many V6 4 speeds available, the five speed is a much rarer bird.
Gotta love bringing one’s car in for some work. I learned my lesson back in 1977 which is why I now do all my work, of any type, on my cars. Still only a few things I need to bring a car in for. One is an exhaust system and the other tires. My exhaust shop, dating back to the 70s, allowed me to be right there and under the car if need be. Sadly Covid ended their run two months ago and the place is now up for sale. They did my Polara, Park Lane, F100, Cougar and Mustang to my exact specs. Bummer.
As for tires I am always just outside the garage door watching the car when tires are put on the entire time and make sure they know I am watching. Many a time I have had to intervene at the end when they start to torque the wheels and use what they think is correct when I ask. I quote my FSM, they might disagree, I quote my FSM again and they then do it my way.
Yes, the hardest part about outsourcing a repair is finding a shop that will 1) competently do what you ask it to, 2) not do what you don’t ask it to and 3) if something else needs done explain what and why (and maybe how) at a level I can handle, and not as might be appropriate with a 3 year old kid. Once you find one of those shops, treasure it like gold.
I just gave up on probably 30 months of credit on a battery warranty because the local Pep Boys that sold the oddball size for my Honda Fit has stopped selling parts and is doing only service now. I entertained the thought of having them change the battery for about 9 seconds. I finally took the advice on the forums and cut down my battery tray to accept a larger size that I could buy for half the price from Costco and install myself.
I am having trouble adjusting to a world where parts for 80s cars are unobtainium because of their age. That is not just a problem for stuff older than me anymore. And thank the Good Lord for the forums!
“I am having trouble adjusting to a world where parts for 80s cars are unobtainium because of their age”
I think in this case the issue is the four speed manual. If David had the much more common automatic, drive gears are still available.
That is indeed correct. Some of the trim parts are hard to find but that is pretty common.
Same thing for even still-ubiquitous 90s vehicles. The throttle cable for a 95-97 3.0 V6 Ranger is simply not made by anyone. Tires are surprisingly expensive – $100 each for the 225/14/70, but only $60 for the 215s. Exhausts are tricky, too. You have to try to buy the individual parts, especially the longer midpipe as no one really sells a kit. Rockauto helpfully sells a “kit” that’s just a macro in their system that orders the available individual parts from it’s different warehouses.
One of the benefits of living in a small town is that the bad operators have nowhere to hide, and don’t last once the bush telegraph gets going. Several times one shady place had a sudden change of ownership. All the local mechanics we have experience with are top-notch. One was something of a Diamante connoisseur/guru/whatever, and knew where to source ‘obsolete’ parts and how to fix any problem that car ever had.
Finding a good tire guy is critical. My guy is a third generation tire shop owner-the best. Small shop, honest with no nonsense. I made the mistake last year of going to BJs for my wife’s Edge. Thankfully they have big windows looking into the bay. I watched the “tech/manager” bang enough weights on the outside of the right rear alloy rim to give the Normandie a 30 degree list. After I stepped into the shop (big no-no) and politely informed him that 1.) I asked for stick on weights inside the rim to keep my clear coat intact and keep the rim from corroding and 2. Any tire that needs that much weight to balance is defective I was told that’s not the case- my rim was bad. I suggested to him that’s bullshit and get another tire from stock, which he did as the store manager watched. It balanced out perfectly and I was on my way never to return.
Since I trust my neighborhood mechanic, who’s honest and does things right the first time, when I need tires, I order them online from either TireRack or TireBuyer and have them shipped to him. He mounts and balances the tires (for a reasonable fee of course) and I have no problems.
I hate tire stores anymore, and hate is a strong word I almost never use.
If you have a trusted mechanic for that which you can’t handle yourself, this is the way to go. Most times, tires are cheaper online than at the tire store, so with that savings, you can pay the guy you trust to put them on.
Ugh, Crappy Tire. Were they ever any better than a bunch of goofs selling trinkets and junk with a side gig in incompetent, hamfisted automotive “service”? If so, it was long before my time; as long as I’ve known them they’ve been sort of a 5/8-scale Wal-Mart/Harbor Freight/Pep Boys wannabe, yet still big enough to form a quasi-monopoly.
Oy vey. Same ol’ GM, full o’ laffs.
Sadly Daniel, CTC has been a purveyor of the cheapest merchandise, auto-related products, and auto service, for over 50 years. My dad used to warn me about them in the 70s, from his experiences in the 50s and 60s. I’ve had two mechanic friends who worked there, suggesting to never take my car there. They’ve catered for decades to the one time use, and the product gets tossed consumers.
Ah yes, good old CTC is the training ground for recently graduated mechanics, or recently fired ones. When my father in law had his own shop he did good business fixing their mistakes.
Glad to see you’re making progress, albeit halting progress.
‘Albert’ grew up to own a Canadian Tire franchise.
This may be a stretch…but can you 3D print the gear? Extrapolate the size of it from the piece you have with a CAD and have the computer do it that way?
The gear is nylon so yeah it could be 3D printed with a quality machine and of course creating the 3D model. I know there are places that will print your project and I’m betting there are places that will 3D scan the remaining piece and create the model based on that. However I’m sure it wouldn’t be cheap.
Had some interesting repair gaffs done over the years. Ford dealer replaced a fuel pump in a newer F250. My operator picked it up, stopped to fuel it on the way back home, had gas running on the ground as soon as he started fueling it. The meatheads forgot to reinstall the filler neck hose onto the tank. Had another unit that had the front end smashed. Body shop fixes it, shows up in our shop maybe 6 months later. Our mechanic notices a bungee cord wrapped around the fan shroud and running over to the frame. What the H### is this. Operator’s response ” fan rubs the shroud, now it doesn’t. Problem was no bolts in the front clip mounts. Those chain cut rate body shops were the worst. As a mechanic, shop supervisor and fleet manager for my entire 42 year career I could write a pretty good size book on all the screw ups I’ve seen.
I learned about Canadian tire early in life. My mom’s best friend had them replace the standard transmission in her Dodge coronet. She said as soon as she moved it didn’t seem right. Went around the block and back.
Told her she “was just being a fussy female” and it was fine. Called my Dad halfway home. He went to the rescue.
Yeah it was fine alright… except they had forgotten to put the fluid in it!
So I’m guessing that the two parts cars that were in the wrecking yard are either crushed, have automatics or are already missing the gear?
I would think that it would be the same family of gears used in the X body applications, though again it isn’t like those are plentiful in wrecking yard either.
This is one of those instances where the parts puller program at Row 52 would be a good fit or look for the wrecking yards at car-part.com that ship. They won’t list the speedo gear but you can search for cars with the proper 4sp transmission.
It looks like fierostore has the speed sensor gear you’re after: https://www.fierostore.com/Product/Detail.aspx?s=61031%20%20%20%20%20PURPLE&d=373&p=1
I have dropped that gear as well an was able to fish it out after a long an frustrating period with a piece of copper wire. I thought it was gone forever but I some how got it hooked an pulled it up , I have haven’t checked the fluid level since. This was a 5 speed in a 88 I have .
Maybe that was the intent with this design: “We can’t prevent you checking the fluid, but we bet we can prevent you checking it ever again.”