Fiero as a starter car?

Question

Ok, I know there are a lot of fiero haters out there, but I like them. I know a guy who has ten of them in good condition and I'm going to buy one from him soon. Also they were the second safest car in the 80's and get almost 30 MPG!

For those who own fieros how are they? Did anyone else start out with a fiero?

Answer 1

Nothing wrong with a Fiero but don't expect blinding performance from the 4 banger engine. The Fiero had an inherent problem with the cooling system that caused hundreds of them to overheat, catch on fire or blow a connecting rod through the engine block. It seems that the GM engineers (most of whom had to be on drugs in the '80's) placed the radiator fill cap LOWER than the engine so you must jack-up the front of the car about 20+ inches when you fill the radiator. Most Fiero crazies suggest installing a fill cap directly in the upper radiator hose in the engine bay. That way it's possible to purge all the air from the system and keep coolant levels topped off for the already overworked cooling system. Another trick is to install an engine oil cooler. Both of these items together will cost less than $100 and will do wonders for the life of the engine. If you are buying a manual shift model try and find one with the five speed transmission. The four speed was a sloppy Isuzu unit but the five speed unit was built by Getrag and is almost indestructible. There are some body panel replacement 'kits' available for the Fiero that transforms the lowly beast into a Ferrari 308 look alike (see KitCar Builder magazine). Also lots of Fiero owners clubs out there and it's a lot of fun to join and share the joy (or misery) of keeping a twenty year old car on the road.

Good luck

Answer 2

Never owned one, but I like them. They had some heating problems on some models, and some had fuel leak problems, which resulted in engine bay fires, but GM worked out the bugs eventually. Unfortunately, it was too late to save the car by then, much like with the Corvair.

There is a guy who sells kits to put a small block Chevy V8 in those, just in case you may be interested.

http://www.v8archie.com/v8Archie/home.ht...

Answer 3

The thing I don't like about them is that they are hard to work on.  If you want to get into tuning cars I would get something that has a big engine compartment.  Like a Fox body Mustang.

Answer 4

Yep, my first car was an '85 Fiero. Had the ol' "Iron Duke" engine in it.

I loved that car, and miss it to this day. It never gave me any grief, and the only repair I ever had to do was a new thermostat. I was rear-ended (I was sitting still at a stoplight, other driver hit me doing 45MPH) and the car held up well. They were designed to take a read-end collision without the frame bending into the engine compartment.

When I got the Fiero, I was 5'10" tall and it fit me nicely. One summer, I shot up to 6'3", and I outgrew it. After I purchased another car at 17, I gave it to my mother. She drove the h**l out of it for another 5 years. I took it to college for awhile while my other car was being fixed. We sold it to a high school cheerleader, and she totalled the car the next week.

Folks always told us that "they're supposed to crater before 90,000 miles". Well, ours went 140,000 miles and was still running strong when we sold her.

It always got me great gas mileage, and acceleration was fine. My only gripe was that the car ran hot often. It was due to the cooling system being located in the front of the car, with the engine in the back, and coolant being pumped the length of the car to try and cool it.

Advice? --> Always make sure the fan is running properly. Keep the thermostat in good shape, and check it often.

Good luck. Wish I could find another one as a weekend cruiser.