Fiero power window express down mod correction.

After several attempts to complete he window express down mod as listed in the newsletter and not being able to get it to work, I decided to find out what was going on. I found that the Ford uses a power window switch that grounds both window wires when it is in the off position while the Fiero leaves these wires open. After some head scratching I figured out how to make everything work using two 5 prong relays I bought at Bumper to Bumper Auto for 5 bucks each. I have added a diagram to show the new wiring for the express module and the relays.

Notice that the wire from the window motor up terminal (Brown) and from terminal 4 (yellow wire) on the express relay go to the normally closed terminal on relay one

The wire from the window motor down terminal (Blue) goes to on the express relay terminal 1 (red wire)

Express relay terminal 5 (black wire) goes to the normally closed terminal on relay two

The wires from the switch up (Brown) go to the normally open and to one of the coil terminals on relay one

The wires from the switch down (Blue) go to the normally open and to one of the coil terminals on relay two

The common terminal goes to ground and to the other coil terminal on both relays one and two.

The wire from terminal 3 on the express relay goes to power with key on

Fiero power window express down mod

A little information about the module used for this mod:

To the best of my knowledge and experience in the junkyard, these modules were only used in generation 2

Taurus/Sable and Explorer vehicles. They can be found inside the driver door skin, mounted underneath the armrest

support. The Ford part number for the module is: F2DB-14B118-AB. I have heard that the dealer price for these

modules is around $50, but if you grab a handful of them and tell the junkyard guy that they’re just window relays,

you’ll get better treatment. If you’re cutting it out of a junkyard car, of course you want to get as much of the harness

wiring as possible.

And now for the installation information:

There are five wires coming off of the express down module. They are as follows:

1 Motor side of down wire (red)

2 Switch side of down wire (white/black)

3 – +12V (blue/black)

4 Up wire (yellow)

5 Ground (black)

If you remove the module from the harness connector, you will be able to see the numbers stamped into the plastic.

For the switch to which you want to connect the module, use a meter or test light to identify:

- Keyed +12V wire

- Ground wire

- The wire that goes to +12V when you press up

- The wire that goes to +12V when you press down

Here are the connections that must now be made:

Use an inline spice to connect module #3 to the keyed +12V source.

Use an inline splice to connect module #4 to the up wire

Use an inline splice to connect module #5 to the ground

Cut the down wire, leaving you enough room to butt splice each end. Connect module #1 to the electric motor side of

this wire. Connect module #2 to the switch side of this wire.

At this point, all of the electrical connections have been made. All that is left to you is to reassemble everything and

fasten the module so that it doesn’t rattle.

Fiero  power window express down mod

A little information about the module used for this mod:

To the best of my knowledge and experience in the junkyard, these modules were only used in generation 2 Taurus/Sable and Explorer vehicles. They can be found inside the driver door skin, mounted underneath the armrest support. The Ford part number for the module is: F2DB-14B118-AB. I have heard that the dealer price for these modules is around $50, but if you grab a handful of them and tell the junkyard guy that they’re just window relays, you’ll get better treatment. If you’re cutting it out of a junkyard car, of course you want to get as much of the harness wiring as possible.

And now for the installation information:

There are five wires coming off of the express down module. They are as follows:

1 Motor side of down wire (red)

2 Switch side of down wire (white/black)

3 – +12V (blue/black)

4 Up wire (yellow)

5 Ground (black)

If you remove the module from the harness connector, you will be able to see the numbers stamped into the plastic.

For the switch to which you want to connect the module, use a meter or test light to identify:

- Keyed +12V wire

- Ground wire

- The wire that goes to +12V when you press up

- The wire that goes to +12V when you press down

Here are the connections that must now be made:

Use an inline spice to connect module #3 to the keyed +12V source.

Use an inline splice to connect module #4 to the up wire

Use an inline splice to connect module #5 to the ground

Cut the down wire, leaving you enough room to butt splice each end. Connect module #1 to the electric motor side of this wire. Connect module #2 to the switch side of this wire.

At this point, all of the electrical connections have been made. All that is left to you is to reassemble everything and fasten the module so that it doesn’t rattle.

1985-1988 Delay wiper board rebuild kit

Repairs many common Fiero wiper problems. Erratic or non existent delay action, phantom wipes, 3 wipes per wash cycle irregularities.

Phantom wipes are caused by wear in the switch assembly in the steering column. If the wear is too great this kit may not stop all the phantom wipes. The only cure will be to replace the wiper switch which not an easy job. Considering the cost and effort required to replace the wiper switch in the column it is best to first replace the capacitors on the delay board to see if that eliminates the phantom wipe problem. In most cases it will certainly eliminate a large percentage of the phantom wipes.

