Bought a fiero with clutch problems

Yesterday I purchased a '87 Fiero GT with 117000km. Looked like it was in great shape, everything checked out. Guy said it was a little stiff going into third gear. Test drove it and yeah, it was a little stiff in third but that was it.

Bought it and took it home. On the way home it started making grinding noises into some of the gears. By the time I got it home it got so bad that I knew this would have to be taken care of before I could drive the car. It sounds almost as if someone wasn't pushing the clutch all the way to the floor while trying to shift.

I just bled the clutch and it did not fix the problem. What gives? I know nothing about Fieros. With such low km I was hoping for very few problems.

Daniel wrote: Everyone has to have their first Fiero at some point. I am doing the work myself.

I think it's great... if you're up to the task, and I hope you are. Over the years I've seen so many people on Pennock's give up when the problems start to compound.

Daniel wrote: Yes, the transmission goes into every gear just fantastic when the engine isn't running.

Well, that's good news. Looks like you won't have to pull the tranny (unless the clutch disc is worn, but that's a different issue).

Nine times out of ten the common problem with Fiero clutches is the slave cylinder sucking in air. Rodney Dickman sells a dual-seal slave for the Fiero that is worth every cent.

How high does your clutch pedal sit above the brake pedal? If it sits below the brake pedal, it's bent... or the "banjo" connecting the pedal to the master cylinder is bent and/or worn.

Edited by Patrick

Daniel wrote: It's sitting exactly one inch above the brake pedal. It's a steel pedal.

Excellent. 

Daniel wrote: So if the push rod extends further than an inch, does that mean the problem is most likely the slave cylinder?

Keep in mind I'm referring to how far it moves when the clutch pedal is put to the floor, not how far it extends from the slave while just sitting there. If it moves just over an inch when the clutch pedal is depressed, then the hydraulics are probably fine. However, any air in the system will compress and the push-rod won't be moving an inch.

Patrick wrote: How far does the clutch slave push-rod extend towards the tranny when the pedal is put to the floor? It needs to move just over an inch to properly disengage the clutch.

Edited by Patrick

I recently was given an 85 GT 4 spd and after about a week of driving I had a catastrophic clutch failure.  Talk about a quick initiation to the ins and outs of the Fiero!  I replaced the clutch and buttoned it all back up, everything looked good... Until I tried to put it in gear, and it wouldn't go any gear.

After a bunch of looking around online I decided I better inspect the clutch pedal as I found the stock aluminum ones were prone to bending.  It looked fine, but I decided to remove it anyways just to be sure.  Once I had it out I noticed that the master cylinder banjo had worn a groove on its stud on the clutch pedal darn near half way thru.  After some carefull welding with the MIG and some filing to reshape the stud the problem was cured! 

Daniel is here in Fraser Heights, he and his Dad dropped by here, and I went over to their place. They were doing all the right things, and helped them get the last bit of air out of the slave, and that was when we realized the pressure plate is the problem. Well the pressure plate, or the throwout bearing or the clutch fork, when the clutch is pushed all the way in now, there is a grinding noise when you try to start it.   So I showed them the step by step on dropping the cradle. I actually came on here today as I got word from another member that has some parts for them. So Daniel you have got my number. Give me a buzz.

David
In case you lost it, 604-584-7717

This thread has been cleaned by me. Patrick is free to post. However I don't want any reference to fighting posted again in this thread. My only hope is that Daniel and his father will see fit to rejoin the group and start posting updates again.   They are really nice people, Daniel moved from a Front Wheel Drive Prelude "import car" into a Fiero as he really liked them. He is younger and does not know much about cars but seems to really want to learn. He is actually younger than even Tristan is. (Don't worry Daniel you don't know Tristan yet, but ya will)

    They came over to my place a few days ago, with the trans in the trunk of his dad's car along with the clutch and pressure plate. There were fingers physically missing from the pressure plate, and springs in the clutch disk that were either falling out or ready to fall out. The clutch fork itself is in poor shape. Not dead, but very well worn. I told them that they could get by with it, however they are going to order a new clutch fork along with a new clutch disk and pressure plate.   

      They were able to get the car high enough to drop the cradle in there home garage with simple hand tools, by using a guide that I believe they found on the Fiero Store's website.

           They were also looking at doing either solid or poly cradle bushings, my suggestion was to go with Poly. Solid is better but at 10x the cost of poly and only about 10% improvement over poly, it is just not worth it.    

        I have not heard from them in a few days, but I hope that everything is going well. I suggested they attend tonight's meeting and get to know people on a face to face basis. Lisa and I got tied up with the girls and were not able to attend, but I hope everything went well.

There are a lot of really friendly really helpful patient people in the club.   

I very much appreciate your guys help. The pressure plate and throwout bearing got replaced thanks to David and his perfect diagnosis, clutch now works without a hitch (so far). There was a spring that could just fall out and it was missing a couple of fingers. No major hiccups with assembly, except...
We can't get the dogbone back in. Looks like the engine is too far towards the nose of the car by about half an inch. Suggestions?

Here's a photo of exactly what went wrong with the pressure plate:

The best time would be as soon as is not inconvenient for you. I was hoping to get though Aircare and insurance tomorrow (I work on Thurs), so if possible, before 2pm would be great. If not, come by any time. Perhaps I can get Aircare done early Thursday morning.I'm eager to come to the next club meeting. It's unfortunate that I wasn't able to attend the last one as we were toiling away on the Fiero, but hopefully the car and I will be meeting everybody soon.

EDIT:We got it in! I'll swing by a little bit later to drop off your tools.

Edited by Daniel

Be happy when Aircare is over with...congrats on getting the car running:)