Introduction and questions...

[ryanprins13]

Welcome! It could be a fusable link that failed, mechanic shouldnt have missed that, but maybe. They can look fine and still be bad. I am not familiar with what the carbed cars would get for fuel milage or much in the way of troubleshooting. Should be easy to figure out. Youll be able to hear if its a broken belt when you crank it over i would think. Or just loosen the top timing cover and chexk if the pulley turns when you crank it. An efi 5 speed in good shape will get 45 us mpg on the highway. Sounds like you know what to look for but i made a little video of a few things to look for when buying a festiva and i point out the specific spot where the rear beam meets the frame thats important to check for rust. https://youtu.be/c-1sdoQY0IE

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[Greywolf]

It's a keeper - I could tell by the write up. The Mazda B series of engines is easily modded, swapped, and maintained too. Think outside of Festiva and amazing engine and trans combos are possible.

But the base stock engines are easy to find parts for as well - they were common to many models and years, not just Festies.

So long as that body/chassis is as good as it looks there's really no limit to what you can do with that car - I'd have grabbed it just to get those rims!


You will also find it a lot easier to get along with than an AIR COOLED VW, which is the kind I used to mess with. As far as MK II's and GTI's - quite a few suspension parts can be traded into a Festiva to do great handling upgrades. I think Golf struts is one of the major handling mods

KIA Pride and Aspire are directly rob-able from

[Studebaker]

easier way to check for a broken timing belt is to take the dist cap off and see if the rotor turns. Does it have air conditioning

[Smoker]

...

[Smoker]

FWIW my first Festiva was an '88 with a 5 speed. I bought it used with 100k on it and put another 90K miles on it with no carb. issues. Seeing that it is a 30 year old non running car I would offer him $200 for it. Good luck!

Already tried that... The asking price was $500... he wouldn't go any lower than $400. And honestly, if it is what he says it is, I don't mind paying that. It's the cheapest AND nicest one within a 3 hour radius of me.

And I'm sure I can tell within 10 seconds whether it jumped time. My concern is where to start if timing isn't the issue. Fusible link is a good call. I'm sure there can't be too many possibilities.

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[dalebwilson]

Introduction and questions...

Unscrew the oil cap and crank the engine. Did the valves move? If so the timing belt is not broken. Replace those fusible links with these: 2-30 amp and 1-40 amp


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[Rick the Quick]

You wont get hurt at $400. It is probably an easy fix. You said a mechanic replaced most of the ignition parts. If it isn't getting spark either he didn't replace the malfunctioning part or the timing belt broke. Take the distributor cap off and crank the engine. If the rotor turns the belt is not broken. I doubt that the belt jumping would cause the engine to not run. You can be off a tooth or two and it will still run. My '88 consistently got 38-44 mpg on the open road. Mine was badly wrecked at 199K and it was still running strong at that point. No oil burning, no old car/worn out feel, still getting excellent gas mileage. The '93 and '91 ran a little stronger with the fuel injection but as for gas mileage there didn't seem to be any notable difference. $400 is what I paid for my '88 and I never had any regrets. I have literally owned over 100 cars and the '88 Festiva easily makes my top ten list.

[Smoker]

Finally going to pick it up tonight. My coworkers are certain that my level of excitement about this little car is completely irrational. lol

I guess I'll have to get creative with the straps for my car dolly with the little Festiva tires. I've had issues with vw tires being too small to work properly... but I really don't feel like dragging a bigger trailer up there.

[Smoker]

Obligatory gas-station-on-the-way-home pic. [emoji119]

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[william]

That's a clean looking car congrats !

[Smoker]

Parts the PO threw at it.

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[Smoker]

Shadetree sent me a pm: "take a coil with you".

Nailed it.

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[ryanprins13]

Mechanic replaces most ignition components and misses the coil??
Glad you figured it out! Hope it keeps running well for you

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[Smoker]

Well I guess I counted my chickens before they hatched. The old coil does test bad. But still have no spark with a new coil that tests good... [emoji848]

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[bravekozak]

So you have power to the positive side of the coil with the key in run?

On fuel injected Festivas, the ignition module is grounded near the coolant temperature sensor.