There are generally only 2 delay wiper boards used on the 1985-1988 Pontiac Fiero. Board number: 22048550 and board number: 22062692/22062693. If you have a delay wiper board that is not one of these listed it may not have the required parts included. Please email me for more info if you find a board with a different number other than the two listed above. This kit contains enough parts to rebuild one or the other. Some parts will not be used. Includes a length of .032″ 60/40 solder which is preferred for circuit board repairs. A pencil soldering iron is required. A soldering gun is too hot and large for this type of soldering.

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You can remove the appropriate terminals from the warning chime connector to selectively eliminate whatever circuit you don’t want. looking at the flat side of the black connector ——
8765
4321
——
1:pink with black stripe -ign. input
2:yellow-seat beltlight in dash
3:black-main ground
4:black-seat belt warning chime
5:tan with white stripe-park-brake chime
6:light green-key in ign.chime
7 range 2 wires-power input
8:gray-lights are on warning chime

Okay, once you get the “blue bingy thingy” working… You can take the cover off, and bridge the resistors (brown cylindrical things with colored stripes) with different value resistors, and make the “bings” into “bongs”. You can also speed up and slow down the “bing” (or “bong”) rate. You can make your car sound like Big Ben. (Well, not really, but sorta.)
(It’s a “geek” thing. Sorry.)

Blue Dingy Thingy

I do not recommend people discard the chime box. Doing this has come back to haunt people. While you may be a careful driver, other people often aren’t. With the exception of the seat belt chime, which I find insulting as well as annoying, I recommend all other functions be kept intact, especially the hand brake and headlight warnings.

• The dash lights can be obscured by hand and steering wheel position or the light may be out. The audible brake warning provides additional driver notification. Yes, people have driven around with the hand brake on even with the light glowing, which usually results in major rear brake work.
• It is a common practice in Fiero to disable the headlight motors in winter to prevent damage to the lift system. The headlight switch provides little visual feed back that it’s on. This makes it really easy to leave the lights on after driving in dreary weather unless the chime unit is working. (It’s not perfect… if the dash dimmer is off/broken the chime won’t alert for the headlights.)
• The key warning is a toss up. If you want to disable this so you can work in piece, put a switch in the control line for that function. Even an experienced driver will leave the keys in the switch at times. (Of course this only matters if the switch in the steering column works… Many of them don’t.)

There are 2 reasons people need to mess with the chime wires. The first is to find the source of a problem the second is to customize a function. Custom function can be as simple as disabling a tone or replacing a tone with a new signal. The most common problem is “random tone” which is extremely annoying. Random Tone is the occurrence of one or two tones at random times. Since it usually doesn’t have any repeatable pattern it’s a royal pain to trace.

The most accurate list of chime contacts I’ve found is here-> Fiero Tech Zone He’s got good pictures too. There is another list at Michigan Fiero Club but it’s not right for any of the cars I’ve looked at. (In their defense MFC does have a number of other articles that are good.)

The best way I’ve found to alter the function of the box is to remove terminals from the socket. This is a fairly simple process. I do not recommend cutting the wires. The main reason is you may want to return the box to stock operation if you sell the car. The other is that in my case I was mainly trying to determine what line is the source of the “random ding” problem that’s been driving a bunch of people, including me, nuts. This way if the line I disable doesn’t solve the problem I can put it back and try another with no splicing.

Notes:

This is likely the last update this article will receive as I have stopped all work on the chime box. Chime boxes are still available thru GM and AC Delco. (The part information is at the end of this article.) While at one point I did look into repairing them, it simply isn’t cost effective to offer that service. Millions of GM vehicles from 1882 -1996 used the boxes and new ones can be found at decent prices thru parts stores that carry AC Delco.

The front of the socket is the side the chime plugs into. I’m making sure we’re all on the same page since the “Front” is pointing to the right in some cars and down in others.

There is a manufacturing defect in the chime box. See the Defect Report about it farther down. At this time I believe this defect is the cause of random tones, chimes that sound like they have static, and most weak or dead chime units.

Disable a function without cutting wire.

First drop the socket off its bracket on the heating system. The ones that face right are held in place by 2 screws. The ones that face down are held by one screw and the other side is sort of wedged onto an ear on the bracket. Let the whole thing hang by the wires. Now you’ll be able to get to both sides of the socket easily.

Next remove the white plastic clip on the back of the socket. There’s one clip for the chime and another for the horn relay and hazard flasher. The clip slides out the side of the socket. (You only need the chime clip out.)

Look at the clip. Notice that one prong has a notched end. This side of the clip goes into the hole on the hazard socket side of the chime connector.

Look at the front side of the socket. Notice how each terminal opening is notched on one side. To remove the individual terminals slip a small wire or screwdriver into the notch. That will release the tab that holds each terminal. You may have to wiggle or pry your release tool a bit just be careful not to damage anything.

When inserting a terminal make sure it goes in the way it came out or it won’t lock and you won’t be able to insert the retaining clip.

When you’re finished playing with terminals put the clip back into the socket. The clip gives added support to the terminals so they can’t pop out when you plug in the chime.

