Someone shoot the designer of this ignition system...

The Dark Side of Will · Tue Oct 23, 2007 6:50 pm

Got the plug wires on in the right order? New O2 sensor?

Turning the engine is pretty easy with the right size socket and a breaker bar. I think you can even do it with the car on the ground... Just get the right tools for the job and you won't have as much reason to bitch.

Xanth · Post by **Xanth** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:13 pm

With the right tools rotating the engine is not a problem, its an easy procedure. Just pull the plugs and put a socket wrench or breaker bar on there.

Don't think about how hard its going to be, just do it.

Falcon4 · Post by **Falcon4** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:38 pm

"I think you can even do it with the car on the ground"? Well, it's no airplane, and I'm no muscle man (nor am I Bill Gates with billions of dollars to burn), so on the ground it is for me.

At any rate, the plug wires were VERY MUCH the problem! Every one "broke off" as I was pulling them off, leaving the connector on the plug, the wire slipping right out. Except one of the plugs on the back (the hard to reach one) - it just crumbled apart, boot and all. I found a wire literally broken apart, not even barely making contact with the other end of the wire. I pull the rest of that connector off and put the new wire on, start it up... and guess what? It purrs again :thumbleft:

So, for 14 bucks (yesh, I got the supercheapies, but at least now I know the symptoms), plus a new air filter ('cuz I felt like it and I haven't changed it since I bought the car), I have an 18mpg rocket once again. Woo!

Thanks to everyone for the help!

ps: Also ended up getting a dreaded "SES" light shortly after mentioning not having gotten one. Good ol' code 32, EGR problem. Turned out that a hose came unplugged, which I caught while messing with the plug wires. Yay for under-hood work! :thumbleft:

Mach10 · Post by **Mach10** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:14 pm

Falcon4 wrote:I kinda stopped reading seriously after step #1, the whole "rotate" part. You know, like people think car engines have this huge propeller on the end of them that you can just grab, and "turn" to any desired position. I take it you haven't seen a 2.hate in a while? Er, like, how impossible it is to turn those fuckers? Didn't we go over that on Old Europe with the whole head gasket, valve lash, whatever crap? I just tapped the starter because that shaft was going nowhere fast.

Those instructions were on the assumption that you weren't 3/4 through massive course of chemotherapy, and still had the strength to lift your head off your pillow.

My apologies. :salute:

Oh - and yeah, I already did all the whole distributor-rebuilding thing a few thousand miles ago. And I timed it, and screwed it down tight (because I went through so much hell getting it timed right the last time). It's also got a "new" block (it seems), so it doesn't run THAT bad, or need "wood blocks holding up the engine" ghettorigging QUITE yet

Which you failed to mention--no worries, at least it's been done.

Falcon4 · Post by **Falcon4** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:02 am

To remove pests from your house, simply pick up the house, shake out the pests, and set it back on its foundation, making sure to realign the posts with the holes in the ground. :salute:

Starlite528 · Post by **Starlite528** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:10 am

Haha, congragurations on successfully fixing your problems. Learn from my mistakes

For once I feel like I actually know a little about repairing a car from previous experience, rather than reading in a book or whatever.

When I pulled the old wires, I had the same grabbage happen, with them falling apart and such.

The only gigs left on my car are the EGR tube, the rearview mirror, the front license plate bracket, cracked dash (the far passenger side air vent), peeling and cut up console plastic, almost totally destroyed driver seat upholstery, right/rear speaker, cork gaskets on the rocker arm covers, the paint job, cracked left headlight, headlight motors, police siren, shocks, coolant fan/temp switch, A/C compressor/hoses, car alarm, fuel gauge, etc.

Falcon4 · Post by **Falcon4** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 6:31 am

LOL at the "only" things left

I think my car's remaining priorities are...
1) Cough up the $100 to have Dickman's adjustable upper ball joints installed (it's needed a major adjustment since I got the damn car and you should hear the response I get out of mechanics doing an alignment!)
2) Oil change - about 500 miles overdue at 3,000...
3) Find a solution to my massively off-balanced injectors - back when I was a mechanic n00b (n00bier than I am now... <.<), I replaced one single (bad) injector with a brand new injector for 100 bucks. It doesn't run bad but reading about how the ECM fires injectors in groups and whatnot, I'm left thinking of how much a dumbass I was to put this (probably) high-flowing, fast-responding injector in a bunch of old ones. Now, to find a way to resolve that... (*reading Fiero online service guide*)
4) Everything else cosmetic and whatnot, like the goddamn passenger window screeching bloody murder whenever I roll it up (silent going down, though, hmm), the damage from the February accident, etc...

Just a "few" things.

Mach10 · Post by **Mach10** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 11:20 am

Falcon4 wrote:LOL at the "only" things left

I think my car's remaining priorities are...
1) Cough up the $100 to have Dickman's adjustable upper ball joints installed (it's needed a major adjustment since I got the damn car and you should hear the response I get out of mechanics doing an alignment!)

I hate balljoints. This is the only item that I will consistantly just have a mechanic do. :cussing:

2) Oil change - about 500 miles overdue at 3,000...

Overdue, but not end-of-the-world over-due... Don't stress about it, just find 30m to do it.

3) Find a solution to my massively off-balanced injectors - back when I was a mechanic n00b (n00bier than I am now... <.<), I replaced one single (bad) injector with a brand new injector for 100 bucks. It doesn't run bad but reading about how the ECM fires injectors in groups and whatnot, I'm left thinking of how much a dumbass I was to put this (probably) high-flowing, fast-responding injector in a bunch of old ones. Now, to find a way to resolve that... (*reading Fiero online service guide*)

If the replacement injector was to OEM spec, then it shouldn't pose a serious problem--as long as the others are still working at any kind of decent rate. At least, not much of a problem in a stock motor with stock compression, with stock intakes... you get the idea...

Check your spark-plugs; as long as each one of them is more-or-less the same color of light-to-medium brown, you're doing fine. Be concerned if one of them is significantly lighter than the others (or darker)

4) Everything else cosmetic and whatnot, like the goddamn passenger window screeching bloody murder whenever I roll it up (silent going down, though, hmm), the damage from the February accident, etc...

Just a "few" things.

Welcome to the wonderful world of dew-wipes. I'm willing to bet that in the right light, you're starting to see fine vertical scratches in the window... Those are a royal pain in the ASS to replace.

There's a trick to it, I'm sure, but I'm useless at it.

lucky · Post by **lucky** » Thu Mar 13, 2008 11:11 pm

3) Find a solution to my massively off-balanced injectors - back when I was a mechanic n00b (n00bier than I am now... <.<), I replaced one single (bad) injector with a brand new injector for 100 bucks. It doesn't run bad but reading about how the ECM fires injectors in groups and whatnot, I'm left thinking of how much a dumbass I was to put this (probably) high-flowing, fast-responding injector in a bunch of old ones. Now, to find a way to resolve that... (*reading Fiero online service guide*)

Here's your solution to $100 injectors. Don't mention "Fiero" at the parts store. Say you've got a 91 corsica with a 3.1. Both Standard and GP Sorenson list their replacement injector for the corsica as an alternate cross for the stock injector in the fiero. Both were Bosch from the factory, same external physical dimensions, same wiring connector. The only physical difference i've seen is the retaining clip that comes on their fiero injector, which is a clip i've never seen on a fiero anyway.
When I bought mine they were $55 each at AAP.