What did I break on my Fiero?

[jamesyarbrough]

When I was a teenager my family had a few fieros. My first car was a fiero, first engine change was on a fiero, etc

One thing I can tell ya is the fuel pumps are bad about going out and the aftermarket replacements suck! Reading the op I feel like its a bad fuel pump....but you cant diagnose a car over the internet.

Best way to check is to hokk up a fuel pressure gauge to the guage port on thefuel rail under the plenum.

 

[mene]

remember that it will have to idle for quite awhile because if the filter is soaked enough alcohol has to flow through the filter to absorb the water and dry it if you will. Just a thought.

 

[PF52]

Originally Posted By: gulian
If I remember correctly he said it was a pick-up for the distributor.


My own Fiero has been victim of a bad pickup coil. Its an inexpensive part but requires removal of the distributor to replace it. However, in this case it sounds like its something else.

For what its worth, I can't hear the fuel pump in my car, at all, and it works fine. And its just inches away below the center console... Yours still could be bad, but the absence of sound doesn't automatically mean its dead.

Ironically, I have a brand-new spare AC Delco fuel pump sitting here, which I bought for an issue that turned out to be an ignition problem. I barked way up the wrong tree! Fortunately I didn't waste an afternoon dropping the tank unnecessarily.

 

[GreeCguy]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
Originally Posted By: cjcride
Originally Posted By: mene
A wild guess! You mention a not so cold day right? now a very long shot but what if you had more water in the tank that the ethanol could absorb and it was frozen in the tank, today it melted and has soaked the fuel filter plugging it?
^This. Gas dryer might help.


I hadn't thought of that. Really, my gut is telling me that the $20 of gas I just put in should mean this isn't the problem (10% ethanol pump gas in NJ) it's worth a shot. I haven't got any isopropyl alcohol, but what's it going to hurt to throw one bottle of methyl alcohol in there? I'll do that now.


My only concern there is that you already have 10 percent ethanol in your tank and you simply adding more alcohol. Might that mess things up even more?

 

[jamesyarbrough]

Originally Posted By: css9450
Originally Posted By: gulian
If I remember correctly he said it was a pick-up for the distributor.


My own Fiero has been victim of a bad pickup coil. Its an inexpensive part but requires removal of the distributor to replace it. However, in this case it sounds like its something else.

For what its worth, I can't hear the fuel pump in my car, at all, and it works fine. And its just inches away below the center console... Yours still could be bad, but the absence of sound doesn't automatically mean its dead.

Ironically, I have a brand-new spare AC Delco fuel pump sitting here, which I bought for an issue that turned out to be an ignition problem. I barked way up the wrong tree! Fortunately I didn't waste an afternoon dropping the tank unnecessarily.



Does it seem to you that the OE pump is the only one thats quiet? Everyone I have ever driven (6-8) with an aftermarket pump was loud as heck. Maybe its because you are sitting so close to it...idk but the OE pump was quiet

 

[punisher]

As soon as "warm day" was mentioned, fuel pump topped The suspect list.

How I miss the dealership days waiting for that first really warm day of spring and the line of wreckers. Made the money hairs on my neck stand up.

 

[itguy08]

My bet is exhaust - sounds like the classic restricted exhaust. Any way you can disconnect it or 1/2 of it at the manifold and run it around the block. Yes it will be LOUD but if it runs well, you have your culprit.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: cjcride
Originally Posted By: mene
A wild guess! You mention a not so cold day right? now a very long shot but what if you had more water in the tank that the ethanol could absorb and it was frozen in the tank, today it melted and has soaked the fuel filter plugging it?
^This. Gas dryer might help.


I would not bother. At 10% alcohol, if the gallon or gallon and a half of alcohol cannot deal with water in the tank, then another 12 oz of gas dryer will not help.

If you did somehow get a lot of water in your gas tank you get phase separation in which case you have a layer of alcohol & water on the bottom and on top a layer of maybe 80 octane gas. The entire tank of fuel is then unusable and nothing you add can fix it. But it would take a lot of water.

 

[Donald]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
Originally Posted By: Donald
If the vehicle is driven regularly and filled at a normal gas station then I kind of doubt its the sock on the fuel pump or the fuel filter. I took off the tank my 1993 Suburban (twice) to replace a fuel pump and the only thing that was not pristine were my hands.
It gets driven at least 6 days a week for the past...well...almost a year but the previous owner had it in storage a lot as he spent a lot of time overseas. Perhaps some crud could have developed during that time?
Originally Posted By: Donald

Could someone have messed with your vehicle? Anyone name Vito looking for you? Paid all your gambling debts?
There is one person who has it in for me, yes, but I don't think she could think of a way to sabotage a car.


It is possible the E10 gas has been cleaning the tank for the past year and slowly clogging the fuel filter and maybe the sock.

To continue my Suburban story. At about the time I replaced the fuel pump the second time I could no longer take my psycho wife and left the house for several years and the Suburban was not driven for maybe 4 years. When I finally got it running, I changed the fuel filter monthly and the tank was pulled again and crud was floating in it.

 

[PF52]

Originally Posted By: jamesyarbrough
Originally Posted By: css9450

For what its worth, I can't hear the fuel pump in my car, at all, and it works fine. And its just inches away below the center console... Yours still could be bad, but the absence of sound doesn't automatically mean its dead.


Does it seem to you that the OE pump is the only one thats quiet? Everyone I have ever driven (6-8) with an aftermarket pump was loud as heck. Maybe its because you are sitting so close to it...idk but the OE pump was quiet


Yes, I think so. When I bought mine, it had an aftermarket (Airtex?) fuel pump in it. It was noisy! High-pitched whine, all the time. It didn't like hot re-starts so I dropped the tank and installed an AC Delco. Its completely quiet and has worked perfectly since 2003.

 

[yonyon]

Originally Posted By: itguy08
My bet is exhaust - sounds like the classic restricted exhaust. Any way you can disconnect it or 1/2 of it at the manifold and run it around the block. Yes it will be LOUD but if it runs well, you have your culprit.


I'm 99% sure it isn't the exhaust.

 

[notbob]

Try disconnecting the mass air flow sensor electrical connector.If that is the problem the car may fire up and run on default. Or it may not and you'll have to swap it with a known good sensor. But that seems like a pretty good heads up and it answers your 'under load' question.Hope this helps.Happy hunting!

 

[PF52]

Originally Posted By: notbob
Try disconnecting the mass air flow sensor electrical connector.If that is the problem the car may fire up and run on default. Or it may not and you'll have to swap it with a known good sensor.


Good suggestion but no Fieros had MAF. Unless someone's done a swap.

 

[yonyon]

It turns out it was the fuel pump. It now has a new pump, strainer, and filter. The engine runs and the pump is just barely loud enough to hear with the engine stopped.

Somehow I managed to break the clip that holds the float arm to the level sender without even touching it. I put a zip tie on it. Will gasoline ruin a zip tie?

 

[The_Eric]

In time, I would expect to degrade it and embrittle it.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
It turns out it was the fuel pump. It now has a new pump, strainer, and filter. The engine runs and the pump is just barely loud enough to hear with the engine stopped.

Somehow I managed to break the clip that holds the float arm to the level sender without even touching it. I put a zip tie on it. Will gasoline ruin a zip tie?

If the zip tie doesn't say it is made to handle gasoline, I would expect it to fail quickly.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: yonyon
Will gasoline ruin a zip tie?


Yes, in very short order.