88' Festiva LX

[Velvet Festiva]

Well I was recently given this vehicle & I think if I put about $500 into her she'll be ready for the road. First off this site is great I've never seen so many fans for one car! The general car knowledge is great also.

I have never worked on a car before so bear with me if I don't get it. OK but first things first. IT has 95,000 miles on it, from what I've read here these baby's can last up to 200,000. The E-brake cable is broken so I need to replace that. I have no idea where to get parts for her. Ford could not help me either.

She does start but red lines even when not pressing on the gas. There is alot of rust. I am definitely replacing the tires (they are 165/70 R12)
probably from tirerack.com. The clutch & shift seem to work fine but I haven't taken her that far (its not registered). But I need to know what to go over first & what to look for. Any help would be appreciated.

[Infinitrium]

The body in those pics looks to be pretty clean for an 88. And I like those rims. Weren't they the optional rims on the GL sport Festiva? Are you sure it's redlining, not just revving really high? Could be a massive vacuum leak, or your throttle cable is stuck.

[Velvet Festiva]

I may have exaggerated a bit its sticking around 2-3 rpms in neutral. Is that typical? I shifted to first & it lunged forward! Almost shot through the garage door I would never have heard the end of that. :shock:
Again I gave it no gas...

On the other hand there is absolutely no leaking from what I can see. I'm a car noob here. Where would i find the throttle cable?

[Guest]

in your photo above, it's the cable next to the oil filler cap going over the valve cover..

[Infinitrium]

Put some air in the front left tire before you go anywhere with it!

[Safety Guy]

Welcome Vel!

1. Get a Haynes manual, and preferably, a Ford shop manual for your year (although an '89 should do if you find one significantly cheaper). Get these off ebay after typing in "ford festiva."

2. Certain parts are available new from parts stores: bearings, control arm/ball joint assemblies, various filters, brake parts, etc. Other parts, more "Festiva specific" may be available still from dealers but you'll pay dearly for most of them. Best to get these from a junkyard, so start enjoying your trips there. Some parts are on ebay as well as other online resources.

3. You gotta have some friends or relatives into cars, no? Look for some gearheads to hang out with.

Looks like you got a nice bodied '88LX there. At under 100K miles, she's still "young." My '89L has over 130K and my '93GL has over 195K.

Read, read, and read some more here. You'll learn quite a bit. Also go to the library for various car repair books.

Karl

[gomer]

I'd forget about tirerack for 12" tires you'll double the price when you add in shipping ,,, Walmart would be a better choice... most independent dealers no longer carry this size..

Junkyards will be your best friend when working on this car... this looks like a pretty good one ,, complete, low mileage, and with no major rust.

[Velvet Festiva]

Ok guys thanks for all the advice so far. Gonna check out Walmart next week for those tires.

Shouldn't be hard to mount with a jack though the caps are pretty rusty. Do I even need new racks? They appear to be in good shape.

[aithanmier]

sounds like your throttle cable is deff sticking, pull the air cleaner lid and check the butterfly on the carb, make sure it's closed. you might have to loosen up the throttle cable, it's not hard, then check all the vacuum lines on the carb and intake manifold, i have some pics posted of the correct placement in the photo section. the car should idle at around 800-900rpm so 2-3k is very very high. maybe the fast idle solenoid is bad and stuck...? but then if your willing to spend 500 to get it on the road the best thing you can do is hit the junk yards and find a fuel injected car. pull the gas tank, fuel lines, intake and wiring harness. then swap it all over. these carbed cars aren't getting any younger and most of the parts for the carb simply aren't available new anymore. and don't let anyone bully you into doin a b6 engine swap either lol with gas prices rising i expect to see alot of people swapping the b3 back in lol.

[Velvet Festiva]

Thanks couldn't find the pics you speak of in the photo section. Could you give me a link I'm a good swimmer but I can't surf through all those posts.

[Gforcefd]

Walmart doesn't carry 12 anymore

According to my uncle walmart doesn't carry 12"s anymore, he got the last 4 they could find for his festiva. I don't know what ya'll going to do. Thats why im going up in rim size.

Logan

[aithanmier]

they probably just need to reorder...

[Velvet Festiva]

Re: Walmart doesn't carry 12 anymore

According to my uncle walmart doesn't carry 12"s anymore, he got the last 4 they could find for his festiva. I don't know what ya'll going to do. Thats why im going up in rim size.

Logan

Same, just checked today...

[Velvet Festiva]

tirerack.com sells 145s will that do instead?

[TJinPgh]

Re: Walmart doesn't carry 12 anymore

According to my uncle walmart doesn't carry 12"s anymore, he got the last 4 they could find for his festiva. I don't know what ya'll going to do. Thats why im going up in rim size.

Logan

Same, just checked today...

If you're checking the listings that are on the tires they have on display, they no longer specify the 12" tires. But, they do still carry them (as of a few weeks ago, anyway).

The problem with the All Things To All People stores like Wal Mart is that they simply don't have enough shelf space to actually BE all things...

Ask the clerk to look them up. They prolly (hopefully) still have them.