Friday, title in hand, I FINALLY brought the Fiero home. And so the convertible project begins... My first step is to get the car driving well enough that I can enjoy it untill winter comes and the permaflex comes off and a long needed unibody-up restoration starts the topless conversion process. I put in many long hours (much to the dismay of my wife, who has almost forgotten what I look like) but have fixed the clutch leak and found the brake leak, and once I fix that and a broken shifter cable the car will move short distances under it's own power.
Meanwhile, I thought I'd mention a few things that need attention in case someone recognizes them and saves me a few hours of diagnostic time.
- The engine(2.5L L4) idles high and runs poorly, and will randomly flood out at idle. I usually have to use clear-flood mode (pedal held to the floor) to restart it. Codes 15(CTS) and 35(IAC) are set, but I think the problem lies only in the coolant temp sensor, and the high idle is caused by the ECM running the engine way too rich based on incorrect (lower then it really is)temp data. I'm thinking this because the engine runs better cold. The cooling fan does not come on, and I think this is related...
- Taillights, brake lights, and rear turn signals\hazards do not work. I think this is caused by a a bad ground since the high mount stop works as well as all the front lights.
- Passenger headlight door motor keeps spinning sometimes, but will stop if thumped with the flat side of a fist. I'm wondering if this is repairable without replacing the entire motor assembly...