Car idle goes up and down. Car stalls

[german]

Hi I am new here. I just purchased my 88 festiva. The car is carburated and has only 88000 miles. The car ran fine picking it up (770 miles). The next day it started stalling. Worse on half a tank. The tank gauge shows empty when i drove 100 miles but gas is in the tank. The idle goes up and down. There is the clicking in the celenoid. I have added fuel adative for water and cleaning the carb. The fuel filter is clean so I strongly believe that the tank is also. The miles per gallon are 30ish in town 40ish on the highway. The stalling was once that bad that the car was only moving walking speed and sometimes inbetween started to accelerate somewhat normal until it went back to moving speed. The next day it drove somewhat fine. It stalled inbetween but ran ok. Please help me with my problem I greatly appreciate it

[Pu241]

german,

Welcome!
Please post in a new thread when asking about a different problem.
I have moved this so you get moved to the top of the thread list and someone with a similar experience can see and perhaps give you some useful info.
Lastly, please go to User CP at the top of this page and on the left side click on Edit Profile scroll to the bottom of the page and add your location.
There maybe a member close by who can physically give you a hand.

[WmWatt]

The fuel pickup inside the tank may be restricted. You have to pull up the carpet to get at it. I'm pretty sure you have to remove the rear seat which is no problem as it is only held in by four bolts. Then there's a plate on the floor to unscrew and then a port on the top of the tank to unbolt.

The fuel pump on the carburetted model also wears out. I've replaced mine for about $40 CDN. If the tank pickup looks okay I'd try testing the pump by pulling off the hose between the pump and the carburettor, holding it over a container to catch the gas, and turning the engine over a few times. If you have a pressure guage you can measure the pumping pressure at that connection. Someone will know what the pressure should be or I could look it up in the Haynes manual.

Another cheap trick is to clean inside the carburettor with spray cleaner. The instructions are printed on the can.

[WmWatt]

Oh yeah, before doing anything else I'd check all the hoses in the engine compartment for cracks and loose ends because the surging and stalling could be due to a vaccum leak.

[FestYboy]

fuel pressure for the carbed models is good if it's between 2 and 3.5 psi. remember to sheck your cap and rotor and be sure the distro is clean and dry, loosing your spark signal can cause the surging and stalling. that clicking you hear, is it in the dash? or in the engine bay?

i recomend some carb clean, followed by a seafoam treatment, including the seafoam lubricant in the spray can. check your plugs and take pics.

[festyxfi]

Above all good advice IMHO...

also, I discovered last summer while bringing an 88L back to life a blown fuse under the dash that if blown will make the car run terrible at idle, but fine while driving. Check all the fuses. Once I repalced it the carb festy ran like new!

Welcome!

Brenton

[WmWatt]

Sorry about the carb cleaner suggestion. I didn't read your post carefully.
If you suspect the ignition after cleaning all the igintion parts, the control module inside the distributor can be removed and taken to some parts stores to be tested for free. If a resistor or capacity in the module is failing it can cause intermittent surging and stalling.

[german]

Wm Matt

Thanks buddy i think the last suggestion (distributor) is the problem. When it stalls it feels like the spark is gone. Than it shakes like unburn fuel and sometimes catches itself.
Thanks to all the suggestions hope my baby gets over the fever

[FestivaWilliam08]

fuel pressure for the carbed models is good if it's between 2 and 3.5 psi. remember to sheck your cap and rotor and be sure the distro is clean and dry, loosing your spark signal can cause the surging and stalling. that clicking you hear, is it in the dash? or in the engine bay?

i recomend some carb clean, followed by a seafoam treatment, including the seafoam lubricant in the spray can. check your plugs and take pics.

Whats the clicking in the dash...Mine does it until it warms up then you very rarely hear it....It almost sounds like the turn signal....first thing in the morning it clicks real fast