Just got my first Festiva ... a few problems/concerns

[AllDay815]

Okay let me start off by introducing myself ... my names Chris, I have been working on various vehicles from mopeds to motorcycles to car for 6 years now. I own a 94 Ford Probe, my festy(which i am naming Tankstiva, i know some people already named thier's that but i already have the letters ready to be put on the car), and a 96 Accord.

A little about the car:

89 Festiva L 107k ... I aquired it from my dads friend from work, and heres the best part, for FREE!! It had a bad water pump and a few other little problems. I have already replaced the water pump and put a new headunit in, thanks to this sites wiring thread.

I have done a lot of digging on the site among others and I have finally decided to give in and ask anyone else if they have any answers for me. When I step on the gas I instantly hear what I can only describe as the sound that you would hear of a washer rattling around on a loose bolt. I have jacked the car up, had my girlfriend step on the gas, and could only narrow it down to it coming from the front driver side directly in front of the driver side of the cabin. The next problem I have is my temp gauge doesn't work. I have pulled the dash and everything looks fine. Any ideas?

Just one more thing. The Probe I have is completely destroyed but the engine is good. I know it can fit into the Festy but I am struggling not to get frustrated as I go through the results I find when I search. So can someone please either give me a sum up of what I would need to do to make it work (don't need pics or details just a general list of things that need to be done)

Thank all of you in advance.

PS - I am a member of a lot of forums but i have never seen this smily and I think its awesome.... :sign10:

[grey]

When I step on the gas I instantly hear what I can only describe as the sound that you would hear of a washer rattling around on a loose bolt. I have jacked the car up, had my girlfriend step on the gas, and could only narrow it down to it coming from the front driver side directly in front of the driver side of the cabin. The next problem I have is my temp gauge doesn't work. I have pulled the dash and everything looks fine. Any ideas?

:

pinging sound might be a timing issue. If so, you will want to fix that soon. Very soon.

temperture sender. Is it on the side of the head somewhere? did you ground the connector to check the gauge?

Probe has a 6 cylinder?

[fastivaca]

Welcome to the site AllDay815. The rattling you hear could also be the heat shields on the exhaust system. I pulled them off my car and no more rattles.

[AllDay815]

the ping i narrowed down as coming from between the engine and the fire wall. Deffinately not the timing. I also know about my heat shield problem I am removing that tomorrow morning when I get up. Its not quite as loud at that is very suttle. I will try grounding the wire tomorrow for the temp gauge. And the Probe engine is the I4 DOHC

[AllDay815]

Oh I almost forgot ... the one major problem I am having is rarely when I come to a stop the engine races like im flooring it and only stops when I throw it in park. I have read the posts about other people having similar problems so have already done what they suggest. All compression tests are fine, none of the gaskets are bad or getting bad. The car runs PERFECT, it just does this every so often. Any ideas?

[Tim]

Loose clamp on the exhaust?

Mine made a similar noise and that's what it turned out to be.


edit: the racing could be a stuck throttle cable. I had a Festiva that did this periodically. Tapping the gas pedal made it stop.

-Tim

[AllDay815]

I triend tapping on the gas pedal, that only made it redline and didn't fix it. I tired everything and the only things i found that make it stop is shutting the car off and putting it in park.

And where on the exaust are you talking about with loose clamp?

[Tim]

In my case, it was right by the firewall, where the downpipe connects to the cat. One of the heat shield clamps had worked itself loose and was rattling around on the pipe. I sawed it off and no more rattle.

[Tim]

Regarding the idle: it could also be stuck linkage. Try opening and closing the carb by hand, and see if it sticks or there is resistance.

-Tim

[AllDay815]

thanks Tim I think I just fixed the idling problem... I remembered that the spring by the throttle cable was a little rusty so I went down and sure enough it does bind a little bit, so i sprayed a little WD-40 on there and no more resistance.

[1988redfordfestiva]

the choke might need a cleaning they do get stuck at times i have a friend down the road that has one but hes having same issue as me carb lines ? but your temp sensor wires are under the intake green plug check if its pluged in its located on driver portion and also check your vacuum solenoids they tend to crack and cause a leak causing the engine to race