Car cuts off. Completely Baffled.

[Futurefesty90]

heres my little problem thats been ongoing for about a year and a half.

First off my Festiva would a fantastic little car if it would keep running. The problem is, it decides whether or not it wants to run. Starts perfect everytime but after about 5 min. it just cuts slam off like you cut off the ign. switch. If you leave the switch on and try to crank it back up, it wont hit a lick. But if you cut the switch completely off and then crank it, itll start back up like nothing happened. 10 seconds later, cuts right back off no matter what you do.

The longer you leave the car sitting, the more no-problem days you get out of it. Let it sit for a month, it wont start doing it for a week. Ive replaced the fuel pump, the fuel filter twice (clean each time), distributor, vac. advance, ignition module, computer, plugs and wires. I DONT KNOW! IM JUST CLUELESS!

[speedoholic]

Was their rust in your fuel tank when you changed the pump? Does the car do it no matter how much gas in in the tank? Did you put a new sock on your pump when you changed it?

[GenevaDirt]

ignition switch going bad??

[gauge_half_inch]

it seems to be an electrical issue more than a mechanical, i.e fuel, filter

[Futurefesty90]

Was their rust in your fuel tank when you changed the pump? Does the car do it no matter how much gas in in the tank? Did you put a new sock on your pump when you changed it?

mine carbed so the pumps off the block. i was about to check out the inside of the tank because my gas gauge wasnt working anyway but turns out squirells climbed on top and nawed through my sending unit wires. so soldered that back and didnt bother.

[econoaddict]

Mine was doing the same.
It ended up being the new ignition module, put an old used one back in and haven't had a problem since. The new warrantied one is in the glovebox just in case.

A previous issue killed the module and distributor. I have had to have both parts warrantied. so far so good at this time.

[Futurefesty90]

well mine does it with the old one and the new one. is there any way to test it? and what did you use to get the round armature thing off?

[econoaddict]

ah, mine is injected, the module is on the drivers strut tower.
different setup

[drddan]

Futurefesty, I had a similar acting situation with my carbed festy. There is a metal fuel line that runs the length of the under side of car. Check the short 3-4 inch rubber fuel line that comes off of that metal line and attaches to the fuel filter. Make sure it does not have a sharp bend in it. What was going on with mine, was over time, the fuel lines get softer, and the filter is located directly in front of the metal line. The line made a sharp bend to reach the metal line behind it. As the line got softer with age, it started to collapse at this bend when under pressure from the fuel pump, shutting off fuel flow. Leaving it sit, like yours, I could drive it for a while before it would collapse and stop running. The longer it sat, the longer I could drive. It was odd acting and took me a while to figure it out. I replaced the rubber line with a new longer piece, 8-10 inches long. Hope this helps.

[Festiva Time]

Ignition Coil failure? When it gets hot under the hood, the coil can't keep putting out the High Voltage needed. This an almost common failure in the old canister-style coils, like my '88 Festiva has. You probably have the other type of coil, so I do not know if they like to fail like that.
This is just a guess.

-Kirk

[htchbck]

I have to assume something electrical over fuel since its a carby... if it was fuel then there should be no difference between trying to crank again and shutting it ALL the way off and trying to crank. I agree that the coil is probably the most likely suspect, though I'm not sure why shutting the car off and trying again would fix it temporarily. Maybe some kind of short in the wiring going to the ignition module/coil? Its been a while since I've fooled around with a carb one so I can't say for sure what all electronics are under there ... but from the symptoms you've described and the fact that its carb'd I highly doubt its fuel system related.

[Futurefesty90]

sorry i forgot to add that i have changed the coil. i got out the spark indicator and it's definately getting enough fire.

[Futurefesty90]

Futurefesty, I had a similar acting situation with my carbed festy. There is a metal fuel line that runs the length of the under side of car. Check the short 3-4 inch rubber fuel line that comes off of that metal line and attaches to the fuel filter. Make sure it does not have a sharp bend in it. What was going on with mine, was over time, the fuel lines get softer, and the filter is located directly in front of the metal line. The line made a sharp bend to reach the metal line behind it. As the line got softer with age, it started to collapse at this bend when under pressure from the fuel pump, shutting off fuel flow. Leaving it sit, like yours, I could drive it for a while before it would collapse and stop running. The longer it sat, the longer I could drive. It was odd acting and took me a while to figure it out. I replaced the rubber line with a new longer piece, 8-10 inches long. Hope this helps.

Thanks for helping bud. i replaced it today and it seems alright but i wont know for sure till i start driving it more. the old line felt like it was getting pinched and was horribly cracked on the inside. If this fixes it for good, you're my new best friend. I was so frustrated I was thinking about selling :0