Festiva Automatico

[Advancedynamix]

Couldn't find one, so I figured I'd start a thread for those of us who drive auto festivas. Tips, tricks, maintenance stuff and what not. If this is in the wrong forum, then I kindly ask one of the mods to put it where it belongs, all I could think of was maybe garage, but that forum has become kinda cluttered lately and seems to be better suited to builds. Anyway, if you drive an auto and you've got some feedback, let us know.

[Advancedynamix]

When I first started driving my 93 auto it shifted smoothly, but didn't seem to kick down at all when I needed more power. I did a flush and fluid change and that helped slightly, but I ended up just driving the car like a manual, shifting and down shifting with the lever. Well, after awhile of driving it like this it now shifts smoother and kicks down very consistently. I'm thinking that my constant shifting has maybe freed the valves and what not up a little and helped the trans to work properly. It also shifts smoother than it used to.

[TheresGabe]

Wait... I had no idea your pimp looking festiva was an auto Advance! You auto guys need to do a "Fuelly" signature... be interesting to see your MPG's!

[Advancedynamix]

Tweak is a 5 speed, G15. But Rosie (the red one with her new white wheels) is an auto, and so is Virgina, my 89. Virginia is drivetrainless at the moment though, so I guess that is flintstone style. Tweak actually gets better gas mileage than Rosie, as long as I don't drive Tweak like it's stolen, but Rosie runs on low test so she's cheaper to operate overall. Rosie smokes sometimes and leaks out the valve cover, but somehow is never low on oil, which still has me very confused. The best things that I have done to Rosie have been a good working oem automatic (they are different than the manual) radiator fan (thanks Arty!) and new engine and trans mounts. Which brings me to another point that all Festiva auto owners need to know. The rear trans mount is not the same as the manual cars, and it's almost impossible to get. I spread out a manual one, but this was after hours of swearing and getting angry trying to figure out WTF. If people know about this, they can prepare themselves ahead of time. The car drives much better with fresh mounts.

[SuperDaveGulvak]

My auto gets horrid mileage for such a small car but it's auto/only goes less than 2 miles one way so never really warms up. I average around 28-30mpg. LoL god I gotta get that 5 speed swap I picked up from Dale in. Still kicking myself for buying the auto in first place instead of super clean 4 speed w/ aspire swap in it but at time thought girl would drive mine in pinch if her Saturn she had at time went down. But oh well auto or manual still love my Festy.

[Advancedynamix]

I'm getting the same mileage from mine. 28-30 is what it said on the window sticker for the auto trans iirc.

[GenevaDirt]

I love my autos....but the 5 speeds are way fun. I get about 34 to 36 MPG. But my Plus runs freakin great...ask Bhazard.....no dog by any means. But yes...still slower then the 5 speed. The last manual I had was pulling consistent 45's...no matter how bad I abused it.

I had a tranny like your Charlie. Never down shifted or anything...in my regular Festy...I found a really low mile tranny and swapped it because the tranny was starting to go, (I bought it knowing that) but after I put the new tranny in...it ran and shifted great. Both mine really hit the gears if I am getting on them. Now...I drove one of Brians auto's and it shifted like butter....could barely tell the gear change from what I remember.

[Advancedynamix]

I love my autos....but the 5 speeds are way fun. I get about 34 to 36 MPG. But my Plus runs freakin great...ask Bhazard.....no dog by any means. But yes...still slower then the 5 speed. The last manual I had was pulling consistent 45's...no matter how bad I abused it.

I had a tranny like your Charlie. Never down shifted or anything...in my regular Festy...I found a really low mile tranny and swapped it because the tranny was starting to go, (I bought it knowing that) but after I put the new tranny in...it ran and shifted great. Both mine really hit the gears if I am getting on them. Now...I drove one of Brians auto's and it shifted like butter....could barely tell the gear change from what I remember.

That's how Rosie shifts now, feels like a much more expensive car, shifts so smooth even while manual shifting it. I guess they like to be manually shifted once and awhile.
I think I have a bad Air temp Sensor or maybe the coolant temp that gives signal to the ECU, with that fixed it should get better mileage. My 89 auto got about the same mileage, but it didn't run very well. DragonHealer was getting around 28-30 as well in his 91, but then something in the valve train broke and now it is Flintstone style too. lol

[kumalaba]

my bp auto runs good, but when shifted manually is wicked

[Skrapbob]

The thing I hate most about my auto is running four grand down the highway. I would love to have a nother gear for highway cruising.
Before I bought it, the previous owner brought it to me because it wasn't engaging in gear sometimes. It seems the bushing in the shift linkage was worn. His sone stuffed some wire around it, and it has been fine since. I love my festy! But my daughter hates when I pick her up from middle school in it! lol

[Advancedynamix]

some of us are working hard to change the festivas image, by the time she's in high school she'll be begging to borrow your awesome festiva.

[Bert]

My 93 auto has been trouble-free since I bought it as a '$50 parts car' 8 years ago but I don't drive it much anymore. Matter of fact it hasn't been on the road for a year and half. Mileage is consistently 10% less than that of a 5-speed (which is still pretty darn good all things considered) when out on the highway and it is surprisingly able to keep up with traffic. I took apart another auto a few years ago with an eye to performing a swap over to manual but quietly surrendered when faced with all the intricate operations that have to be gone through to properly do so.
What I enjoy and appreciate about manuals is not being 'dead in the water' in the event of flat batteries, broken alternator belts, dead alternators or starters. They jump-start like a charm and if parking on hills is the only way to get through a miserable week while an alternator or starter is on back order that's quite acceptable. Leave the dome light on overnight and you have to find a set of cables or a booster for an auto but with a manual you need only to grab a few bystanders to get a firm push.
I broke an alternator belt a few years ago and was way out in the country. It's one thing not to have charging but losing the water pump is a nuisance. I wound up the car to 60-70mph on back roads until the temp gauge got high and then shut off the motor and cooled/coasted as far as possible until the last second and then jump-started in order to repeat the process. Took me three times as long to get home (including a 20 minute proper cooling break on a hill) but I did get there! I doubt that an auto would have tolerated being continually restarted for two and half hours.

[bhazard]

I've never averaged better than 36mpg out of an auto. 47mpg was the norm with a 5sp.

[Spike]

The '90 auto is my first car, and the only one running currently. It was very abused for the first 180k miles before I got it, and I'm slowly trying to get it back in decent shape (with little to no skills whatsoever). 27MPG no matter what. Floor it the whole day, 27. Baby it, 27. Kinda odd, really.

Thinking of converting it to manual from the parts car, but that'll be long down the road.

I can't manually shift down or it smokes like no other from the tailpipe. Although, it doesn't smoke at all otherwise.

But it's a fun little car. Seems the transmission'll take a lot of abuse.. it had about 1000lbs loaded in there between me and cargo, and shifted fine. The shocks were pretty low, though!

EDIT:
A recent picture.

http://s1183.photobucket.com/albums/x463/Spike-Festiva/?action=view&current=FestivaMcdonalds.jpg

[Laurel]

Awe Skrap, bummer! My HSer loves the Festy's & hoping to sweet talk Smedley out of one of her's.

As soon as Cueball is no longer a yard ornament I can track her mileage & post here. I don't get it, the more we drive her the less she runs, JR says no power is getting to the injectors. I am dying to drive her places but so far she just likes the driveway =[