1989 Festiva L stalls, hard start....

[LordOfTheCars]

I have been driving this for about a week....
Stock, 1.3, fuel injected.

It will start, run and drive good...
It will crank and not fire....
It will start and die after a few seconds...
It will start and alternate between run and stall...

Spark looks good, I have thought it was absent once...
I add fuel that does not always get it to fire...

I have it in the shop, I will fuel presure check it, I have voltage at the pump plug during crank and run...

I will noid light it

I may go as far as buy a high voltage clamp for my lab scope and put it on the ignition lines as I drive...

I have power to the coil.

I have plugged and unplugged all the connectors looking for the dreaded green menace of corosion, none found.

I am going to change the temp sensor as it runs without fail hot. I may get some long test leads and see what the VAF is doing.

I have also opened the dist and check all 3 connections to the ign module, unplug and plug to assure contact.

when it dies it falls flat, no sputter.


I am considering setting up 5 leds, 4 monitering the injetor pulse while running and one looking for pulse at the ignition coil primary.


Any insigths on this old beast are welcome as I have not played in these old computer cars in a good while.

Thanks in advance.

[FestYboy]

wiggle test the VAF connector first, it may shorten your diag time, but it WILL prove the condition of the connections there (common fail point)

[Movin]

After that try a known good igniter..if the problem persists.

[Dragonhealer]

Intermittent Ignition

LoardOfTheCars, that is a great description of an intermittent ignition
failure.
Two possible exceptions, Air Flow Meter or wiring
EFI main relay or wiring

[tls_zx3]

vacuum leak

[Movin]

LoardOfTheCars, that is a great description of an intermittent ignition
failure.
Two possible exceptions, Air Flow Meter or wiring
EFI main relay or wiring

that would include the infamous 3 links...

[Dragonhealer]

that would include the infamous 3 links...

Good point, caught me out once on a '91

[LordOfTheCars]

that would include the infamous 3 links...

I hit those up first, seen that trick before and they were pretty oxidized.

I already plugged and unplugged the VAF and Idle Sol about 10 times each.

I also checked the big connectors behind the headlight and battery on the driver side.

I have not dropped out the ECA/PCM yet. I want to look at the IDM and SPOUT signals. I also have access to the OLDER THAN DIRT Snap-One Brick SCANNER, That may be of some help.

Tomorrow I will be in the shop for the sole purpose of resurecting the beast.

I will start with one of those handy spark testers in line with the coil wire and see if the spark is dropping out.

Long ago I built a breakout box for American built Fords, it included built in pilot bulbs that did the checks for power and ground just by plugging it in the the ECA/PCM. I am thinking about making a small monitor box that will do that in a second or two, as well as bring out some of the other common wires to back probe.

I think it could use a real set of gauges.

This car is a keeper, so the additions to it will probably pay off over time, My regular commute is 25,000 miles a year. most of it 65 MPH and I live in a place where the 65MPH sign is not a joke, aside from snow you can do 65 24/7.

[Movin]

The brick and all newer versions tell how to jump the connectors and read the codes
Then you can manually enter the codes and get the title to each! Looks good anyway!!

It would be cool to have a dvom mounted and have the selector
wired to the pins on the computer, labeled of course ! Live data
while driving!

[LordOfTheCars]

I ordered of a distributor, it will be in on May 18th, or so they say.

I was looking to replace the main relay and the fuel pump relay...

The fuel pump relay is quite pricey, I figued how to make a functional unit out of 2 common 30 amp relays.

[LordOfTheCars]

I got the new distributor in, it now starts and runs everytime.

While driving home after 30 miles it would surge a little on hard acceleratin..

Full throttle in nutral it will bog and quit... I have a stong exhaust oder under the hood... I think I have a bad cat(partially plugged), also the condenser wire some one soldered on and wrapped in electric tape is not on anymore... I will use a reular unit for a 71 mustang since I have one and solder the plug to it.

[LordOfTheCars]

Update, after warmup it will fall on it's face on a hard stab of the gas.

[FB71]

The brick and all newer versions tell how to jump the connectors and read the codes
Then you can manually enter the codes and get the title to each! Looks good anyway!!

It would be cool to have a dvom mounted and have the selector
wired to the pins on the computer, labeled of course ! Live data
while driving!

that's called a break out box. Been around since the 80's. I have a 60 pin (EEC-IV) and 104 pin (EEC-V) and adapters for the carb, '89 EFI and '90-'93 EFI. I also have an EEC-IV Data Recorder (cassette recorder!). Ancient technology...

[FestYboy]

Update, after warmup it will fall on it's face on a hard stab of the gas.

verify that your FPR is holding vaccum, then disconnect the downpipe from the cat and seee if you can go WOT without it falling on it's face (this doesn't require removing the cat, just seperating the connection between the DP and cat).

[LordOfTheCars]

I should have thought of the FPR, I see it on plenty of GM 3.8 and 3.1 liter motors.

I can make a pipe to replace the cat for a drive easy enough... Heck for fun I vould make a side pipe! Festy with a kickstand.

I need to look at the front end next, gets a bit strange at 70 mph.

Hmm 3" exhaust in to a flowmaster and dual 2.5" pipes out... then all I need is a motor to feed the pipes!