That’s about it for the thermals.

Chime “logic”

The Chime unit has 5 functions listed in the table below. The remaining terminals are Main Power, Ground, and a line that is tied to the ignition switch Run circuit to tell the box if the car is on or off so that it knows which functions are relevant. (Remember, there are 5 key positions ACC, Lock, Off, Run, and Start.)

The functions controlled by switches are all activated when the switches close a path to ground.

The seatbelt warning timer is part of the chime box. The seatbelt light will always activate for about 10 seconds when the key is turned to the run position. The seatbelt chime will activate at the same time only if the driver is not belted. The driver’s belt latch has a switch in it to detect that the belt is buckled. Fiero’s wiring doesn’t monitor the passenger seatbelt.

If the seatbelt sense line (line H) is removed from the chime socket then the seatbelt chime will never sound. The seatbelt light will still activate each time the key is turned to run.

If the Chime box is unplugged the seatbelt lamp will not light even in Lamp Test.

DO NOT depend on the chime to tell you the key is in the ignition switch! The contacts of the key sensor in the steering column can get out of adjustment resulting in unreliable operation of the chime. Some key cut patterns can also cause intermittent contact of the key sensor. Wear in the ignition lock can also be an issue with this. Fixing the key sensor or ignition lock is possible but requires tearing apart the steering column.

If the dimmer for the dash lights is off then you will not get a chime if you leave the park/head lights on when you shut off the car. This is how GM chose to wire it. The only reason I can think of is when you have to leave the parking lights on. This way you can kill the chime while you pump gas or work in/around the car. (It doesn’t kill the key buzzer. If the door is open with the key in, the chime will still ring.)

I don’t see any reason to change it but one possibility is to run a new wire from the parking light terminal on the headlight switch to the chime. Not exactly easy but it would make sure the chime always activates.

The Random Tone Problem

Note: This section has been left in only for historical value. If you are having this problem read the Defect Report farther down this page first.

As I said above this is annoying as hell. Hearing a chime out of nowhere for no reason really gets on your nerves, especially if it happens several times during a short trip. The simple fix of pulling the chime isn’t good because it disables everything. For those of us that lock the headlights up in bad weather this can be a problem because the switch doesn’t give you much of a visual clue that it’s on. It looks pretty much the same on or off.

The current definition of the Random Tone problem is 1 or 2 tones sounding at random intervals. The interval can be a few minutes or days. There has been no evidence of the pattern being repeatable. No one has reported seeing any of the dash warning lights active when this occurs. In my testing it does not appear to be related to the hand brake switch since the tones still occur with the switch disconnected. It doesn’t seem to be the chime box itself since replacement of the box doesn’t fix the problem.

That I can tell there are only 2 signal lines that should cause this, all the other functions seem to be disabled when the key is in the on position. The seatbelt line could do this if there is a problem with the seatbelt timer. The other is the brake warning circuit. Problems with the hand brake switch or the wiring could cause random tones but not pass enough juice to light the warning lamp

Determining the problem line becomes a process of elimination. Unplug the control terminals one at a time until the problem stops.

Once you figure out what line is the problem you need to decide what you are going to do to fix it. You have 2 choices. Trace the circuit looking for problems or leave the terminal for that line unplugged. I can’t give you much other answer than that because tracing the circuits is allot of work even if you know where they all go but leaving a chime dead presents other problems, like people too stupid to look at the dash and see the brake warning light is on and check the hand brake. If the chime is also screaming at them the light is a little harder to ignore.

Defect Report

NOTICE!!!

It has come to my attention that there are 2(TWO) versions of chime box! At this time the 2 boxes appear functionally identical and they should be interchangeable. The GM part #’s are printed on the box but may have faded off.

The Old style one has square corners and a door that opens to expose the whole back of the chime board. It is unknown at this time what if any defects apply to the old style box. If you have problems with this version, replace it with the new one. (The GM part # for this box is 10024379. I don’t believe this unit is still available anywhere.)

The New style has rounded corners and a door that opens on the small end opposite the terminals. (It is pictured in the Fiero Tech Zone pictures.) It is the new style box that has the defect. (The GM part # for this box is 10037040 and is still available thru some dealers.)

The Chime box has a minor manufacturing defect, which can make the box appear dead, cause weak chime sounds, cause chimes that come and go, and random chime. This problem is easily corrected.

If you wiggle or squeeze the box and it affects the chime sounds then you likely have this problem. This problem can be aggravated by vibration and by handling the box.

The problem is the metal “bridge” that supports the chime disk on the circuit board. This bridge is being used to make electrical connections on the board. The end of the bridge closest the terminal end of the board is not soldered well because of an incomplete circuit trace. This poor joint cracks and screws up the chime. Note that this joint can be cracked with little visual evidence.

View Picture of defect area. (Large Image, 138K.)

