93 festiva won't start

[bradleyd]

My festiva has been sitting for four years and now I'm trying to get it started again so I can drive it again. I've replaced the battery, spark plugs and spark plug wires. I'm curious if there is any issues with the fuel pump with these cars. Or possibly something else that was a common issue for it. It has a 1.3L 4 cylinder engine. We sprayed some ether ( I think) into the carburetor to try and force it to start, but without any luck. Any advice for this problem, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[1990new]

Welcome to the forum...
There are several threads here that may have the answer to your no start problem.
Its a step by step process you need to go through to make sure all the things needed for combustion are present at the right time.
Search the forum using works like: cranks compression spark leak fuel "no start" to find some of the answers which will help you diagnose the problem.

Some things to thing about:
Things that need to happen for a fuel injected gasoline engine to run:
1. Clean Fuel injected on the downstroke with the intake valve open and the exhaust valve closed.
2. Oxygen containing air sucked into the combustion chamber along with the fuel on the downstroke.
3. Compression of the fuel air mixture in the combustion chamber with both the intake and exhaust valves closed.
4. A spark in the combustion chamber when the piston is at the top of the cylinder and both the intake and exhaust valves are closed.


The timing of the spark you say you are getting is critical. That timing belt is turning the cam shaft which controls the opening and closing of valves and also spins the distributor which control when the spark occurs. (The engine computer gets feedback from this also to know when to activate which fuel injector)
That timing can be incorrect because of the timing belt has jumped a notch, the keyway slot has worn on the crankshaft or there can be an issue with the distributor. There also could be a problem with the engine computer but I have never experience a problem with it that caused the engine not to run.

Once you have insured that you have fuel pressure in the fuel rail and the engine still will not run, you can start to work on the other issue if you want to do some more investigating before you take it to a mechanic.

Another issue not mention before is vacuum leak. Make sure you don't have one.

Also could be as simple as a loose wiring harness connector somewhere (or broken wire). Check those especially the ones to the fuel injectors, the distributor and the throttle body.

Just some things to thing about... sometimes it's the little things.

[WmWatt]

As noted it needs air, fuel, and spark in the right proportions at the right time. You can check each separately. One problem these cars have is with the air flow door not opening. It's in the air intake. The spark can be cekced by pullign one plug wire, slifing back teh boot to expose the wire, an dholding that 1/4" from the block (ie ground) while cranking engine.You should see a spark jump from the wire to the block. Careful you don't get a shock by moving it away from block while still cranking. As for fuel you can pull the fuel hose and see if fuel squirts out while cranking. Again, careful as fuel will burn. BTW the '93 is fuel injuected, no carburettor. Only the '88-'89 had carburettor. Once you know the problem you can think about how to fix it. Trhere are a lot of things you could check but it it was running before and nothing was done to it then it should run now once it's cleaned up. When you changed the plugs it would have been a good idea to put a couple teaspoons light oil or deisel into the holes to lubricate cylinders. Farmers do that on seasonal engines. Good luck.