Festy broke down on me! Just when i thought i was ok

[Claude]

OK this is the same person who posted the thread about my cracked fuel line or whatever, and now there seems to be another problem with my car. My girlfriend was driving it and it started going elictrically haywire, charge battery light came on along with a bunch more lights, the headlights dimmed and died and everything broke down. Right in the middle of 355. A cop pushed the car to where I could jump it and after jumping it for a minute or so, the car did start up and I was able to drive it...about 500 feet, then it broke down; same MO...charge batt light, and broke down on me. I was able to get a nice lady to give me a jump for longer (this time i jumped it for about 15 minutes) and after that it ws driving ok , but putting the headlights on did seem to strain the engine. So I drove it to my job and it is parked now hooked up to a battery charger. I am waiting to see if this resolves it but I doubt that I should count my chickens before they poop. So if anyone knows what could be the issue here (alternater? belt?battery?) please give me some feedback; i really need this car

[eurotiva]

First .....look at the belt and see if it is still there. If so is it tight? Second check the water in your battery. Does it even have any? Also the battery age? Report back to us and we'll help if possible.

[Claude]

ok how do I do these things..where would the belt be located, is there a picture i can reference, also how would i check for water in the battery? well there is a part of the battery that says SHIPPED AUG 09 which im guessing means its pretty new. anyway i appreciate your help

[Pu241]

OK more specifically the alternator/water pump belt.
If you don't have AC or PS then it is the only belt you can see on the passenger side of the engine.
The battery appears to be relatively new.
I assume that this car is new to you, otherwise, you'd know how old the battery is.
That said, if your Alt/water pump belt is intact and tight and the Alt itself has not failed.
Then it is still possible that the battery is bad.
In short charge the battery on as low a charge rate as you can that will give you a full charge by morning.
Then take it to a Autozone, Advance Auto, O'Riley's, NAPA or any other Mcparts place that will test your battery and Alt for free!

[milehighbear]

hey claude, welcome to the site. If I were you I would go to your local parts store and find a Haynes book for your car. They have lots of pictures in it and lots of instructions on how to do things. That would be the first thing i would do. They are a great help. The guys on this site are pretty sharp when it comes to Festiva's so you got a good car and lots of help here.

[Claude]

ok thanks, looked at the belt and it is still on the alternator and seems to be tight, dont know what else couldbe wrong

[MONSOON]

Did you take the battery in to whatever auto parts store and have them test it? Good possibility that its shot. Are the battery cables tight? Clean? Free of corrosion? Is the top of the battery clean? Believe it or not if the top of the battery is cruddy it can cause problems.
When youre in the auto parts store take a look at the Haynes manuals. They may still have Festiva manuals. If so, get one. It will prove almost as invaluable as the Ford Service manual.

[Pu241]

Monsoon, see above!

[batstiva]

I'm kind of leaning towards alternator failure here. MONSOON, in his other thread he mentions that the battery is new. If the belt is in place, and sufficiently tight, I'm going to say it's the alt. Which you can also have tested at the same time your battery is tested at Advance, or Autozone, or where ever you end up going. Sounds like the battery will accept a charge, it's just not getting anything from the alt. Just my opinion, tho.

P.S. If your local parts place doesn't have a Festiva Hayne's, let me know. There are still enough Festies running around here that the manuals are not too hard to find. Or check Ebay, they are on there pretty much all the time.

[Claude]

yea i havent been able to go to the stor probly wont til tommorow, thanks for all the feedback though. will keep yall posted

[eurotiva]

You have a pm.

[milehighbear]

Back in the old days if you wanted to check the alternator. while your car was running you could take the positive cable off your battery and if it kept running it meant your alternater was good. I haven't tried it with my festiva, but can you still do that?

[batstiva]

Festyboy, any comment??

[FestYboy]

NO!!! you should have never done that EVER. it fries the internals of the Alt. if you want to test the alt, run the car, take a volt meter and check the output to the battery. then turn on ALL the accessories, lights, fans, etc. and check the voltage again. if the readings are at any time UNDER 13.4VDC then i strongly recomend a new alt.

::removes oneself from soapbox::

[FestYboy]

Festyboy, any comment??

you knew it was commin' didn't you? lol