1989 Festiva L Hesitation problem and shorting out

[clintorino]

Damn I have a similar problem, The past 2 weeks, the car has been fine. HAULING AZZ So one day I got an oil change and the next day hell began. Car starts up and then when i put it in gear and drive... hesitates at times.. but was driveable.. i cannot press on the gas pedal more than 1/2 way. eventually one day after work, the battery was dead so i got a jump. Stopped at a gas station, refueled and the car started up without any problem (so maybe its not the alternator). On the way home from work, i noticed it hesitating and while i was at a toll bother, i noticed when i pressed on the gas, my lights got brighter. I also noticed that my turning signals were dimming and every time they came on, my car lost a little power... So i turned off the lights and the car ran somewhat smoother. Eventually one block away from home, it died on me. Battery dead game over. So i had the battery checked out and a Advanced Autoparts store and they said that it was so low, they wanted to charge it overnight and check it in the morning. The next day it tested good. I put it back in the car, started it up and tried to drive it... (i thought that perhaps if it was drawing directly from a fully charged battery, the hesistations would dissappear -if it was a fuel pump problem). Still hesitating.... So lets play. I then removed the terminals from the battery to see if the alternator was working correctly... it was fine and did not turn off... then i heard a click, click , click and it shorted out and died on me. From the sounds of things, i am assuming that I have a short in my turning signals because it sounded like they were on but at a really fast pace for 5 seconds. Anyways, so i removed the signal fuse and reconnected the battery and it started up again, disconnected the battery...ran fine, however when putting it in gear, still hesitating... I did this for 5 minutes to see if the car would lose power but it didnt. I dont know what to do. Do you think it is an alternator problem and i should go have it tested or what? its so frustrating. I love this car i just dont know what to do next.

Thank you,
Clinton

[sanjeet]

Clintorino remember that the starter motor can pull up to 200amps when cranking so do you know if the Advanced Autoparts did a full load test of around 200 amp to see how the battery performed under load?

How did you know if the alternator was working with the battery disconnected? the alternator needs 12v from the battery to work, the alternator needs 12v to generate an output, the rapid clicking of the signal lamps means usually you have a signal lamp not working.

If the lights are going bright it must be a voltage regulator fault inside the alternator and that would account for the indicator bulbs burning out, best to get the alternator checked out or replace with a good second hand one.

Get the battery rechecked as well if it hasn't been load tested.

[FestYboy]

pulling the battery cables to "test" your alt caused it to full field and you most likely burnt the internals doing so.

NEVER test an alt in that manner, but i guess you know that now.

[festivabot]

Did you ever figure out what was wrong with your car? I am having the same problems.

I also have an 89 festiva.