Need a Festiva Mechanic

[lwheeler]

I live in the Dallas area; (outside Garland). I can't find a mechanic who knows how to repair my Festiva. Any one know a good mechanic familiar with Festivas? I'm tired of my baby sitting in the driveway.

Thank you!

[Pu241]

What's wrong with it and why don't you think you can fix it?
We have the market cornered on Festiva experience here!
Pretty sure we can at least help.

Oh, BTW, welcome to store house of Festiva knowledge!

Now tell us the problem!

[lwheeler]

Need Festiva Mechanic

Hello there!

Thank you for the welcome/reply.

I took it in for shocks a while back and was told it also needed new wheel bearings, a new control arm, and a new wheel mount. when I told them I had just had these recently replaced, ( not the wheel mount) I was told the wheel mount caused the loosening of the control arm. This happened a while ago so not sure if it was the control arm or something else. The day I picked it up I heard a loud noise coming from the rear of the car, as if something had come loose and then was "clunking". When I would slow down and stop I could then proceed without the noise for a while, maybe days. This happened intermitently and the shop could not get it to happen again after I took it back. I even went on a 20 minute test drive with them. Well, of course it was still happening so I took it to another mechanic. He said that one of the new shocks had been installed with the old shock's parts. He then put spacers in hoping that would work. It worked for about 2 weeks and here we are. I know nothing about cars and have to trust these mechanics when they tell me something. Apparently I have not chosen well. My car runs great, and has working a/c. I cannot drive it due to the loud "clunking" that occurs.

[Pu241]

I'm not certain what a wheel mount is, likely called something else.

As far as installing new shocks goes you don't have shocks you have struts at all four corner. In the back the only old hardware that could have been used provided the struts were actually changed are the coil springs and some nuts and bolts. All of which I have reused myself unless the springs were sagging or the bolts rusted badly.

Can you crawl under the back end of the car and see anything that might not be quit right?

[kartracer46]

The rubber bushings and washers may have been re-used. If so they aren't hard to replace. Judging by the noise in the rear you described that is what it sounds like. You have to remove the rear speaker housings and rear panels to get to them.

[kartracer46]

I'm not certain what a wheel mount is, likely called something else.

Not certain on the terminology your mechanic used there either. It kinda sounds like he may be a bit inexperienced with this vintage of car.

[TominMO]

With the rubber bushings, on top of each rear strut there is an upper and a lower bushing. They are not the same. The lower one has a raised section in the center, which pokes up thru the strut tower from underneath; it is sitting on top of the strut shaft. If it is put on upside down, or the upper one is on bottom, then the strut shaft is not centered in the metal hole on top of the strut tower, and will rattle around and cause a clunking sound.

This happened to me, and it was intermittent too. Putting the bushings on the right way cured it for good.

Edit: maybe someone local to him can go over and help him out?

[lwheeler]

I appreciate all the help/advice. I know there are plenty of mechanically minded women out there, but I am not one of them. I was hoping someone would be in the Dallas area and would either know a good mechanic, or maybe do side mechanic work themselves for pay of course. I love my little festy and have never had another car that was as much fun to drive. I do appreciate everyone's help/input. You are all so very nice! Thank you!

[htchbck]

Surely we have a member near there that can take a look at it. Anyway, could be as simple as wheel bolts not being properly tightened. My wife's cousin had that happen to her off and on, she drove it for a couple weeks like that before she finally called me. All of the bolts were out at least a half turn, one was about to fall out. A lot of shops are scared to tighten the bolts to specs (85ft/lbs I believe) because they think they will snap since they are so small, so they don't tighten them enough and they can work loose further down the road.

I'm also not sure what a "wheel mount" would mean. Was this on the front or back of the car? If they showed you the part they were talking about (a good mechanic should, but most don't) then can you describe it for us? Knowing what that part is could give us more clues as to whats going wrong. Also, even if we can't help you fix it, hopefully we can help you know whats wrong with it so when you do take it to a shop you understand the problem better than they do and they won't be able to take you for a ride fixing things that aren't the problem.

