Spuddering and idle surge ?

[oregonfordguy]

i just bought this 92 festiva for $300 bucks, it runs and drives good, but at idle it sounds like it spuddering a bit,

Does anything know what could cause this?

Vacum leak?
bad gaskets?

any tips

[mattswabb]

Start by checking the dist. cap, rotor, wires and plugs. These are always a problem on the Festivas.

Matt

[oregonfordguy]

alright thanks,

I am planning on being a HUGE part of this web site, i have been reading about the motor swap,

i have a spare 4.0 v6 with mazda 5 speed tranny in my shop, i wonder if i can swap it in my festiva ?

[FB71]

hmmmm. not my first choice of engines, but OK.......

[oxbrain]

I have an oil leak and even with the new wires, cap and whatnot I was still getting spuddering at idle. Turned out my idle was too low and I didn't have a tach to know. Might want to look into that before you spend money on stuff.

[miami man]

sputtering

after spending an afternoon in the hot sun putting plugs,wires and cap on my festiva and still had a sputtering problem at idle i found a vacuum line had come loose from the vacuum canister.

[gomer]

alright thanks,

I am planning on being a HUGE part of this web site, i have been reading about the motor swap,

i have a spare 4.0 v6 with mazda 5 speed tranny in my shop, i wonder if i can swap it in my festiva ?

Mazda (Ford) Truck 4.0 v6 with rear drive tranny would be (even if it could be made to fit) way too heavy on the front end , you can MAKE anything fit if you're good with a torch but the handling would be abysmal... you need a lighter weight power source.. besides the 3.8 and 4.0 Ford V6's are very bad engines that don't rev and have cooling problems that lead to blown head gaskets (thats why that riser is there in the cooling system to help in eliminating trapped air)...

[FB71]

??? 3.8 and 4.0 bad engines? I will have to strongly disagree with that. The 4.0s are damn near bullet-proof. Go to "therangerstation.com" and see what those guys have to say. And the 3.8 is a great engine in the right application. The issue with blown headgasket comes from the cooling systems in the front drive cars, not the engine. I've had two 3.8 vehicles, both of which went over 200k without an issue, and am now running a 3.9 in my 04 Mustang. Easy to modify, factory aluminum heads, easily makes 300hp+. Check "moranav6racing.com".

btw, I've spent the past 11 years working on Fords, so I have some experience with them.

[rotinaj13]

the cooling system isn't why they have had head gasket problems. I have had three of these engines and had one over heat due to a junk water pump and it didn't blow the head gasket thankfully. The problems are just like a festiva... warping heads. The headbolts are not torqued as much as some other engines, and when they get towards the higher side of the heat spectrum they like to warp, or blow head gaskets. I had my head and deck plained on my engines before running them, and over torqued the head bolts a bit and never had a problem with it. Same thing I HAD to do to my aspire to keep a head gasket in it. Decking and plaining where not enough. I had to over torque the head bolts.... I went through 3 till i over torqued them now I haven't had a problem with it.

[FB71]

dude, keep in mind, the head is only one side of the gasket. blocks warp just as easily as heads. If you had to over-torque the headbolts, its because the block surface was uneven. And the cooling systems in the Taurus/Sable are running just a shade under max capacity in the 3.8 cars. Trust me on that one... (unauthorized access to engineering data) You should also replace the head bolts if the engine was over-heated, because the temper of the steel has changed and they no longer have the proper elasticity. And all Torque To Yield bolts MUST be replaced everytime they are removed.

[rotinaj13]

dude, keep in mind, the head is only one side of the gasket. blocks warp just as easily as heads. If you had to over-torque the headbolts, its because the block surface was uneven. And the cooling systems in the Taurus/Sable are running just a shade under max capacity in the 3.8 cars. Trust me on that one... (unauthorized access to engineering data) You should also replace the head bolts if the engine was over-heated, because the temper of the steel has changed and they no longer have the proper elasticity. And all Torque To Yield bolts MUST be replaced everytime they are removed.

I replace head blots every time. I had both checked and shaved there bud. right before the last time it was shaved, then the last time it went i had it checked and they said it was fine, so once again like 45 for bolts and 40 for gaskets, a little over torque and good to go. as for the cooling ya they heat up but it isn't really the cooling system that causes problems.. alot has to do with the head/block/ and gasket design...

[FB71]

the 3.8/4.2 blocks haven't changed for a few years, but yes, when the heads were revised to split port (which means gaskets had to follow), the situation went away. At the same time, however, the cooling system engineers were successful in getting more capacity for their systems. So a multitude of factors are at play, there. Now, I have to question the capabilities of you chosen machinist. Different gasket types require different surface finishes. If it was machined to the wrong finish, it'll pop the gasket.

[rotinaj13]

I gave them the felpro gaskets, so they could check the gasket, and the head and engine. They shaved/plained them assembled and checked it. The first one I paid for the rest I just bought materials.. so it wouldn't have saved them any thing to screw it up over and over again.... but I now get a few things done for free when ever i want since it cost me so much in materials...

[FB71]

they may have not known they were finishing it incorrectly. their machines may have been out of adjustment/worn out. sunnen equipment can require frequent maintenance.

[rotinaj13]

well the point is I will more than likely get more free work from them then the material charges cost me for that little adventure.. I just hope they do the nect set of tasks properly!