Reworking this connection should help cure most if not all the problems. You will need a soldering iron/gun in about the 100watt range. You need to heat the area quickly or you’ll lift the copper off the board. (Hold the iron on the bridge and let the solder carry the heat to the board.) Low wattage irons will have trouble heating the bridge quickly enough because of its mass and by the time the bridge heats enough the trace is too hot and will likely be damaged. If the trace is not firmly attached to the board then likely the board will fail again in the near future. Do not bridge solder to any adjacent terminals.

This problem likely affects a very large number of chime boxes. It is caused by poor design on the circuit board and use of high speed soldering machines to assemble it. The bulk soldering equipment used to make the board commonly has problems if the eyelets of the copper traces are not a closed loop. In this case there isn’t enough room to close the eye and keep enough space between other traces. (If traces are too close the solder will bridge the gap and make a short circuit.)

Because of the nature of this problem don’t be surprised if new or used replacement boxes have the same problem. New boxes may work when you first get them and die in short order. To prevent this problem avoid handling the chime box by the large faces.

How was this problem found?

Several Chime boxes were tried in order to eliminate the random tone but none of them did the job. Some were better but the random tones where still there. In addition some boxes gave weak tones. Others were intermittent, one second you’d get a good strong chime and the next you could hardly hear the thing. (I’ve tried at least 5 boxes over the last year.)

Since multiple chime boxes have given similar results I suspected the socket or a damaged terminal. To eliminate this I removed the terminals from the socket one at a time and plugged all of them onto the chime board. While checking terminals I held the box by the large sides and the tones changed. When I let go of the box the tone changed again. Squeezed the box again and sure enough tones changed.

Since I knew all the terminals where good now I put them back into the socket and disassembled the box. I got the board out and looked for things that could move when the board was flexed. The most obvious things are the terminals and the chime support. Sure enough one end of the chime support was loose. Soldered that back in place and now the box works perfect.

Conclusion

The defect joint is part of the main ground circuit on the board. Just how bad problems caused by this joint cracking is hard to predict because there is more than one way for a crack to form. The box can appear dead, make really faint sounds, and half a dozen other things.

Why would the box make random tones if the joint cracks? The main reason I suspect is the seatbelt warning function. When power gets interrupted it can scramble the seatbelt circuit enough for it to let out a tone. If the power interrupts long enough then it can even make the seatbelt light come on until the timer runs out again. (The tone will also sound if the seatbelt isn’t buckled.)

Parts Sources

The new style chime unit, 10037040, is available thru some GM/Pontiac dealers and GM Parts Direct.

11.25″ Brake Upgrade How To

The following brake conversion uses mostly off-the-shelf parts and a few simple fabrications. This conversion applies to 1984 through 1987 Fieros, all models. They are incompatible with the changes of the 1988 model year.

The rear calipers are selected to function with the stock Fiero parking brake cable arrangement. some people mistakenly rationalize that they never use the hand brake, therefore they won’t miss it. Definitely you should retain the emergency brake function. The Fiero requires that both pull to the rear. 1980-1985 Cadillac Seville calipers met the requirements. Be careful that the calipers you get are marked with casting numbers 020 and the other with 021. They are mirror images of each other in that one is a right and the other a left. In our application, the sides are reversed. We will re-use the parking brake levers and return springs from the Fiero calipers. No modifications are required.

The master cylinder selected is for late model Chevrolet C/K pickups and Blazer. It is made by Bendix and is of the same family of master cylinders as the stock Fiero unit. To look at the two, they are identical, varying only in bore size. Our choice is 1 1/8″ bore to pump more fluid to the larger caliper bores, thus maintaining a pedal stroke equal to the original. Installation is a perfect bolt in replacement.

Walt Zettner’s design has been improved on by PFF member Koburn. In Zettner’s design, the Fiero E-brake cable comes much too close to the CV boot. This was solved by designing the calipers to be rotated 5°. this allows the E-brake cable to clear the CV boot quite nicely. Minor trimming of the brake pads, however, is necessary. Two designs sufficed, one for the front pair and one for the rear pair. The accompanying .dxf AutoCAD drawings show the simplicity. The caliper brackets are flame cut from 3/8 inch mild steel plate. Machining consisted of drilling four holes and tapping two of them.

The fronts require spacers 1.00 OD x .50 ID x .435 inches thick to align the calipers with the rotor. you’ll need 0.450 or so thick spacers with Lebaron rear rotors. The test is to be able to freely turn the rotor with the calipers installed. Misalignment will cause the pads to drag. Your actual spacer thickness may vary, but if by more than a few thousandths, look for something bent or deformed.

The Fiero front rotors must be modified. Take them to a machine shop and have the rotor disk portion “parted-off” in a lathe, leaving the edge of the hub flange about 5/8 inches thick. This gives you a beautiful little hub with no brake disk. The studs are then knocked out and replaced with longer, 55 mm studs. The extra length is needed for the added thickness of the Lebaron brake disk, which is installed over the studs.