And welcome to the site! These cars are addicting!

[91mcnasty]

welcome!!!

[lwheeler]

Thanks

I know Festivas are known to have wheel bearing issues, so I was putting up with the expense of having them replaced every couple of years. I am very familiar with the noise they make when they need replacing. The crummy mechanic who replaced my shocks (struts) was supposed to replace my wheel bearings but they were still making the same noise after I picked it up. I need a mechanic who A) knows what he is doing, and B) won't be charging me for things the car doesn't need, or C) charge me for things they don't actually do. I'm going to take my little car for a spin this weekend so I can tell you exactly what I am hearing/experiencing . Like you guys said, that way with your help I can at least have something to go on when I go to a shop. Very awesome idea! You have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! I will check in next week.

[GenevaDirt]

I know Festivas are known to have wheel bearing issues, so I was putting up with the expense of having them replaced every couple of years.

wow....no reason at all if they were done right to have to be replaced that often.....sometimes not at all in the life of the car. Sounds like the original time they were done they may have left out the shims needed in the front hubs to make the bearings last. There are options but we need to get someone over there to help as much as possible.

[batstiva]

First of all, Welcome Aboard!!!

Second of all, you need to remove the two rear struts, and shove one up the rear end of each of....never mind.

I'm going to assume by "wheel mount" he is referring to the front hub assembly. Never heard of a hub assembly going bad and causing a new lower control arm to become "loose". That is assuming everything is put back together correctly.

No idea if you had the front, or rear, or all struts replaced. Would be helpful if we knew which struts, and which bearings were "replaced". For that matter, I've done struts on more than one festiva, and never needed to reuse anything except for the springs. New struts should come with all new hardware.

If I had to guess, I would be willing to bet the clunking from the back is either the bushings (as was mentioned above) or that your "mechanic" broke loose the caged nut where the bottom of the strut attaches, and tried to jerry rig a fix for it. Having said all of that, drive it around, see how it goes (tho, I wouldn't drive it too far from home) and see if you can associate the clunking in the back with a specific maneuver (turning right, turning left, braking, accelerating, etc.) and get back to us.

And last but not least, once again, welcome aboard!!

[Safety Guy]

Welcome!

It may also help more if you could take some pictures of anything you think may be wrong with the car. You'll need to have an outside photo account to store them in to post here though.

If you can start to take a few simple things apart to look around it could help, too. The more you can do the cheaper it will be and the more you will discover about your car.

You might begin by taking the back interior plastic apart behind the rear seat so you can look at the tops of the strut towers.

Karl

[lwheeler]

Clueless

Hello again! It's me (Clueless!) First of all, thank you to all those who have tried to help with their knowledge and tips. I want you to know that the extent of my working on cars is to check the oil and radiator levels, oh, and to refill the windshield wiper recepticle. I misinformed you regarding the work done on my Festy (unintentionally). I was rummaging around looking for the receipt which I haven't found yet, but I did find the scratch paper I used to write down the parts I was told needed replacing. They were a strut mount, 2 tie rods, wheel bearings, and the rear struts. I was really hoping there would be someone from this site in my area who would be willing to work on my car, but the next best thing would be for you guys to help me out with suggestions again, now that I have told you the proper parts that were "replaced" so that I can have somthing to go on when I go back to a mechanic. My car will start the clunking noise (from the rear right) usually at speeds above 40 mph, and mostly after going over a bump, dip, or rough patch in the road; even a railroad track. Sometimes I will hear what sounds like something dragging before the clunking starts. Once I slow down and come to a complete stop the clunking stops and I can continue on. Again, sorry for the misinformation. It was about 9 months ago I had the work done so my memory was sketchy, and not knowing parts doesn't help either!

Thank you!