My 1986 GT (4-spd manual)¶

This page is to just keep a running log of all the things I've done to my Fiero, and things I'm currently fixing.

Ongoing¶

CAD drawings for speaker vents, airbox
Fixing single ghost wipe
Upgrading oil pressure sender
Cracked taillight lenses
Tie rods/ends, then alignment
Bluetooth FieroALDL

April 2026¶

I wired in a Viofo A229 Plus dashcam, it has both a front cam and a separate rear cam mounted just below the third brake light. I have the same model in my other car, and it works great.

February 2026¶

I couldn't find any information about the transmission oil drain plug crush washer, and mine was cracked and leaking. So I drew one up in FreeCAD and 3D printed it in ABS, and its been working great, no leaks. It also took me a while to hunt down the fact that the trans oil drain plug torque spec is 25 ft/lbs.

October 2025¶

I replaced the PCV valve, valve cover grommets, and fuel filter (preventative maintenance).
I replaced the rearview mirror because it had become foggy, and the passenger side mirror as it was cracked from before I got it.

September 2025¶

The Fiero's driver side rear caliper seized one night while driving home, so I had to limp it home. Turns out the e-brake cable had become so rusted that it wasn't disengaging the e-brake even after letting the handle down. I decided that it was time to get started on replacing the entire rear braking system while I was at it. I replaced left and right e-brake cables, brake hoses, rotors, pads, and calipers. I also bled the brake system with completely new fluid, and then did the clutch system too while I was at it. This all made a night and day difference with the brakes, as they no longer felt rock hard.

May 2025¶

I dropped the transmission to replace the clutch (and other clutch related parts, bearings, axle seals) in my apartment parking lot. It took me about a week with a buddy, a pair of jack stands, and 2 floor jacks. It was the hardest repair job that I'd ever done at this point. I also got the flywheel resurfaced. While everything was out, I also did the trans/engine mounts, rear main seal, timing cover gasket, and CV axles. This fixed the issues I had getting the clutch to fully disengage, but interestingly enough it did not fix the rattling noise during left turns.

Under Construction

April 2025¶

I put in the Competitive Short Throw Shifter from Rodney Dickman. That thing is amazing, it made my Fiero quite a bit more fun to drive. Some say it adds shifting effort but I greased everything and keep my transmission and shifter well adjusted and I really don't feel like it added much shifting effort.

October 2024¶

The heater core exploded when I was out running errands, so I replaced it with one from The Fiero Store and haven't had any issues.
I wanted to get cruise control working but the wiring was cut inside the stalk, so I replaced it with Cruise Control Stalk APDTY 50397 on Amazon and got cruise control working.
I replaced the radiator fan motor after it developed a loud whine.
I snatched a Chime Unit 10037040 from a junkyard, and got chimes working to remind me to turn off the lights.
I tried replacing the capacitors on the wiper motor control board (per the online community) to fix an issue where the wipers would wipe just once, every time the car turned on. It did not fix the issue. I even tried wiring in a switch to stop this from happening, but that didn't work either. Now I just leave the wiper motor unplugged unless needed, as it doesn't rain often in Utah.

September 2024¶

Somehow the thermostat got crushed, so I replaced it.
To help with bad engine performance, I tried replacing the O2 Sensor. This made it run so much worse! Turns out the exhause manifold gaskets were completely blown out, and were letting fresh oxygen come in which caused the O2 sensor to erroniously read very lean. After pulling the manifolds off to replace gaskets, I found that the previous owner had broken off one of the studs on the back side of the engine. I spent 3 months trying to get in there to drill it out, but even with the subframe tilted, I was unable to get it out via welding, and I couldn't get a drill in there to drill it out. I was a college student with no garage and limited budget, so I just had to leave it be. The solution was to just leave the O2 sensor unplugged, to force it to just use factory programmed values. Not ideal, but better than before.
After driving long distances, the engine would just sputter, die, and not come back on no matter what. After lots of trial and error, I found out that when my Ignition Coil would heat up on long drives, it would quit and I'd get no spark. I replaced it and haven't had any issues on long drives since.