In Zettner’s write up, it mentioned putting passes of cast iron machinable weld in the bores to make the rotors fit the hubs. This is not necessary if you use four REAR Lebaron rotors, since the pilot diameter is the same as the Fiero’s.

Some things Koburn noticed on the Zettner write up .. It calls out the need for an 12Mx1.50 tap (I assume to tap your mounting holes in the new adaptors) the caliper bolts that came with the Cadillac calipers were 12Mx1.25. He calls out 1/2″ holes for mounting to the stock location but these need to be 7/16 for a closer fit as well as 7/16″ lock washers, not 1/2″ – however the bolts that thread into the stock fiero knuckles do seem to be 7/16″ thread.

nowhere in Zettner’s write up is there a mention of any grinding to the stock knuckle – however at least on the 86 there is a tab that sits just past the stock rotor edge that has to be removed for the Lebaron rotors.

Adjust the tap drill size accordingly. The balance of the job is bolt together and plumbing. The stock rubber hoses are not suitable for a high performance brake system and they are too short. Use the stainless braided hoses referenced in the Bill of Materials.

Caution: During disassembly and re-assemble, refer to the appropriate sections of your Fiero shop manual. If you are not a “brake” person, get help from someone who is. The lives of you and your loved ones depend on the quality of the work you do during this project. Always use jack stands and an adequate floor jack when raising the car. The Fiero jack is for on-the-road emergency situations only.

Check for fit and alignment on each step of the assembly process. Check for clearance of the brake hoses. Use rubber insulated straps to secure them out of harm’s way. Turn the steering, full lock to lock, watch for clearance, and beware of “banjo-string” tension on the hoses. Likewise, check for free rotation as you assemble each part, including mounting the wheels. It is embarrassing to finish up the job only to find that your wheels won’t turn.

There is no alternative to a perfect brake bleeding job for good brakes. I recommend a small hand-operated vacuum pump called a ‘Mity-Vac”. You can get these from many auto parts stores for about $20. Start with the right rear caliper (farthest from the master cylinder) and work to the caliper closest to the master cylinder. I suggest draining all of the old fluid and using all new DOT 3 or better brake fluid. Do not re-use the bled fluid.

Perform the obvious driveway slow speed brake checks first. Do several miles of start and stop driving to allow your pads to seat in before you try your 60 mph to zero test stops.

there is a bit of debate regarding the standard Fiero proportioning valve. Zettner’s write up stated that he left it alone and “performance is perfect, with no premature locking up, front or rear” but others have removed a seal from the brake valve to allow more fluid flow to the rear wheels. Some have even installed adjustable proportioning valves. I will try to update this with better information.

SOURCES AND REFERENCES:

All of the rotors, calipers, and the master cylinder listed in the Bill of Materials following are manufactured or rebuilt by CarQuest and are available at any CarQuest store. Shop around for at least a 20% discount for your parts. Work the best deal you can on the cores and/or core charges when buying rebuilt. The core charges for the rear calipers is significant.

By
Cliff Pennock at

http://www.fiero.nl

Thread:

Gen. 1 to Gen. 2 Headlight Swap

Not so
long ago my left headlight failed to pop up. The headlight motor had been
rebuild a few years before (or that is what the garage claimed they did) and at
first I was planning to rebuild it again, but this time do it myself. I
contacted


Rodney Dickman to ask what was needed for the rebuild and he said
he happened to get a complete headlight set from an 88 and that it would be
better to swap my “Generation 1″ headlight motors out for the “Generation 2″
headlight motors. He kindly donated the kit under the condition I would do a
write up. So here it is.

Introduction

The Fiero uses two
different headlight motor systems. One is used in all 84 to 86 Fieros, the other
is used in all 87 and 88 Fieros, and hence they are usually referred to as the
“Generation 1″ and “Generation 2″ headlight system. The Generation 1 motors have
many, many disadvantages. They are noisy and slow and break down often. A lot of
people choose to rebuild them when they fail – which is fine if you want to keep
your Fiero stock or if you can’t find the parts for the Generation 2 headlight
system. Otherwise I would suggest doing this swap since it’s an easy one and one
you will not regret.

What you need

A lot of people wonder what is needed for this swap. Most importantly, you need
the headlight actuators (motors) of course. Make sure they are complete with the
crank arm and the link assembly:

Generation 2 Headlight
Actuators

If you are removing them
from the donor car yourself (or if you have someone remove them for you), make
sure they are marked “LEFT” and “RIGHT” since there is a difference.
Also, you might want to take the three bolts holding the motor in place since
they are about half an inch shorter than the bolts from the Gen. 1 motor.

