New Guy

[cobra29svt]

Sorry if this isn't posted in the right place, but I didn't see an introductions section.

Purchased my 1st Festiva on Sat (4/2), & drove it home today(4/4). Had to wait for DMV to open again before I could get plates for it.

It's a '93 w/ an automatic, rear cargo cover, & AC. The radiator is cracked, so I had to pull over a few times during the 25-mile trip back home & top it off w/ water. Luckily the guy I bought it from had a radiator for it, just not installed. I'll try to swap it out tomorrow.

Really wish I would have taken some pics of this thing before I started cleaning it. Man...the interior was nasty! It needs a neutral safety switch, but I havn't been able to locate one yet for a reasonable price. I plan on getting it up on the lift sometime later this week & checking everything out. With my luck, it'll need another $600 worth of parts to get it going again.

[neanderpaul]

Welcome! We love pics!

[collegeboi]

Trust me, your addiction has already started, I've been out the Festiva Game for 6+ months and ended up back here just to drool over other members Festivas.

[navdoc101]

New Guy

Welcome Aboard! Lots of good people ,With lots of knowledge on here. Just ask.

[Team Lightning]

Welcome to the best Festiva site on the web!!

[Damkid]

Welcome! There's many members here who have multiple festiva's and multiple parts cars, post a [WTB] ad in the for sale section and I'm sure you'll get all the parts you need for your festiva and probably save a ton of money compared to buying from a parts store lol

[kartracer46]

Congrats on the find, If you want you can come hang out at my place on the 30th of April with some of the other Festiva crew. Or if you have a good running one there is a meet this weekend in Clemson, SC. Welcome and can't wait to see some pictures.

[PhoenixSHO]

pics or ban

[cobra29svt]

Thanks for the warm welcome. Tried to swap out the radiators today, but the one the guy gave me isn't gonna work. Maybe there is a different one for the automatic cars? Either way, it's missing the spot where the sensor goes on the bottom drivers side.

[wybnrml]

Welcome! Yes, there is a difference between the automatic and manual transmission radiators. The radiator for the automatics have the fittings for the transmission fluid.

[kartracer46]

The radiator you have laying in the back is a stick radiator, you can use it but you will need to install an aftermarket transmission cooler. They cost about $40, but are less than a new radiator. Nice Aqua car!

[perucho]

^ and are dual core radiators compared to the single core ones that came in manual transmission cars. Make sure you change that radiator soon. If the car overheats, you will be pulling the head.

Nice car! Welcome!

[1990new]

Welcome to FF.com... I've been hooked since I bought my first Festiva in 1990.

I have a 92 GL 5 Speed which is looks like yours except for the decals on your doors.
I have replaced a couple of radiators on 5 speeds with new ones. Both the new ones had the connectors for the automatic transmission...I just left those plugged.

I've never seen a sensor on a Festiva radiator. If you have AC there are two sensors that control the fan, one if no AC.

Be sure to do a backflush of the engine and the heater core before you install a new radiator.
You want to flush in the opposite direction of the normal water flow.
To do a regular flush with the radiator installed, you need to remove the thermostat. The heater core flush is separate and requires removal of the heater hoses.
If you don't have a Festiva service manual yet, you really need to get one. It will save you a lot of money and headaches when you work on your festiva. Lots of them around, check here and on ebay.

[1990new]

Flush Instrucitons from Service Manual

Here are a couple of pages from Service Manual about radiator flush.

[1990new]

Readable text

You probably cant read the copied pages.
Here is the pertinent text.