Fiero Fever

Got a call from my daughter one very warm summer day about lunchtime that her old trusty Honda Accord was overheating … so off I went on the rescue her. After we had formulated a plan to get her home, I went to leave and my car (84 Fiero SE, 2.5L) would not start … would crank, but would not fire up. Tried several things … prayer, etc., no go, tried pushing it off …. no go, (tried pushing it off again … no go, repeat until exhausted, etc.).

So I went on home with my daughter, returned with tools and a starter fluid spraycan. Spraying the fluid in the throttle body would get her to fire for a moment, so I’m thinking fuel pump problem.

Thought I’d check for codes …. no SES light, not even in ignition switch on position and I don’t hear the fuel pump pressurizing … it was getting dark and I bit the bullet and called a tow truck (yes, $80).

Next day I started troubleshooting per the shop manual procedure and discovered that the ECM “continuous voltage” was not there … went to the battery and started checking wiring and found the fusible link segment laying against the water pump pulley, with a discolored area on the pulley … examining the wire, it felt soft, and I pulled it apart with minimal effort like an old rubber band. I’ll assume the 12v wire arced to the pulley and “blew” the fusible link.

Fusible Link Feeding ECM

Managed to get ‘er back on the road again. Ended up using a heavy duty fuse holder with a cap and a 30 amp fuse …. could not find fusible link stuff that I liked although Auto Zone had packs of different gauge fusible link wire labled as Chrysler and I think Ford replacement items. AZ and Advance do not show fusible link items related directly to the Fiero, go figure!