The Generation 2 system
uses a motor control module which is not present in the Generation 1 system:

Generation 2 Headlights
Motor Control Module

On the 87-88 Fiero, the
module is located under the driver’s side fender. This really is a strange
location for the module since there are far better locations for this module:

Original location of
the Motor Control Module

Finally, you will need the
entire Forward Lamp Harness, obviously since it’s different from the Generation
1 harness:

Generation 2 Forward
Lamp Harness

Preparation

Before doing anything
else, either disconnect the battery or disconnect the forward lamp harness
(see “The Harness”). You are working on moving parts and the Fiero’s
electrical system here and to prevent injuries, you need to make sure the system
is not powered!

There’s absolutely no
reason why you don’t want to remove the hood. It makes working on the
headlights so much easier and re-aligning the hood is a piece of cake. First,
open the hood and remove the headlight doors. The headlight doors are attached
to the hood with two bolts:

Headlight Cover

Remove the bolts and
remove the headlight door through the top of the hood. When both headlight doors
have been removed, it’s time to remove the hood support. Unbolt the two upper
support bolts:

Upper Hood Support
Bolts

With the upper support
bolts removed, lower the hood support and close the hood. If you now look under
the hood through the holes, you can see the two hinges that hold the hood in
place. Remove the two bolts on both hinges:

Hood Hinge

Now you can remove the
hood completely.

The Headlight Assemblies

The next step is to remove
the headlight assemblies (buckets). The headlight assemblies are attached to the
frame with 4 studs, two at the top and two at the bottom. You do not need to
completely remove the nuts from the bottom studs. Loosening them a bit is
sufficient since you can slide the assembly out. To reach the bottom nuts you
first need to detach the link assembly from the headlight assembly:

Detach link assembly

Once that bolt is removed
you can lift the headlight, giving you enough room to loosen the bottom two
nuts:

Lift the headlight to
get to the bottom studs

Looking at the assembly
from the front, the two nuts to loosen are positioned here:

Bottom two studs of
headlight assembly

Like I said, there’s
absolutely no need to remove these two nuts, just loosen them a bit. You
do need to remove the top two nuts. Before you remove the top two nuts, you
might want to mark their position since that will save you some time realigning
the headlights once you put them back in again. After you have removed the top
two and loosened the bottom two nuts, remove the entire headlight assembly by
tilting them forward at the top, then pulling them up. Of course, do not forget
to disconnect the harness first. Now that the headlights are out of the car,
remove the actuator relays on both of them. They are no longer needed.

If you look at the
headlights from the side, you will see the headlight motor is held in place by
three bolts. You will need to remove these three bolts to remove the headlight
motor:

Three bolts hold the
headlight motor in place

The Gen. 2 headlight
motors will drop in without any modifications. But as mentioned earlier, the
three bolts use to hold the Gen. 2 motors in place are about half an inch
shorter. If you were unable to save the bolts from the Gen. 2 headlight
assembly, you will need to shorten the bolts (with a Dermal or something) once
you have bolted the Gen. 2 motors in place, otherwise the motor will not be able
to make a full turn without the crank arm getting stuck on the bolts (there’s in
fact only one bolt that’s too long. You will be able to see easily which one it
is once the motor is bolted in place). Do not attach the link assembly to the
headlight assembly just yet (so the headlight can still freely move up and
down).

Once the new motor is in
place, put the headlight assemblies aside. It’s now time to concentrate on the
harness.

The
Harness

Now it’s time to remove
the original harness. First you will need to unplug it from the bulkhead – it’s
the bottom connector near the brake booster:

Front Harness Main
Connector

You can’t simply pull out
the connector. The entire connector is bolted to the bulkhead with a single
bolt. This bolt also holds the connector in place. So in order to disconnect it,
you will need to unbolt it first:

Remove the bolt

Once the bolt is loose,
you can unplug the entire connector from the bulkhead and remove the front
harness’ connector by sliding it out:

Slide the connector out
to remove it

Now remove the side turn
signal lights and remove the bulbs from the housings. The harness is also
connected to the horns which can only be reached from the bottom of the car.
Just look under your car just in front of the wheels and you will see the horns.
Disconnect them both. Follow the harness around and disconnect every plug
(master cylinder, side turn-signals, horns, headlight motor, headlights, front
turn signals, and radiator). Also disconnect the plastic retainers holding the
harness to the frame. Now completely remove the old harness. This is another
moment you will be glad you removed the hood.

Take note how the old harness is routed while removing it. You will need to
route the new harness as closely as possible. But before we can route the new
harness, we must find a spot for the motor control module. The original location
is under the driver’s side fender, but to make things a lot easier I
would suggest another location. The best location I have found is under the left
headlight assembly, just behind the left turn signal. You have more than enough
room there and you don’t have to do some creative routing to make the harness
fit. Put the module just behind the turn signal and drill two holes through the
screw holes to hold the module in place:

Placing the Headlight
Module

Some people are concerned
about it getting wet in that location. The module itself is pretty much
waterproof so as long as the plugs are in good condition, water shouldn’t be a
problem. If you want to be absolutely sure water can’t get into the plugs, use
some dielectric grease on the plugs and reseat them.

