1989 ford festiva running very rich fuel mixture

[j_idaho]

ya i feel the same way , thats why i'm posting all results hoping it will help someone else ,

latest update is i replaced gasket on bottom of in-take plate and top of in-take plate " the plate that heats the gas before going into the in-take manifold" didnt seem to fix issue

out of frustration i started turning the only a/f mixer screw on the whole carb and as i turned it in it got worse and so i turned it out and the car leaned out and ran super smooth, my guess is the old man that owned it before me messed with it, not understanding everything is ran by sensors and switches, i was scarred to mess with it because it so hard to get to and keep track of your turns no room for a screw driver had to use a ratchet with a phillips head

then i drove around all day yesterday and when i take off it now has a stall , ya know like a dead zone at beginning of throttle , anyone have any ideas what causes that everything else it seams to run perfect

i unhooked the battery all night to clear codes , drove it this morning as soon as i started it up, the check engine light came on ---- code 70- vacuum switch ---- how do i know what switch it is ? ,, or is it possible that all night without stepping on the brake peddle isnt enough to clear codes will try again to make sure cause the light came on as soon as i started the car witch is either old code or something is unplugged or just faulty?

just found out all cars in my county have to pass emissions starting june 2010 ,
that really stinks!

[m715]

The Vacuum Switch is the canister shaped device furthest to the passenger side mounted high on the firewall. The tests for tis switch are :
1) check vacuum hoses
2)While applying 2.36 in vacuum to the switch, with the electrical connection unplugged, you should have continuity between the two terminals. No vacuum, open circuit.
3) Check for continuity between vac switch black terminal, and body ground. No circuit/bad vac switch
4) Last check is the black/blue wire from vac switch to computer. No break in the wire, it says the ECA is the problem.

That is the complete diagnostic for code 70.

Have you sprayed carb cleaner around all your vacuum lines yet?
I know, I know..... I am like a broken record.

HTH

Michael

[batstiva]

Am I missing something, or is your pic of a barametric pressure sensor?

[m715]

No Scott. This is a Baro Sensor. They are close together, aren't they?

[qroger]

The Great Balance

I figured it out! This problem is to balance out the fact that you are living in Idaho, and I am here in North Carolina where we have moved into the season of:"Going outside is like walking into a dogs mouth".

[batstiva]

No Scott. This is a Baro Sensor. They are close together, aren't they?

Hmm. Interesting, what is in your first picture is referred to by my Hayne's as the vacuum switch. But is shown on Autozone's website as a barometric pressure sensor, which is what I've always called it. Your second picture is what my Hayne's refers to as the High Altitude Compensation valve, which would indicate to me that it is an air pressure sensor. Interesting. Just one more reminder of how glad I am to not have any of that crap on my carby car anymore. :mrgreen:

And groger, at least walking out into the dog's mouth beats a few months ago here when we were walking out into the polar bear's butt.:p

[m715]

I am just going by what the Ford manual sez they is..... if you ask me, it really is a spider web to deal with. The reason mine are still there is they.... well.... for the most part at least..... haven't given me *much* trouble yet!

Michael

[j_idaho]

well i replaced the vacuum sensor """the pic is exactly right with the vacuum sensor code-70 ,the pic is right.""" with the one out of my brothers 88 festiva and fixed the check engine light from coming on, went home and traded my bad one with one i had at the house ,, so no more codes:p::yay!!!

replaced the fuel pump , no more leaking gas , going to replace exhaust system this week i hope,, "already bought it" just need someone to weld it free or cheap.

after that i am going to replace the valve gasket and adjust the valves while i am there, making some noise like a loose or dead lifter ,, i havent even looked to see if valves are adjustable or not.

i have allot of blow-by thinking about doing a catch can when i get the time.

so anyways good'ol pick-a-part is saving me allot of money being able to buy used parts , the car seams to be running good no more running rich only a slight amount of stall i think that is because of lots of little adjustments that need to be made.

thanks for all the feed back i will post some pics to profile if we ever get some new batteries for the camera :wav:

[batstiva]

Glad it sounds like you have gotten that problem squared away. As was said before, thanks for coming back with progress reports. Really kind of sucks when folks get on here with a problem, and we never find out if they got it fixed.