Hello...newbie here!

[A.K.A]

Yo, YO!
 Whuddap? I have just bought a semi-mint ( ) 1984 2m4 auto...
170000km...and was wondering if neone knows of nething i should be looking for at this kinda kms....


thanx
a.k.a

[FieroBUZZ]

Hey, man! Welcome to the board.  

I'll take a guess, and go out on a limb and assume you are the same A.K.A. from the prelude club.  You can't hide from the Fiero spies. (if I'm wrong...ignore me).

I thought you were getting rid of the car.  If the car runs strong you should be fine.  If it has an old cat, that might cause trouble some time, ignition modules and coils fail, electrical grounds suck yada yada...it's old like me.

Make sure there are no oil leaks and keep the oil fresh and topped up.  Otherwise same as anything else I guess. Oh and don't try to drive it at steady high revs on the 417 (ask Chris Stockton.)
Gary

[A.K.A]

ooooo busted!

yup aka here! who are you man??
neways yea i got a chance to keep it...(financial strings are longer now....)
but I need a valve cover gasket..was there one made for it or do I have to rtv (silicone) it???

thanx
Marc

[A.K.A]

Oh and don't try to drive it at steady high revs on the 417 (ask Chris Stockton.)
Gary

what kinda revs we talking? 3500 + ?? or lower?

[FieroBUZZ]

Haha!  Chris (our young puter whiz) was keeping up with Gizmo and his motor went gurkkkk!  At least he learned how to replace it.  I don't have a 4 cyl, but I think if it's really screaming for a long time it commits suicide. It isn't a happy revver like a Honda.

The gasket s/b a common part (CTC) AFAIK it's the same for all 2.5's like Celebrity etc.  Get the rubbery one if there is a choice between that and cork.

Start modding....  We should have a GTG coming up (1st Saturday of the month)  so keep an eye out.

[A.K.A]

forgive my ingorace, gtg??


newas thanx for the info!!! I will call parts guy today...
also (i am new at this! ) what is a good price for shocks??

[FieroBUZZ]

Sorry  GTG  = Get together  We just hang out a bit at a pub and shoot the breeze.

You'll have to ask around for shock prices,  but Monroe or Gabriels are fine ( there's not a lot of weight up front)  You can spend a lot for Koni or such but it really isn't needed.

For struts if you can find ones for a Citation X-11 the perch is 1/2 lower (but may need a little trimming).  

See also www.fiero.nl for lots of vendors and a great forum.

[A.K.A]

thanx alot man! will be there!
(when a date is posted)

[JetJumper]

lol, you just had to mention my greef of last year eh?  For revs, it was sitting around...hmm...4000 and I have a second opinion of what happened to it now.

I was going along the high way the other day and I was cruising alone at a good speed and I notice the Temp gauge going up slowly past the normal spot of where it holds at (PS, TEMP GAUGE IS YOUR BEST FRIEND!!!!!!)  Anyways, I got to where I was going after I slowed down significanly and let the engine cool down because when I parked in the lot, you could just watch the gauge rise past the red line (AND THE IDIOT LIGHT STILL DOESN'T COME ON!!!)  Anyways, after it cooled I looked under the hood and found that the Altenator had come completely loose and the belt wasn't doing crap, so the engine wasn't getting cooled from the water pump.  If I recall correctly, when I had my inncident last year, the belt was loose on it.  So I don't really know what went on.  I am going to sell that car tho this year or next, cause I picked up a v6(cough)auto(cough) for only $150 and it runs   only 180,000km on it, with under 100km on the tires.  

[dguy]

You'll have to ask around for shock prices,  but Monroe or Gabriels are fine ( there's not a lot of weight up front)  You can spend a lot for Koni or such but it really isn't needed.

Speaking from the occasional more-money-than-brains department, I do love my Koni struts.   Just don't ask what my brain-to-money ratio was when I bought them.  

when I parked in the lot, you could just watch the gauge rise past the red line (AND THE IDIOT LIGHT STILL DOESN'T COME ON!!!)

Chris there is, as far as I am concerned a flaw in the lamp test circuit in all Fieros.  As you may have noticed, all of the idiot lamps will light when starting the car except the temperature light.  Instead of the temperature light being illuminated, the temperature gauge pins (zips over to the highest possible reading).  So in essence you never receive a visual warning when the lamp for the temperature light fails.

I found an article in the O.S.G. a while back which explains how to re-wire the lamp test circuit so that the temp. lamp lights with the others, and the gauge doesn't pin.  What I want though, is to have the temp. lamp light up and retain the current gauge behaviour.  It just hasn't become enough of a priority yet for me to pick apart a wiring diagram and figure out how to do it.

[aaron88]

I have a new set of koni’s ready to go in my car and I don’t think that it was a waist of money (my opinion).

(Off topic)
Also: I had a problem with a coolant leak last year and I did notice the idiot light did come on, and the gauge was operating properly.  Perhaps it was a problem that got fixed it 88.  You could try swapping parts there.

[WillEV]

How much did you pay for your Koni's?

[dguy]

Aaron if they're not in the car yet and you already believe that it wasn't a waste of money, wait until you drive on 'em.  

No regrets here...  absolutely none.  In addition to their overall response, I love the fact that I can adjust the amount of damping to suit my mood/driving, rather than being stuck with what Brand X's factory thinks is suitable.

Come to think of it I do have one regret--I don't have matching shocks up front.  


WillEV--including Jean & Ernie's comission, I paid within a few $20's of $500 for the pair of strut cartridges; I can't remember the exact amount.

[WillEV]

Yeah they retail for about $190 each

[aaron88]

Koni’s are 333 USD for all four if you can get them straight from Koni.  I had to pull a few strings to get that done, and I don’t expect to be able to do it twice.  Otherwise you can get them for 512 USD (for all 4) though a reseller.  One of the other shitty things about the shocks up front is that they have to come off to be adjusted (not the ones in the rear though).  Although I’m working on a plan to get around that one.

Aaron

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