inertia switch ????

[mattman]

has anyone ever had one go bad ...my festy is still down she is getting no fuel doing a filter change an sock change my wifey bumped the rear end with her hyndai an it hasnt started since an the button is not popped on the switch no blown fuses either......im still looking bit by bit till i get it figured out just thought id ask about the inertia switch cuzz i havent seen any posts about a bad one jus having to push the button a time or two

[JohnGunn]

From my 1990 Festiva electrical manual it looks like you could ground the Green/White wire to bypass the inertia switch. There are three contacts in that connector:

Green/White from the fuel pump.
Black to ground.
Red from the passive restraint module. (I have no idea what this does.)

It looks as if shorting the Green/White to the Black wire connectors would be enough to do the job.

John Gunn
Coronado, CA

[Pu241]

Never heard of one going bad, but it's electrical, failure is a possibility.
I agree with JohnGunn, go to manual override and see what that does for you.
No fuel could also be from the switch in the VAF or have you checked the pump itself.
There is a jumper to route around the VAF switch as well.

[mattman]

will check these tommorrow an see at least everything is easy to get to an replace if needed ....not like most new cars you need a computer degree to look at ...lol

[1988festivazoom]

if u have the key on u can hold the vaf open with a screwdriver and u shold be able to hear the pump running.

[ejp2fast]

if u have the key on u can hold the vaf open with a screwdriver and u shold be able to hear the pump running.

yes, take off the intake tube between the VAF and the hard plastic tube going to the throttle body (EFI only) and jam anything inside to keep that vane open. Then your fuel pump will run continuously when the ignition is in the 'run' position.

also check fuel pump relay -it is up under the dash by the drivers side left foot.

[Safety Guy]

Festyzoom wrote:

"If u have the key on u can hold the vaf open with a screwdriver and u shold be able to hear the pump running."

Ha! I would have never thought of that. Gotta try that some day if I have more fuel delivery problems.

Karl

[ejp2fast]

i got my escort Gt running (has bad fuel pump) and did the 'hold VAF open' trick on the festiva... and ran a long fuel line to the Escort gt...before i did that operation, i did not know that the fuel pump has that 'switch' in the VAF..