New and desperate.

[batstiva]

Kind of lost without it. I'm spending seventy plus for gas now a week driving my truck.

I hear ya. And people around me not afflicted with Festivaitis wonder why I want a back up car, and a back up for my back up, and....Well, you get the idea.

Okay, assuming it stopped working all at once, not a gradual loss of reliability, correct? Wondering if you are not having an issue with the safety switch on your tranny. Safety switch is what only allows the car to start if the clutch is engaged. If you look up under your dash, at the back of the clutch pedal, there should be a white box/switch. Push in the clutch pedal by hand and make sure that the little metal plate on the pedal arm is contacting that switch and making it go all the way in. Here's the switch I'm talking about.





That metal ear sticking out in the second pic is what is supposed to push in the switch. Assuming that's working, now pop the hood, and look down at the driver's side of the tranny, down low. You should see two wires going into a plug type thing in the tranny. Follow those wires up near the starter and make sure that they have not become disconnected. IIRC, they go through a white connector before merging into a larger bundle of wires going back through the firewall.

Assuming here that if you turn the key into the "on" but not "start" position, your radio works, that you can turn lights on, etc. Am I correct in assuming that?

[2ndmouse]

it still may be that fuse link.... Ive had that box rot out on a few of these cars.
lights only is what you get when the center wire is toast.

But, even puttin in a new wire often doesnt work, you have to take the whole little box out, clean it, clean the wire atttachments and put it back together. 8 out of 10 times, that'll fix it.

I had one go bad where the fuese link wires were good and the bottom of the connections were rotted out. I had another one that for some reason didnt like the cartridge fuses but would run fine with fuse wire.

That fuse link thing can be a real headache.

[jbeamcoke]

I ended up buying the cartridge ones. Followed that previous picture and placed the 40 in the middle and two 30's on the sides.

No Batstiva, the radio doesn't work just headlights.

I feel terrible for not mentioning this but the battery went dead because I left the lights on. Now when I charge it or even put the new one in I only get headlights.

Guy at Orielly's couldn't find the wire connectors so I went with what I saw in that previous photo link. For all I know I bought the wrongs things all together but they fit like a glove for that little box.

So pissed

[GenevaDirt]

I ended up buying the cartridge ones. Followed that previous picture and placed the 40 in the middle and two 30's on the sides.

No Batstiva, the radio doesn't work just headlights.

I feel terrible for not mentioning this but the battery went dead because I left the lights on. Now when I charge it or even put the new one in I only get headlights.

Guy at Orielly's couldn't find the wire connectors so I went with what I saw in that previous photo link. For all I know I bought the wrongs things all together but they fit like a glove for that little box.

So pissed

Do like 2ndmouse said and make sure that the box is not totally corroded. Make sure that the fuses you bought have the LONG legs on them and not the short legs....will make a better connection then the short.

Your description is definitely what happens when the middle fuse blows. Make sure the attaching wires are good.

[jbeamcoke]

Ok, the fuse keeps blowing. I haven't the tools yet to pull the box out of that tiny nook. Would corrosion cause them to keep blowing? Is 40 correct for that center plug not too mention the 30's on both sides? As far as clean it what should I use a wire brush and contact cleaner?

Also, I didn't disconnect the battery when plugging them in and when I went in with a screwdriver to pull the box off one blew right there. Sorry for being a cartard but I'm still learning.

[darrenryall]

Ok, the fuse keeps blowing. I haven't the tools yet to pull the box out of that tiny nook. Would corrosion cause them to keep blowing? Is 40 correct for that center plug not too mention the 30's on both sides? As far as clean it what should I use a wire brush and contact cleaner?

Also, I didn't disconnect the battery when plugging them in and when I went in with a screwdriver to pull the box off one blew right there. Sorry for being a cartard but I'm still learning.

Just changed the fusible links myself today.. as long as the car is off, and you're careful (and only doing one at a time), you can pull each end of the link off and then drop the replacement fuse into the hole. Then move to the next. It was Plug and Play when I did it.

BUT, before you take that box off your firewall, definitely unhook the positive terminal at the very least. If I'm being paranoid, I also wrap it with an old plastic bag in case the terminal wants to snake back across the battery and retouch the positive terminal at the worst possible time.

I tend of think of electricity as water when I work.. I don't want to get sprayed, so I shut off the water at the tap. Weird analogy, but it works for me.

[jbeamcoke]

I don't understand. The middle fuse keeps blowing. I took a wire brush to the contacts and they look clean. Did the same with the battery connections. Everytime I plug one in that middle position (the 40) it just blows out as soon as I secure the battery cables.

[freshtiva]

This fuse wont blow

[freshtiva]

You may have a faulty ground or a short.

[JohnGunn]

The fuse is doing what it is supposed to do, protect the the circuit from being burned up by too much current. Somewhere in that circuit there is a wire that is grounded and the full power of the battery is trying to flow to that point.

I've never had the problem, but I think I'd start by checking the resistance between the terminal, on the side of the fuse away from the battery, and ground. I would imagine it to be pretty close to 0.0 ohms. Do a visual check of all the wires you can see, looking for a wire which has rubbed its insulation off and is in direct contact with some metal. You might also want to shake wires while looking at the meter is see if that movement changes the resistance. If you can recall what was going on just before the link blew the first time, that might provide a clue to where to look for the cause. If you don't find anything amiss do the following.

Keep the volt/ohm meter connected and start disconnecting things that are on that circuit one by one looking for one that causes the meter to jump up to a higher resistance. For example if you suspect the ignition switch, disconnect it and see if the resistance goes up. The starter is probably in that circuit too. I was about to suggest that you remove fuses in the dashboard fuse compartment one at a time looking for a change in resistance, but they would surely have blown themselves before the 40 amp. head fuse blew and thus they would have protected the head fuse. From that it would seem that the ground you are looking for is not protected by any other fuse.

If all else fails get a copy of the wiring diagram for the "head fusable link" circuit and use that as a guide in looking for the problem.

I'm sure someone who has actually had this problem will be of more help. These are just ideas that I would probably try myself.

John Gunn
Coronado, CA

[darrenryall]

I'm new to Festivas as well, but I'd start with pulling all the fuses from the fuse box in the dash. Then put back in the fusible link, see if it blows right away. If it doesn't, start adding back in one fuse at a time until it does blow. That may help you narrow down which circuit has a short in it.

[darrenryall]

This fuse wont blow

Can't tell.. is that rust in the background, or a burned out car?