The Gen. 2 harness I used
only had one connector for the (left) horn. Apparently the 88 harness has the
wire for the right horn missing while the 87 harness does not. So I cut the wire
for the right horn from the old harness and spliced that into the left horn wire
in the new harness. So before routing the new harness, check if you need to add
this wire too.

Now route the new harness, and connect all connectors and bulbs. Do not
reconnect the main connector just yet! Use the plastic retainers to hold the
harness in place. Screw the actuator relay to the front end panel:

The Actuator Relay

Once the new harness is
routed, test fit the headlight assemblies and move the lights up and down by
hand, checking if they can move freely without catching the harness. If you are
satisfied both headlights can move freely, bolt them back in place and attach
the link assembly to the headlight assembly. If you want, you can connect the
headlight motors and the main connector to test if the headlight motors are
actually working.

Now put the hood back on
and bolt the hinges through the headlight holes. To align the hood, simply move
it around. When the hood is aligned, fasten the bolts. Bolt the hood support and
headlight doors back in. Finally, reconnect the harness’ main connector. There,
you have just finished the swap!

What is Bump Steer?

Very briefly, true “Bump steer” is the result of steering parts that don’t move thru the same Arc as the wheel moves up and down. If you have a control arm moving thru a short radius and a tie rod moving thru a long radius then as the wheel moves up/down they turn the wheel just like you would turn it with the steering wheel. It is present on many cars and trucks. (It is fairly rare that a vehicle doesn’t have this problem.) If you want more detail, try your favorite search engine. Bump Steer is well documented and there is no need to rehash all that here.

That said things other than steering geometry could cause what people too often call Bump Steer. Defective parts in the suspension or frame can cause a car to become extremely unstable over even small bumps. It is critical that you don’t confuse wear problems with design issues. (Many people also make the gross mistake of confusing alignment problems with bump steer…)

Does Fiero have Bump Steer “problem”?

If you listen to certain vendors and car rags… Fiero has a horrible problem with bump steer. If you actually sit down and look at the car, you quickly find that the problem isn’t nearly as bad as many make out. More importantly you’ll find out there are very cost effective and simple things that will greatly reduce the effects of Bump Steer on Fiero.

Geometry

84-87 Fiero does have suspension geometry in the rear that can cause bump steering. I’ve seen numbers of 1-2 degrees thru the full range of wheel travel. Notice that I said thru full range of travel. This is a critical factor that is left out in many discussions of bump steer. “True” Bump Steer can only happen as the wheel moves up and down. The more it moves the more it will be steered. (Some efforts to “solve” bump steer actually increase the amount of steering at the far ends of wheel travel.)

Under normal driving the wheels NEVER move over the full range. On rough roads and rail crossings the wheels may move much more but even then will usually not move thru full range UNLESS the shocks/struts are bad! The fact is that GM used very poor struts on Fiero and 15-20 years later the OE struts aren’t doing any better. Worse, the OE struts have damping only in one direction. This means a bump can throw the wheel to the stops with relatively little effort.

Cradle Mounts

The 84-87 Fiero has an engine cradle mounted in rubber with uneven loading caused by the placement of the torque reaction strut on the right side of the engine bay. This cradle setup can and does twist the entire rear suspension as engine load changes. This is painfully obvious on many manual transmission cars but automatics will also suffer this problem. While this problem can and often does steer the rear wheels, it is NOT defined as Bump Steer and must not be confused with it.

How do I get rid of Bump steer?

To start… The plan here isn’t to get rid of the “problem.” It is to fix basic chassis aging and control wheel travel.

Cradle Bushings

Replace them! Even if they look good replace them! Use Polyurethane or solid metal. (Polyurethane will never squeak in this use. There isn’t enough motion to cause that problem.) The cradle should never have been rubber mounted to start with and after 15-20 years the OE mounts are getting still softer even if they look good. This will stop the cradle from twisting due to engine load and potholes.

I went with polyurethane from Suspension Restoration Parts Co. This one change alone really tightened up the back of the car. I have one turn in my route to work that was a real pain. It is a stop sign that drops you into the middle of a banked turn. (Left onto Rt 9 from Hamburg Rd south of New Castle DE if anyone wants to try it.) Before locking down the cradle you always felt like you were going to lose the car. Now it just stays planted. (This was done before new struts. New struts made it even better.)

Struts

Replace Them! Especially if you still have the originals and many people do. The original struts were junk to start with. Use any brand of Premium Gas charged strut. These all have road sensitive valves and other features that will greatly improve control of wheel travel. This will automatically reduce the effect of bump steer. If the wheel moves one inch instead of three over a bump there will be that much less steering effect.

