What are known problems on a Pontiac Fiero?

Answer 1

As it was mentioned, overheating was caused by improper jacking of the vehicle.

The early 2.5's would leak oil from the valve cover gasket. This leaked cause the bolts would come loose over time. Just apply loctite and retorque. Owner maintainence problem.

Then the oil dripped on wiring harness. the wiring harness is over exhaust-POOF! Engine Fire.

Then, owners wouldn't change oil as recommended. Oil gets thinner with use. The engine burns off this oil as it goes past the oil rings. Reducing engine oil level. Then, the engine bearing fails-and a Rod is Thrown through block-spilling oil on exhaust-POOF!-Engine Fire.

All the Fiero's Bad Rap is owner maintainence and improper repair.

Great Car. I have one. I want more.

The early model Fieros 1984-85 had problems with overheating, so I would steer clear of them. Other than that there is no real know problems other than the same type problems you would have with any GM vehicle with the same engines. There is the 2.5L 4 cylinder and the 2.8L V6. The 2.5 gets excellent mileage but is underpowered. I would opt for the V6 and a 1988 if possible. Of course the placement of the engine makes it difficult to work on but, it is easily removed from the bottom. Read some reviews of Fiero owners, to get a better idea of this cars pros and cons. In my opinion it is a good little car that got a bad rap early on. The plastic body insures no rust, but look for cracks and paint popping

Answer

one point I learned the hard way if you get a fiero when ever you take it to get tires do not let the tech try to jack the car from the side. The way the cooling system is ran there is a metal tube running down both sides of the car that takes coolant from the engine to the radiator and back. If you do not watch what you're doing you can easily crush one of these tubes and cut off the coolant form getting to the radiator. Just a heads up there not fun to replace. --------------The fiero was a pile of junk. It is not the owners fault the cars caught on fire it was GM's. Two fieros caught on fire at the test track before production. GM arrogantly still produced the car! I knew of one man who serviced his every 2500 miles, properly burped the cooling system and his caught on fire at 11,000 miles. It was totaled-melted and burned to the frame. Another one caught on fire and killed an 18 month old baby. GM will always try to blame things on others but it is time for them to take responsibility for their actions. This is after all the company that produced the corvair, vega and citation. They better get better because they are on life support.