Help please....3.1 litre fiero

[mike85gt]

So I bought an 86 Fiero last fall as a parts car and it's had a 3.1 litre swap done to it.  It runs like crap and needs a tune up.  The previous owner at this point won't give me any info on the motor because he wants to buy the car back!  How can I figure out what cap, rotor and plugs I need for the engine?  Are all the 3.1's the same?  Would it be the same as the 2.8 litre?  Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

[aaron88]

There should be a VIN derivative on the block somewhere.
VIN derivative position 1 = VIN position 3
VIN derivative position 2 = VIN position 10
VIN derivative position 3 = VIN position 11
VIN derivative position 4-9 = VIN position 12-17

I don't know if it's the same as for all the GM's but you can give it a try.  Call the dealer and asked them what the motor is and where it came from.  You will probably have to tell them what the VIN derivative number translates to as they usually don't know.

Aaron

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[ClubFed]

post a picture of the engine.

Also, bring your cap and rotor to Benson's or similar so they can match it up.

There isn't that many 3.1l engines out there. So the parts won't be a big misery.

[Dan]

If it has a distributor and a throttle body on top chances are it is a Trans Sport or Lumina van engine. Every thing else 3.1 wise was multiport injected. Dan

[FieroBUZZ]

If it has a distributor and a throttle body on top chances are it is a Trans Sport or Lumina van engine. Every thing else 3.1 wise was multiport injected. Dan

If it is from one of the above, there were a bunch of them at Kenny Upull on Maloney Blvd but  some will be 3400 or 3800

[mike85gt]

Wow...thanks for all the info!  Someone on a different Fiero site told me that as long as the 3.1 didn't have the six coils and was equiped with a distributor that all the top end parts are identical to the 2.8 litre!  I took his knowledge to the auto parts store and came home yesterday with all the tune up parts!  As I changed the parts they all matched up perfectly to the ones I took off and the engine runs a lot better.....yahoooooo!   Now if I could figure out why the thing will only allow me to use 1st and 2nd gears!  It doesn't want to go into 3rd and 4th!!!!  I'm thinking the linkage is out of wack some how......

[mike85gt]

FieroBUZZ....Gary,  Does Kenny Upull have any Fiero's to pull from?

[FieroBUZZ]

No, they had one in the fall, but nothing since.  There was a complete Buick S2 3800 s/c the other day in the Ottawa yard.

Gatineau seems to get more wrecks and may be a better source for engines. Ottawa picks up the stuff going for scrap in at Cohen's yard next door.