Congrats on getting it running, but it really doesn't care where you start
as long as things are oriented correctly and it's timed correctly. If you
had timed it correctly even with the different plug wiring on the cap, it
would have run fine.
All that said, I do like to put the wires on the way they're supposed to
be,
just for the fact of doing a "workmanlike" job if nothing else.
It sounds like you used the GM O ring and that's good, the aftermarket
ones
tend to get hot, hard, and leak in a relatively short time.
I've bought a few Fieros like you did yours. People just give up and cuss
those "damn mid-engine cars". Hey, guess what, no matter WHERE the engine
is it's not going to run right without being properly timed!
Have fun with it, they are fun cars to drive.
John Stricker
"Axel Griese" <axel-dot-griese-at-yahoo-dot-com> wrote in message
news:Xns9968E6E12DEEAaxeldotgrieseatyahoo@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> "JStricker" <jstricke@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in
> news:1395nthck9o362d@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>> I'd be more interested in knowing how and when this all started. Did
>> it run perfectly and then one day, bang, it wouldn't run right? Was
>> it a gradual thing that got worse? Did you try to time it or give it
>> a tune up and it hasn't run right since? Did it get hot? Any unusual
>> noises? More information would aid in figuring out what was wrong.
>>
>> John Stricker
>>
>
> The guy I bought it from said it just died one day on the road, then
would
> crank but wouldn't start.
>
> He took it to shop #1. They told it it had a bad "Neutral Safety Switch"
> (yeah, I know, this is BS because a bad NSS won't let it even crank.)
They
> supposedly replaced the switch and then it would run, but not run right.
>
> He then took it to shop #2. They say it has a bad ECM, and they replace
> the
> ECM for $400-something (Also BS, because an ECM is only $125 new at the
> Pontiac dealer). Now with the new ECM It would start but dies after a
few
> seconds. It sits at shop #2 for a month, then they call him up and say,
> "Come get it, we give up, forget the $400".
>
> It sits in his yard for about 2 years, then he sells it to me for $350.
>
> First thing I notice is, the ECM give code 52 - bad CALPAK. I open up
the
> ECM, it's not just a bad CalPak, it's a missing Calpak. Shop #2
apparently
> never transfered it from the old ECM. No problem, new CalPak for $25
from
> the Pontiac dealer. (Note to anyone: If you're ever in ****tland Oregon,
> Breslin-Wallace Pontiac on Sandy Blvd are real good people, easy to deal
> with and they stock a lot of these older parts)
>
> Okay, now it'll start and stay running, but runs like sh*t. Exhaust
reeks
> of half-burnt gas. Spark plugs smell like raw gas and are jet black.
Next
> thing I notice is the distributor at TDC isn't pointing to #1 as marked
on
> the cap, it's pointing to #2, but if I assume that #2 is #1, then the
> firing order is correct.
>
> I pull out the distributor. Somebody's obviously had it out before,
> they've
> permatexed it rather than replacing the O-ring. I put it back so that at
> 10
> BTDC the rotor is pointing at #1 as marked on the cap, and move the
wires
> to match.
>
> Okay, now it starts and runs better. I jumper A-B on the ALDL connector
> and
> set the timing for right at 10 degrees. Then I pull off the jumper and
all
> is well. I've put maybe 100 miles on it over the weekend just testing
it.
>
> Sheesh. Amateurs.
>
> What this seems to indicate, it really does care that you are using the
> correct #1 pin on the distributor cap. Everything I THOUGHT I knew said
> that it doesn't matter which pin is #1 as long as you have the firing
> order
> correct. But apparently it does.
>
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