I used Gabriel myself. Some people prefer Monroe. Some tell you that you need KYB or Koni. Koni maybe if you are racing but it is way overkill for street use. Various people claim KYB is supposed to be better than Gabriel or Monroe but I’d like to see some actual tests. I’ve used Gabriel and Monroe for years and their top end products are very good performers at reasonable prices. (As I understand it… Monroe makes some of the shocks used in NASCAR and other racing. Koni isn’t the only one.)

Control Arm Bushings

Replace Them! Again these things are 15-20 years old. The OE Rubber design isn’t bad here, but aging bushings will be torn up and soft. Don’t use polyurethane unless you have no other choice. Poly may be stiffer than rubber but unless you want maintenance problems you really don’t want this stuff in control arms of street driven cars. (Read the bushing articles for more about poly in this use.)

Even in high horsepower applications, I recommend most people stay with rubber in the control arms. Remember that any increase in control arm deflection due to engine load will only occur when you romp the pedal. Under most other conditions the arms won’t move any more than they would with even the “weak” 2.5l L4.

But Blabblah says I need expensive part X to fix this…

One of two things here… Blahblah is frequently full of crap and/or trying to sell you parts. This includes some PFF members that constantly say you need whatever part. These folks all too often have no basis for comparison because they threw 50 parts at the car at one time and as a result have no clue as to what really improved their handling. (This sort of problem is very common with cars. The shotgun approach is nearly always bad in one way or another. Usually bad for your wallet at the very least.)

If you do the three things I just said, you will find the bump steer “problem” greatly diminished. Often to the point it’s unnoticeable in all but the hardest driving on the worst roads. I can drive over cobblestone with no tracking problems. It will shake your teeth loose but the car goes where pointed with little effort. Diagonal rail grades no longer make the car dance sideways even on the worst crossings.

Digression…

For those that have never seen it, Cobblestone is a stone pavement method that is very uneven especially after decades or even centuries of weathering. It can still be found on some streets of the old towns and cities like Philadelphia PA, New Castle and Wilmington DE. These streets are still cobbles because of historic value or a desire to make people drive really slowly. Philly has many narrow historic streets you can hardly get a car down. Wilmington has it on “Monkey Hill” to keep people from flying past the Brandywine Zoo’s Monkey House where many children are frequently present. Cobbles will heavily test any car and most trucks for that matter.

But anyway…

These changes will not eliminate the suspension geometry that causes bump steer. They will help confine wheel travel and reduce the ability of the geometry to steer the rear wheels.

Odds are you need the parts anyway so why not start with that and a good alignment. Don’t rush out spending money on expensive aftermarket tie rods or control arms until you are sure you really need them. To the dismay of some parts vendors the vast majority of Fiero owners simply don’t need their expensive products.

But I race…

My object with this article is to help the daily drivers. If you are racing and looking for fractions of a second then things change. Racers should look at what 8Shark has done with offset bushings and so on. (They cover Bump Steer in more detail.) 8Shark’s bushings potentially allow far greater alignment tuning to match your track than you can get with normal parts. Alignment may even be more of a factor than bump steer elimination.

SCCA racers could to have “bump steer” induced by high amounts of body roll… You folks may be better served with a better set of anti sway bars than just trying to kill the bump steer. Controlling body roll will affect traction and other things beyond whatever bump steer there is.

Bump steer is pretty much a non-issue for drag racing… You guys need to look at control arm bushings and rear toe setting. You may want to carry a “trammel bar” for setting toe at the track and then resetting it for the drive home.

This article covers the process of getting the Fiero gauges out of the car. In doing so I removed the entire gauge pod from the vehicle, for ease of access to prevent damaging any components.

Tools:

1. 7mm driver

2. 5mm driver

3. 10mm driver

4. Torx driver,for interior screws

Preparation:

Removing the Gauge Pod

1. Remove the switch plates and disconnect any wiring.

2. Remove the lower steering column shroud, as well as the two screws for the upper gauge shroud. The picture shows one side of the shroud, remove duplicate screws on the right side.

3. Remove the screws holding the upper gauge cover on.

4. Remove the upper screws holding the gauge pod in place. On my Formula, these were 10mm bolts (shown), on the 84 these were normal 7mm screws.

5. Remove the lower screws holding the gauge pod in place. On my Formula, these were 10mm bolts (shown), on the 84 these were normal 7mm screws.

6. Pull the gauge pod out slightly and remove the three connectors from the back, two smaller on the left and one larger on the right. Also disconnect any wire retainers and free all wires from the pod.

7. You can now pull the pod out of the car.

Accesssing the Gauges

1. Remove the 3 Torx screws holding the faceplate on.

2. Remove the two front screws securing the gauge housing.

3. Remove the two rear screws securing the gauge housing.

4. Carefully remove the gauge housing up and out the back of the pod, it will tend to catch right near the top.

5. Remove the screws holding the clear plastic faceplate and the black surround in place.

6. Lift off the clear plastic and black metal surround. The metal may seem to be secured or adhered, but is likely just caught on the plastic. Carefully pop it up.