Need a Festiva Mechanic

[Gomez]

holy crap guys. Sounds like she is having the same noise I am getting. For the life of me I can't figure it out. Picture a jigsaw that gets cought on some thin metal and the metal goes flapping all over the place. Slow this down almost to maybe 120-150 times a minute. From the drivers seat I am guessing it is coming from near the rear wiper fluid tank and motor. I have checked it numerous times and found nothing. It really sounds like our problem is the same.

The first time I noticed it was over a big set of train tracks I forgot to slow down on. I will get back into it this week and see if Maybe I can fix it then it will solve the problem for both of us and future issue solvers. I promise to post my findings.

[wybnrml]

This may sound silly, but is it a rattling type sound, possibly the rear license plate rattling on the hatch. I know mine rattles from time to time because of how they mount to the hatch. There isn't anything holding down the bottom of the plate so it rattles against the hatch. Just a thought.

[lwheeler]

Still Clueless

Hello! I think we can eliminate the noise coming from your rear wiper/washer receptacle. I don't have the "luxury" model; mine is a "L", so did not come with that feature.

Hope you find the problem!

Thank you!

[lwheeler]

Still clueless

In answer to the liscense plate being loose, no, that is not the problem, but thank you for thinking of it! I wish that WAS the problem!

[Gomez]

Found it. After looking inside the car in the right rear section for over an hour (again) I found the problem. It's outside the car. The stock hangers rubbers (?) on a stock style muffler were just too worn out to hold in place properly (+ or - a half inch to an inch is all it takes to hit). It slid over too close to the rear subframe section when I hit a large bump then it just stayed there. My easy fix was to attach a small hose clamp to the hanger on the proper side of it to hold it in the center. No more noise. But I would guess new rubbers should be in order. Hope your fix is this easy.

lwheeler lmk if this helps you. oh my gosh you have no clue how nice it is for that to be gone. You will.

[Pu241]

Gomez,
Can you take pics of the problem and your fix.
It would be easier for her to understand and compare it to what she see under her car.
Remember she has very little auto maintenance experience so a pic of even which end of the car to start the process might be helpful.
Just a thought.

[Gomez]

We are having flash flood rains atm so when it stops I will see if I can get some. I wasn't thinking about it at the time of repair.

[lwheeler]

Wow!

I HOPE that is the problem; I think even I could fix that. It is just so strange that it started happening on the way home from the mechanics after they had replaced the rear struts, a strut mount, tie rods, and wheel bearings. I assumed they had messed something up. The noise is frightening when it happens; I was afraid something was going to come apart or fly off! I am truly grateful to you and all the others who have shared their insight/wisdom. I will see what I can do this weekend and report back.

Thank you!

[lwheeler]

Pics

Thank you for suggesting pics, I hate to be a bother, but that would be a big help

[Gomez]

Oh yeah, forgot the wifey has the has the car since I am not working. Prolly around 4-5 ish Eastern Time.

[lwheeler]

No worries! My car has been parked for months now, she can wait a while longer. I start her up every few weeks and turn on the a/c too as I don't want it to go bad from non use. Here in Texas it gets very hot, and now that I'm older I need my a/c!

[Gomez]

Good news and bad. Good news is I got it fixed again. Bad news I guess I got ripped off by my muffler man. I was told I was getting a stock muffler. I got a stock replacement. Guess I should have checked it before I left. This means the issue I have may not be yours cause mine is a custom built muffler and fits differently. Check it out though and maybe you can get underneath and see. All pics below are Clickable to enlarge.

First off I have to say this probably one of my favorite tools.



This is a pic from the back so you can see the correct area.



In this pic you can see me push the muffler over to the hanger as well as pointing to where contact was made (originally thought it was the subframe). This one also shows the tape I ended up having to use.



And here is a pic of what I had to do to get it done. My clamp broke on my wife today while driving our flooded bumpy roads. It was an old clamp and I don't have any more so I wrapped electrical tape around it about 10 times. Basically enough for the muffler to keep from going through the rubber into the body hanger. After 2 hours of driving around town and country it works awesome and tape has not melted.

[lwheeler]

I See Pics

Great pics! You invested a lot of time doing all that for me; I appreciate it. Wiill take a look under the car this weekend.

Thank you!

[Pu241]

Thanks Gomez!

Just thought a few pics would go a long way to seeing what possibly could be an easy fix.

IWheeler, we will do our best to get you and your festiva back on the road safely, and cheaply if possible.The more your willing to do with the guidance from the good folks here the more economical it will be.
We are staying tuned for your findings.
Pics would help us help you if you can get any.

[Gomez]

Really no problem. Remember I had to fix mine too. All I had was pics, photobucket, and a post. Fordfestiva.com really means "we are here to help".

First things first. After your exhaust has had a chance to cool off get under the rear of the car and really push, pull, yank, hang or whatever in every direction on the tip coming out of the muffler itself. Don't hurt yourself here but you want to try and mimic some really bad road conditions. If you hear any noise there is a problem.