1986 Pontiac Fiero 2M4 from North America - Comments

It has transmission problems.

The worse car I ever owned.

You have a car with 190,000 miles on it - of course it's going to have some problems! Calling it the worst car you've ever owned after driving it for only 100 miles is a little hasty.

Well its a 4banger, should get a six with some proof it has been cared for.

Let's see a 4 banger with that many miles on it? Ever bought a car before? Do you know that the Iron Duke has a real bad habit of throwing rods right out the side of the block? That is why all the cars that are in junk yards are burnt up because the hot oil gets everywhere and burns them up. I say sell now while you can or insure it to the hilt and drive it like you stole it.

Well, it does have 190,000 miles, so you should expect a few problems.

The Iron Duke L4 engine was a very reliable engine - can be called a 'work horse'. Yes it is true that these engines are rather thin compared to others, but much stronger than a lot of the new aluminum block 4 cylinders that they build today. The L4 is all iron, hence the name 'Iron Duke'. Many engines throw rods, but this engine seems more consistent for it and remembered because of it's engine compartment fires. This was because the catalytic converter was close to the block and not shielded, so when a block cracked, oil covered the hot cat and caused a fire. A recall was issued and a shield was placed to block the cat. Most cars (if not all) on the road have had the recall done on them and is no longer an issue.

Also, to make matters worse and tarnish the Iron Dukes rep even further was the fact that GM didn't give the right specs for oil requirements, so all the engines were running on one quart less than they should have. This contributed to a lot of cracked blocks and engine fires. The fix was to add a new dip stick that the level was just changed on. This was not the correct fix when a proper fix would have consisted of a new oil pan install with a larger capacity. The cost cutting measures tarnished the Iron Duke permanently, and it doesn't deserve that type of rep. Just look at how many of these engines are still running and look at their mileage. Most are very high for four cylinder engines!

If buying a Fiero I would suggest getting a 1985 or later model. The Iron Duke is easy to work on and most major repairs can be done with the engine still in the vehicle. Great on gas and as reliable as they come. If more power is your thing go for the six. It's a little harder to work on and I would say it isn't as reliable as the 4, but much more peppy. If a true sports car is what you want, go with a 1988 GT. Suspension was totally improved the last year.

I just felt like I had to stick up for the old Duke! It truly deserves more praise than it receives!

In comment on the "Iron Duke" I would add that manual transmissions in a Fiero help doom this engine. The engine was designed to be a low rpm torquey motor, but when placed in the sporty Fiero drivers tend to push it into high rpm's where it was never designed to operate.

A low revving sports car?? Seems somewhat poorly conceived. The Fiero had alot of potential but GM made quite a few errors during it's production.

I bought my 84 in 84.

Here is the actual reason for the engine oil spilling onto the exhaust. This did not affect the years from 85-89.

The 84 sales were very high and the head work was farmed out to a mill that didn't clean castings so the heads cracked. This spilled antifreeze into the oil, and when it splashed up onto the bearings they would eventually seize and throw a rod through the side of the block.

After 2 dealer engine rebuilds using cracked heads within the first 5 years, I found a shop that rebuilt it with a good head and still driving it after 17 more years.

Another problem was bent clutch pedals that falsely caused clutch replacements that were not necessary. Replaced pedal with a steel one and that problem went away too.

The car is now 24 years old, and after 430,000 km I finally rebuilt the entire car from the ground up. Spent 3 grand and had it appraised for 6 grand. It now sits in my garage with a coat of wax and waits for the weekends when I proudly take her out for a spin. When I die I want to be buried in this car.

I bought my 1984 new also. Drove it for 11 years, then gave it to a family member. She drove it for 8 years, then wanted a new vehicle so gave it back. I put it into storage for a few years. Then my current vehicle went down with as transmission problem; too many miles to spend the rebuild money on.

So out came the Fiero, smogged, registered, and cleaned up, and I am driving it again every day. It gets 33 mpg on the freeway and 31 combined city/highway.

How many other cars are out there that are this much fun, you can buy for less than $2k now, and get that kind of mileage? What a great car. GM was stupid to stop making them; no wonder GM is in trouble.

Hmmm... with all due respect, I've been driving a 5-speed '93 Honda Accord with the F22 4-Cyl. engine forever now, it has about 240k miles with original clutch, starter, alternator, pretty much everything original under the hood. All I've done is give it a brake job at about 170k, synthetic oil changes every 3000 miles, suspension, and tires. Doesn't burn a drop of oil, runs like new, 36MPG.

It has about the same HP output as your Fiero V6. So it's entirely possible to design, engineer, and manufacture a bulletproof 4-banger that lasts essentially forever and puts out the same power.

I have had a lot of cars, by far the Fiero has been the best of them all.

My V8 GT cost less and is faster than my Corvette. But like anything you have to take care of it, it's not a car you can pick up and just drive it to work. If that's what you're looking for, then go get a KIA ;)