Fixing '89 ford festiva

[Missy]

Okay, I'm new at this and I'm also very new in changing car parts. Actually cars in general make me cringe, but none the less, I wanna learn. I have a 1989 Ford Festiva and I need to change the front grill, and I just need to know how to change it exactly without ruining the car further more. I know the headlights might need to come off. Just need to know if I need extra screws or anything and how to get it off. Also what is a decent price for a grill on a festiva? I saw this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-1993-Fo...hVfNJh&vxp=mtr

I'm having issues with my heater as well. The A/C works well, it's winter time and I need heat. I turn it on and it only blows cold air, no hot air whatsoever, even so, I leave it on for about 30 minutes or tried to, to see if it kicks in and then I'll smell a burning smell almost. Coolant is in, I'm thinking thermostat may be the problem?

Also looking for seat belt buckles.

[william]

Make sure the heat is set to floor or defrost heat won't come out of the dash vents.
Also the grill is easy there's 1 Phillips screw in the center and then there's clips around the outsides the headlights don't need to be removed. The clips have a little tab the needs pressed in and then they will release.

[Missy]

I'll check in with my heat after work, thanks!

[bravekozak]

Missy, there is one screw holding the center of the grille (under the Ford logo). After you remove that screw, take a small screwdriver and gently push down on the six tabs in behind the grille. Apply a gentle pulling pressure with your other hand. Only enough to slightly loosen it. Work your way from side to side and top to bottom. The goal is not to break the old grille clips (in order to reuse them). I also have a grille for sale. PM me if you are interested. Shipping from 14092.

[TominMO]

If you want to go junkyarding, you can pick up a grill cheap. That eBay price is ridiculous.

[Missy]

PM sent

[ECCustom]

I have a 90 Festy that came stock with no AC, no heat from the dash vents either..........is that normal?

[ECCustom]

Get in touch with either fastivaca or jfd64 here on the forum, both have great prices on parts and shipping.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

The grill-attaching clips, like all the old plastic on Festies, are more likely to break if you work them in cold weather. I tried getting the grill off one of my cars when I was in SLC a while back and broke most of them.

BTW, bravekozak, is new production of these clips available anywhere? I could go for a fistful of them sometime.

[Missy]

Hmm interesting about the cold weather and working on the festiva, I've been hearing about that often (?) thanks so much on info about the grille! I'm writing it all down so figure it out this weekend.

I tried my heater driving home from work, still blows extremely cold air but seems like hot air tries to kick in, if that makes sense.

[lessersivad]

I have a 90 Festy that came stock with no AC, no heat from the dash vents either..........is that normal?

Yes.

[dalebwilson]

The grill-attaching clips, like all the old plastic on Festies, are more likely to break if you work them in cold weather. I tried getting the grill off one of my cars when I was in SLC a while back and broke most of them.

BTW, bravekozak, is new production of these clips available anywhere? I could go for a fistful of them sometime.

See page 23 part# 33206

http://www.goperfspec.com/CatalogPDF/2fc.pdf

Part# 13205

http://mro.kimballmidwest.com/search?w=grill%20clips

[jawja jim]

The grill-attaching clips, like all the old plastic on Festies, are more likely to break if you work them in cold weather. I tried getting the grill off one of my cars when I was in SLC a while back and broke most of them.

BTW, bravekozak, is new production of these clips available anywhere? I could go for a fistful of them sometime.

I purchased 25 "toyota grille clips", almost identical-maybe 1 mm or so narrower, on Ebay for less than $9 shipped. This was after Toyota was going to order me some for $4 apiece. They work just fine and are being used on my car currently. I could've gotten 100 for about $16 mailed from China, but didn't want to wait the estimated 3-4 weeks. Just put "Toyota grill clips" and search Ebay. They were used on about 80 different models of Toyota from the 90's.

[Missy]

Okay, So another thing that I kinda wanna talk about on here are issues with picking up speed. I bought this Festiva December of last year from my aunt for $500, I needed the car so why not. I live in a rural area, and our speed limits go from 55 to 75. So recently I've been driving the festiva, it hits 55 perfectly, but once you start hitting 60-65 it starts to shake really bad, you move past 65 and start hitting 75 and it runs fine. I talked to a local mechanic around my area and he said it might be the ball joints, since rural area and dirt road. On one hand, I know I need to replace ball joints, on the other hand, I'm not sure if to believe him or not since he wants to charge me $300+ for it. The shake starts from 60-65, move past that and it's fine. I don't drive it on the highway anymore.

[TominMO]

I've seen that happen when the CV axles needed replacing. But that's not really as much of a safety concern as the lower control arms (which have the ball joints your mechanic is talking about). The other shaking concern would be the tie rods (also called inner tie rods) and tie rod ends, which are part of the steering system. All this should be examined immediately, because you will lose steering if any one of the six ball joints pop out.

Tie rod and tie rod end wear is easy to check. Jack up one front wheel, grab the tire at 9 and 3 o'clock and try to wiggle it back and forth. Then do the other front tire. There should be no play at all when you do this if those parts are in good shape. A very tiny bit of wiggle isn't too alarming, but a lot is. Compare one side to the other to see which wiggles more; repair that side first.

Don't let the mechanic replace 'em for $300; find a shadetree-mechanic type who knows how to work on cars and will do it a lot cheaper. This is not a difficult or long job. Always buy the best parts you can find, esp. when it comes to steering, suspension, brakes. And good-quality tires (have to upgrade to 13" for that tho).

You can order parts from www.rockauto.com. For steering parts and lower control arms get Moog whenever possible. Otherwise AC Delco, then Mevotech last. Don't let a mechanic super-overcharge you for parts that are probably the cheapest he can get his hands on.

The Moog lower control arms (LCAs) are ~$20 at Rock Auto. The Moog tie rod ends are ~$17. If you get into the inner tie rods, be aware that 88-89 are different from 90-93; different threads on the steering-rack end. The outer threads are the same for all years tho.

I would also do the steering rack boots, which always are long gone on newly-bought Festys. Not a listing on them from Rock Auto, but someone else on here will know which ones to get as replacements. Probably about $12 each.

Sorry if all this info is TMI, but it's details you gotta know. Top-quality LCAs, tie rods and tie rod ends will come to about $135 with shipping. Find a decent shadetree guy, and he should be able to do at least the LCAs and tie rod ends in a couple hours, say $40. The ball joints on the inner tie rods don't wear as much.

Absolutely get this done ASAP, as steering is the biggest safety item on a car!