August 2024¶

I found out that a previous owner had wired the Fiero for remote entry and power locks, but when I bought it, it didn't come with any fobs. So I found a cheap $15 remote key entry system on Amazon that had the exact same connectors, and dropped the main controller right in. I hooked the horn to the lights instead (the horn was way too loud), and wired up the trunk so that I can open the trunk with just the remote. To this day, it's one of the most handy things I've done to my Fiero.
I needed it to pass emissions before I could get it registered. Thankfully, someone had already put in the new hardline vacuum line kit to replace most of the rubber lines, so I replaced the few remaining ones that were still rubber. I took apart and cleaned the EGR solenoid as those things are unobtainium and after that, it passed! No more EGR errors.
I had some lack of engine power issues, so I replaced all the spark plugs, plug wires, cap, and distributor. That made it run marginally better, but those things all needed replacing anyways.
To help narrow down the clutch issues, I replaced the trans fluid with Pennzoil Syncromesh. From that day, the transmission has made a weird clanking noise when taking left turns. I go on to spend $$$ trying to fix this noise to no avail.
The alternator failed quite violently, and shredded the serpentine belt in the process. So the Fiero got a new Duralast Gold alternator and new belt.
The interior trunk release switch had a plastic piece inside of it finally give way, and superglue couldn't save it. Got a new one from The Fiero Store.
On the way home from work, the factory Clutch Slave Cylinder Bracket suddenly failed and left me (almost) stranded. I was THANKFULLY near a road that was downhill, so I rolled it in neutral to the top of the hill, stopped, put it in first gear and turned the key. It took a while but eventually it got enough speed to fire up and I made it home. A new bracket from The Fiero Store fit in great and is made of a different material, I believe.
I got FieroADLD working, and was able to see raw values for all the sensors. I found out that the Manifold Air Temp Sensor and the Idle Air Control Valve were both bad, and replaced them.
As my sail panels were both broken, I got new ones and bolted them in instead of using 3M tape. I think they work great even though they don't look as good.
I took apart the headlight motors, and rebuilt them with hot glue. So far, they've been holding up great.

July 2024¶

I bought my Fiero on Facebook Marketplace for $1,400! It was love at first sight. I drove it about 100 miles home alone, and it took me close to 3 hours as this was my first experience with a manual vehicle.

Some of the first things I worked on as soon as I got it home:

Oil change. Always the first thing I do with a new car. I also topped off all other fluids to see if anything might be leaking.
Fire extinguisher, no explanation necessary.
The car only came with an ignition key. I put in a new set of door locks, and fixed the power relay to be able to open the trunk with the switch from inside.
The EGR light kept coming on, it would shudder at low speeds, and it would stall when coming to a stop. I took off the intake manifold to take a closer look, and someone had deleted the EGR tube and just duck-taped a quarter over the holes. They had started to fall off, so I ordered a new EGR tube and some gaskets from Rodney Dickman. That mostly fixed the issues.
I like to jam out in the car, so I put in a Boss Audio 616UAB Bluetooth Radio, 2 Boss Audio 4x10in 120w front speakers, and an under-the-seat Sound Storm Laboratories US8K 8in 800w subwoofer. The previous owner had already wired the car for nicer audio and power for this equipment, but it was removed at some point before I bought it. The pre-existing wiring made it a pretty simple job thankfully.
The factory clutch pedal was bent and I was unable to shift into reverse, 1st, or 2nd so I put in a replacement from The Fiero Store. That made it "work" but I had to put the pedal through the floor to get the clutch to disengage (spoiler: it takes me a while to figure out what was wrong with the whole clutch system). In the meantime, I just threw in an adjustable clutch pedal banjo from Rodney Dickman which made it tolerable.
Most of the bulbs all over the car were burnt out, so I replaced every light in the car with LED equivalents. I found some LED headlights by TRUE MODS on Amazon that I really liked, and it took some wiggling to get them to fit, but it really wasn't as bad as I had been expecting. I did break the bulb retainer bracket, so I had to grab a new one. I also had to replace both flasher and turn signal relays to LED-compatible ones.
I overheated while waiting at a stoplight, and coolant was shooting out of the reservoir. I was quite confused, as my temp gauge was reading really cool and the radiator fan wasn't coming on at all. Following some stuff online, I put the AC on max which should force the radiator to come on. However, it did not. I replaced the radiator fan relay with Four Seasons Relay 35746, and it would come on with AC on max, but the car was still overheating. I eventually realized that no matter what, the temp gauge didn't change so I put in a new Temp Gauge Sending Unit from The Fiero Store and that at least gave me accurate temps. It was still overheating and the fan wouldn't com on, and I planned to replace the Fan Switch Sensor, but I just couldn't get tools in there to pull the sensor so I wired the fan switch sensor wire to ground so that it always runs.
The non-working gas gauge left me stranded twice, so I dropped the tank and put in a new fuel level sending unit from The Fiero Store. It reads correctly half the time, but it is still kind of random so I've learned to trust the trip meter more.
About a week after owning it, I noticed that fuel was dripping from somewhere under the intake manifold. I took it all apart to find that the o-ring where the fuel in line goes into the fuel rail had crumbled, so I put in a new one from a Dorman assortment kit I have.