random question about carbed festys

[pwgus]

I was thinkin bout the computers in festivas and aspires the other day cuz I was considering making a 94 engine work with a 97 ecu. Ended up just swapping the harness and ecu too. Anyways, do the carbed festivas have an ecu? And if they do does it even control the engine or isit mostly just for other stuff?

[pwgus]

bump.... does anyone know?

[Click_It]

I might be completely wrong but I didn't think the carbed festys had any ecu in them, isn't that only associated with EFI?

[crazyrog17]

I believe the ecu would control spark advance, fuel pressure and automatic transmissions, so I think the carbed festys would have to have one as well.

[Tim]

emissions mostly

[pwgus]

hmm I see, would it start without one?

[FB71]

Carbed cars have an ECU/PCM. It controls several things; high altitude spark retard, air bleeds to adjust a/f ratio, fuel cut solenoid are the primary functions. No, a stock Festy carb will not run without the ECU, unless the fuel cut solenoid is removed and the passge capped. Even then, without the stepper motor in control of the air bleeds, driveability and emissions will be compromised. High altitude spark retard is not required, and can be eliminated by unplugging the single blue wire on the distrubutor. I would suggest replacing the carb with a Weber DGEV or similar OEM Holley/Weber, with 29/34 or 32/36mm venturies. as these can be run with no electronics.

[Festy46]

Carbed cars have an ECU/PCM. No, a stock Festy carb will not run without the ECU, unless the fuel cut solenoid is removed and the passage capped. Even then, I would suggest replacing the carb with a Weber DGEV or similar OEM Holley/Weber, with 29/34 or 32/36mm venturies. as these can be run with no electronics.

Been there, done that. I could not get the Festy carb to idle much below 1500 rpms with the computer removed, but it had pretty good WOT. If you're short on money, the OEM Holley/Weber is the way to go. You can usually find them on eBay for about 1/3 the cost of a "true" Weber.

[Click_It]

If you're short on money, the OEM Holley/Weber is the way to go. You can usually find them on eBay for about 1/3 the cost of a "true" Weber.

Being in Australia all WA Festy's were carbed, would a Holley/Weber make much difference to the performance?

[Festy46]

If you have a Festy carb that works REALLY well, there probably wouldn't be much difference in performance except for one thing. The Festy secondary side of the carb is vacuum operated and the Weber is progressive mechanical linkage. When you "punch" the Weber carb, both barrels open the same way every time. With the Festy carb, you have to depend on the engine vacuum to open (hopefully) the secondary barrel when you need it.

[Click_It]

Cool thanks for the tip Festy46, I think I'll go looking for an upgrade and try it out