Christian's '89 Festiva L

[89newb]

Well festyboy and I cM
ame to the conclusion that my festy needs a computer so I will be getting rid of it.i cant spend 280$ for a computer if im not guarenteed that will fix it. I honestly cant afford it anyway. So now I must let it go. Dont know if I can part it out or sell it because the title is not In my name. Ill let you guys know.

[89newb]

I found a junk yard that possibly has the Ecm I need. I have to give them the numbers to make sure they are a match. I want to save this car!

[89newb]

Reinstalled accel coil, put distributor cap and rotor in, put in the Ecm from gestiva, four gallons of gas and still wont start. FestYboY is coming up tomorrow. Hopefully we can get monstiva going

[89newb]

Well FestyBoy came up today. we got it timed accuratly. i was off 6 teeth on the crank. still wont fire. he checked everything. Now i need to save up some money to get myself a noid light to test the fuel injector pulses. I promise guys this thread will get alot more interesting once I put the tombstone on the grave of this problem. This has really hung up my build, wallet, and plans for this car but hopefully it will be fixed soon...


Ohio is looking like its out of the question for me.

i WILL be at madness

[link5186]

Have you checked fuel pressure with a gauge? I went through everything trying to get mine running and found out I was only running 10psi out of the pump. Needs to be 40+ for FI.

[89newb]

ill have to add that to my list of things to buy. fuel pressure guage. we did find something very very odd today though. rather than using a ford explorerer or even a festiva fuel filter, someone else had used a type of fuel filter that youd find in a fourwheeler or a lawn mower.

[gotrootdude]

"new spark plugs installed gapped to .038"

I thought proper gap spacing was supposed to be .044.. Is there some sort of advantage with having the smaller gap spacing?
Check your fusible links. I'd suggest replacing all of them with cartridge fuses.

[gotrootdude]

"someone else had used a type of fuel filter that youd find in a fourwheeler or a lawn mower. "
Probably bought from here: http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/de...QQFFG4775.html
It'll work..

[89newb]

i did the cartridge fuses, noid light tested great on the injectors, and i found the fuel pressure at the filter to be 38psi.

i was advised against that filter by festyboy cause it could burst. i like the concept of using the larger ford explorer filter anyway

my underhood sticker told me to gap spark plugs from .38 - .45. i tried most sizes in this range and the last tried was .38. thats why i typed it.

[89newb]

noid light test - GOOD
fuel pressure - 38PSI
Compression test:

Cylander one: 110 psi
Cylander two: 135 psi
Cylander three: 100 psi
Cylander four: 105 psi

Im gonna get some starting fluid today and try to start it with that. regap the plugs to .040 and see what happens. at this point i really am 100% lost.

[Christ]

Is the noid light a an in line tester? If so, put it on the first injector, then hook up the timing light again, and check that the injector always lights up before the timing light by just less than half a crank turn.

If it doesn't, its not injecting fuel at the right time.

Any time you're cranking, keep the battery fully charged. A weak barry might crank the engine, but the spark could be blown out.

100psi seems really low...

If it's manual, try pull starting it.

[Basement_Modder]

For rims, go with some good gunmetal (you could always paint it...) 14 incher's with a 4x100 pattern for an aspire swap. Then throw 195-45-14 tires on them. They're from onlinetires.com and are made by Toyo. This is the only documented rim/ tire combo that will retain the initial outer diameter of the stock tires, thus keeping the speedometer as accurate as stock.

Oh, and I just put an explorer filter on mine today. Magic. The 21-year-old one on there was a pain to get off, though.

[89newb]

Okay well after a visit with the excitable FestYboy I got the known good vaf and put it in, tried 4 different spark plugs (autolights this time vs. the ngk type R's that I have bought in the past. ), and re-taped the IAC hose coming off the airduct work that lead to the throttle body. (because the old taped was coming off and didnt know if the tape was there to block a hole or not.)

Guys I swear to you she now wants to start! she sputtered and sputtered. so I tried spraying some starting fluid into the TB and she sputtered harder but still no start.

I know the battery has to be getting weak (it looks damn near original and ive only been able to charge it with a 12v charger from the 60's >.<) So i tried to jump start it from my truck. It cranked alot faster and sputtered alot more!


but still no start. WTF?!?!?!

On the plus side today i found another 89L festy near lewisberry. same exact paint. white with the red hockey stripe. Im going to stop by later on and try to chat with the owner

[FestYboy]

christian, i have another tester to use for spark, the next time i'm up there i'll bring it with... there's deffinately something REALLY simple we're missing here...

[89newb]

Well. Should I run the tests first and is there other things I should do first before we plan another get together