I need some confidence

[dwhite]

ive found out i need to clear these mountains in the middle of January and i havent really tested if my car can do it, when i bought the car a year ago i bought the best spark plugs, wires, distributor and put them in my self haha not ot hard and havent had a problem since. and soon im doing all new front breaks ( includes rotors, calipers) but i still feel uneasy about even trying to take the moutain roads , so i want to complete as many cheap fixes or upgrades i can do to the car before i have to go. any suggestions?

[Team Lightning]

As long as it runs good, the brakes are good, I see no issues with driving it in the mountains. I love driving mine in the mountains. I've been driving mine in the mountains since I bought it 24 yrs ago and loving every minute of it.
You should have no problems.

[htchbck]

I don't know if you have a Festiva or an Aspire, but keep in mind that the rotors on Festivas are not as simple to change as they are on most FWD cars. The Aspires are fairly standard, they just slide on over the hub and get sandwiched in behind the wheel. On Festivas the hub must be pressed apart to change the rotors since the rotors bolt onto the back side of the hub itself. New Timken wheel bearings are highly recommended when changing the front rotors on a Festiva. A good H-frame hydraulic press will help take most of the frustration out of the job, but it can be done without a press as well (there is a write-up on here somewhere for both methods). Good luck! I've been driving my festivas all over the mountains for years, as long as you have good tires and good brakes and keep in mind that your tires are about as wide as the "donut" spares on many vehicles, you are good to go!

[1990new]

Engine performance wise, in Minden at 4,700 feet, you are already driving around routinely at high elevations. I imagine that some of your mountain passes there reach elevations approaching 9,000 or more, so you need to also make sure that your baro and MAF sensors are working correctly.

[dwhite]

ill definitely look at those sensors and see what i can do. oh and i know about the whole rotor thing on these cars, its a pain in the ass to do but it needs to be done , and im doing it at my college auto shop so i have alot accessible to me.and sadly i couldnt find timken wheel bearings so i think i got national, those were a step up from the store version ( oriley). where should i look for those bearing

[Team Lightning]

Autozone has the Timken bearings

[TorqueEffect]

ill definitely look at those sensors and see what i can do. oh and i know about the whole rotor thing on these cars, its a pain in the ass to do but it needs to be done , and im doing it at my college auto shop so i have alot accessible to me.and sadly i couldnt find timken wheel bearings so i think i got national, those were a step up from the store version ( oriley). where should i look for those bearing

Just a fyi, the barometric sensor is built into the ECU, so it should be working just fine unless you're getting a check engine code for the barometric sensor, but I have NEVEr heard of this particular sensor going bad, if it does thought you will need to swap out the ECU.

[dwhite]

thanks for the info wouldnt have found that anywhere!!

[SoCalZ28]

•Check for slop in the wheel bearings *F&R. steering & front suspension parts.
•Sea foam is always fun to watch but spray a can of cleaner towards the carb/throttle body to clean sensors, etc.
•Brake fluid absorbs moisture, depending on how long its been, consider a brake flush to keep the pedal firm during repeated braking.
•Double check you have a full size spare & correct psi, scissor jack, lug breaker bar.

[dwhite]

thanks i got most of that covered, forgot about break clean thatll solve a few issues haha. the rest re being looked at right now.

[1990new]

Maybe I missed it...What year is your Festiva? Is EFI? Carb?