Could someone fill me in on the reliability of the 1.3L?

[notahybrid]

Hello all, I'm pretty new to this forum and Festivas in general. Other than Jay Leno's Shogun, I haven't really been into these cars. I'm more of a Mustang and domestic muscle car guy, but after seeing the gas prices rise, I figured I wanted something that got 40+mpg for the daily commute, yet was still cool looking. Hondas were out of the question to me after seeing so many hacked up into outrageously annoying ricers. And I really didn't care much for the oddball 3cyl in the Geo. So I found myself a 1989 carburetted Festiva L with the 5spd manual. I liked the car so I bought it. Well, things went down hill after I purchased it. Didn't even get it home. It's currently sitting 300 miles from where I live. I cant find gears in it, the ignition is locked up, started idling terribly, and it needs a new exhaust hooked up. Yep I got stuck with a lemon. I'm currently trying to get a truck and trailer to go get it. I was told it needed a tune up, but I think it needs more love than that. The body is in fair shape, but I think that's the only thing going for it right now. Well, that and the simplicity of the carburetor. I was going to install alky/water injection on it and build a custom ram air to further hike up mpg's. I have a system for carbureted engines. Anyway, my faith in the 1.3L is lost. I did reliability reports before I purchased the car, but I was wondering if someone who's actually owned several of these cars could tell me if they've gone through similar of what I've had too. Would it be better for me to just swap the engine out of a Miata in the longrun? I've heard that the 1.6 is reliable and drops right in. Selling my lemon is out of the question. I figure the only way I'll get my money back out of it is to keep it and drive it till the wheels fall off, even if I have to do a rebuild on it.

[gdawgs]

I've never had a carbed one, but I've had two FI ones, and my dad has one. My first one(which I no longer own) currently has well over 300,000 miles on it. I never did any major repairs to the engine/tranny, and never had to add any oil to it. Just did oil changes, valve cover gaskets, etc. There was a report from someone in CA that had like 650,000 miles on the original engine/tranny with no major issues. In my opinion, it's one of the most reliable engines out there. There are many people on this site that have lots of miles without having any major issues.

[scitzz]

Same here, I got close to 500k on my first engine.Someone may have abused/neglected yours......
I think you will hear a lot of peeps say go ahead with the 1.6, though. Easy upgrade, and, if I am not mistaken, easier to find, and easier to find NEWER.

[geezerstiva]

you have an anomaly. i personally own a 88 festiva with 361K on it and still running. there is another member on here with one with over 500K. they are extremely reliable. the carb will plague you though. it is the least reliable of any part of this car. on my 88, i've only done a valve job, alternators, and normal maintenance. once you fix it, you probably will love it.

[geezerstiva]

wow, posted before me, nice. :lol:

[worfdog]

i've got two carbed ones, both with over 200,000 miles. the 1988 one, have had no problems with except normal maintainence . the 1989 had to replace the ignition module. these are the most reliable cars i have ever owned.

[notahybrid]

Well, that makes me feel a little more confident. The car is down below Columbus, OH right now sitting in a parking lot. My friend and I literally had to pick up the back end by hand and jerk it sideways to steer it off the road in there. Hope the owner doesnt get eager to get it out of there. I live in Massillon, OH. Hoping to get a trailer this week. I upgraded my AAA membership this week to include 100 mi free towing, but the upgrade wont kick in for another 2 weeks. If I have to wait that long to get it outa there I spose I could have AAA tow it to my g/f's place. She lives in Marietta, bout 100 mi from where I am. Then I could get a truck and tow it myself from there. There are some oddities bout this car like even tho I have a clear title and tags for it, I'm guessing I'll need to replace the starter and I was given a GM key to start it with???? Funny thing is that key worked flawlessly till the ignition locked up.

[geezerstiva]

sounds like your car has been abused a bit. the ignition key is not really specific. i've heard people say they can start their cars with screwdrivers.

[scitzz]

I can sometimes use any key, sometimes it HAS to be my festy key, I guess the tumblers wear out quick. Do you mean the ign switch itself is locked up? How do you mean you cannot find gears?

[notahybrid]

I can sometimes use any key, sometimes it HAS to be my festy key, I guess the tumblers wear out quick. Do you mean the ign switch itself is locked up? How do you mean you cannot find gears?

Well I'm not quite sure if it's the it's the ignition itself or the key I was given. Probably the key. I tried it on one of the doors and well let's just say I left the thing unlocked. As for not finding gears, I figure the bushings are worn and not having the shift pattern outlined for me probably threw me off too. I got a '92 Dodge Spirit R/T. All the R/Ts were manual and it feels like a different shift pattern than the Festys. About the tumblers, guess that explains the red necked key a bit. Makes me nervous though. I mean that's like the perfect Gone in 60 Seconds scenerio. There are some other things I forgot to mention like the fact the OD appears to be stuck at 63K and the Speedo doesnt work. Those were little oddities I overlooked on purpose. After all, it doesnt take much to fix a guage. Anyway, The title reads 183K. I'm inclined to trust the title, but not sure. Oh just curious, if I was forced to hot wire it, which wires would I touch anyway? I was tempted to try it, but got confused after taking the cover off. Yeah, this thing was owned and abused by red necks. Too bad things didnt go wrong till after I bought it. I don't know how many of you have seen a sitcom where the guy buys a car he thinks is good and every thing goes wrong. I can name a few episodes from Leave it to Beaver, Andy Griffith, Happy Days, Fresh Prince of Bell Air, Full House.... Well, it's like that with me right now. I'm just desperate to get it home so I can make a to do list.

[scitzz]

Could be the key.....hmmmmm.......
If, big IF, If you could get a locksmith to go out there, and cast a key, and they will let you pay by phone, then if they can start it, you could go back down and drive her home, after picking up the key from their shop.......
Also, when I bought mine, brand new mind you, from the dealer, they gave me a little metal circle to put away, it had a code to have any ford dealer cut me a new key, I taped it in a hidden spot on mt festy(NOT recommended), If I ever klose all the keys, I can goto ford, MAYBE they can cut one from the VIN or something?

Festy 5 spd = standard H pattern
1 3 5
2 4 R

[notahybrid]

I own two Spirits, one base model, the other's an R/T. I had to get a VIN cut for my base model. It was pretty close but the guy had to sand it down a bit. The locks on the car are wearing out apparently. I could try a VIN cut for this car, but I don't think there's any guarantee the key will work first try. Even if I do get it started, I still have to deal with the erratic idling. My best shot is just to tow it home and take a look at things here. So it is an H pattern?? Hmmm.... so's the R/T. The R/Ts gears are close ratio. IDK if that makes any difference. I can have the R/T in 5th and it will look like its in 3rd.

[notahybrid]

As a side note, I dont mean to go off topic, but I was wondering if the 1.6 got the same fuel mileage as the 1.3 I wouldn't think the extra .3L would make much difference, but I'm just curious. Granted, I'll be asking alot of questions about these cars.