Starting problems sometimes

[kned33]

I have changed the dist cap and rotor as well as plugs and wires. Still having the same problem starting at times. And sometimes the engine still hesitates and sometimes stalls. When I pulled the old plugs out the were a reddish color. Does that indicate the engine is running too rich?

[kned33]

I changed the CTS and the coolant temp now rises faster. However car is still hard to start. The ISC was mentioned as a possibility. Can it be tested? If so how? My manual only tell me how to remove and install. Or should I just replace it and see what happens? Which seems rather hit and miss. Thanks for all your ideas so far. The car idles fine and accelerates fine. Will see if changing the CTS has fixed the hesitation I experience at times.

I just drove 30 miles. 15 miles into the next town and back. The engine continues to stop and start. It only happened a couple of times. The check engine light came on. Did the code test when I got home - nothing. Good news my engine temp is now good! Changing the CTS made the difference.

[jglutz]

I changed the CTS and the coolant temp now rises faster. However car is still hard to start.

There are 2 coolant temp sensors and one temp switch on the engine...one sensor and one switch are locted near the t-stat housing...the switch operate the fan and the sensor drives the temp gauge on the instrument cluster. The sensor mentioned previously, CTS, is located in the intake manifold just above the alt. You may have changed the wrong one.

[Zrace]

Check your fusable link, I had the same problem...

[kned33]

On the 91 festiva, according to my 91 shop manual, the CTS (coolant temp sensor) is located on the thermostat housing. The engine coolant temp sensor is located on the intake manifold. The main thing is that my heating problems have been resolved. I notice that the car is starting a lot better too. So hopefully my starting issue is resolved as well. Only time will really tell. I think I know what is causing my car to stop and start. I was driving on a bumpy road yesterday and my check engine light kept flashing while the car lunges and stalled. It was much better on smoother roads. But sometime I would feel the car lurch while changing lanes (driving over the reflectors). I think I have a loose connection going into the computer. When I changed the fuel pump relay, I had to cut the wire ties to the harness to get to the relay screw. Even though I re-wired tied. I don't think I did a good enough job of it. I'm going to check and clean the connector to the computer then make sure I have solid contact. Re-wire the harness so it can't jiggle in and out of contact.

I like my festy but it sure can be exasperating.

I thank everyone for their help. Will let you know if this finally resolves the issue.

[kned33]

No problems starting my Festy. Only once in the last two days did I have to turn it over more than once and that was three times. I can deal with that. No problems with the car lurching. I re-wire tied the wire harness going into the brain seems to have done the job.

Thanks again for all the advice.

[MTec007]

i have an 88 that has never had problems starting, i drove it home, about 50 minute drive, and parked it for the night, about 3 hours ago i tried to start it and it wouldnt start, so i took the intake off of the carb and checked the filter, not plugged, but it wasnt pumping gas to the carb. i drained a shot of gas out of the tank and dumped it in the carb and it fired up fine and it will start on its own now. im going to check again in a few hours to double check, my brotherinlaw says it could be "vapor lock" and releasing the pressure like i did could have fixed it. i notice my gas cap releases a lot of pressure when i go to fill up.. i dont know what is wrong, but something isnt doing its job. any ideas? is it the gas cap or something else?

[wybnrml]

i notice my gas cap releases a lot of pressure when i go to fill up.. i dont know what is wrong, but something isnt doing its job. any ideas? is it the gas cap or something else?

Every Festiva I've had does that, and also alot of other cars do that also. It's probably something else.

[MTec007]

well it wasn't doing that before at all, but with my last 4-5 fill ups the pressure seems to have gotten a lot worse each time. i didnt 'fix' any thing while i was working on the car but something had to have fixed it, or it would have died when the gas i dumped in got used up, wouldnt have started back up either. im not saying that its 'not normal' but mine wasn't doing it.

[wybnrml]

Well I don't think it is Vapor Lock because if you let the car set over night it would of gave the fuel more than enough time to cool down.

[MTec007]

ok, thank you. i dont know that much about vapor lock or the technical aspects of the fuel system, so i dont know exactly what it is, etc. so that helps eliminate something any way

[JohnGunn]

i didnt 'fix' any thing while i was working on the car but something had to have fixed it, or it would have died when the gas i dumped in got used up, wouldnt have started back up either.

Feel free to ignore these comments since they are coming from someone whose experience with carburetors goes back many years to a 1967 VW Beetle.

What you did in pouring gasoline into your carburetor when it wouldn't start was the most helpful thing you could have done. With that one action you eliminated from consideration all the possible ignition parts that would have to be considered in tracing the problem to its root. It appears very likely that the problem is with the fuel delivery. That simplifies matters considerably.

My understanding of vapor lock is that it occurs when fuel in a line gets so hot that it vaporizes and produces pockets of air in the lines which when they get to the fuel pump and carburetor do not function in the same way as liquid fuel. This is a problem that would exist only on extremely hot days or when you have rerouted lines to bring them into close proximity to hot parts of the engine. Doesn't sound like your problem.

But I can see how a fuel pump that was working on the edge of adequacy might behave in a way which could possibly explain your symptoms. Pouring gasoline into the throat of the carburetor would have started the engine and caused it to rev up. Your mechanical pump would be carried along in this and build up pressure in the fuel system which would be enough to keep the engine running even after the temporary effect of the gas you added had passed.

If you have a Haynes manual there is a test they suggest that you could easily run.
1. Remove the gas filler cap.
2. Disconnect the power from the primary circuit of the coil.
3. Have a container under the place where the fuel line connects to the carburetor.
4. Disconnect that hose and have someone turn the engine over a few seconds while you look at what comes out of the hose.
5. The manual says, "There should be a strong spurt of gasoline from the line on every second revolution."
6. If not, "either the fuel line is clogged or the fuel pump is not working properly."
7. Since your problem may be marginal, an even better test would be to use a pressure gauge to measure the exact pressure the pump is capable of generating.
8. Haynes says it should be 2 to 5 psi.

This is what I would do in your situation.

John Gunn
Coronado, CA