Tired of trying to keep my Festiva running

[brickdog2000]

I just got back from being gone for 7 months. Since I have been gone my wife took my festiva and got the rear main fixed and a new clutch put in it. Now I am home and wanting to drive my car, but it has issues that are wanting me to sell it. Its an 88 with the 1.3l 4sp manual. She wont stay running. Which I think is the carbuerator and when I shut her off i have smaoke bellowing out from underneath the car. It appears the smoke is coming from teh catalyitic converter. Plus there is a constant squeal and I thought it was the belt, but apparently not. I have already invested so much money into it that I dont know whether I want to sell it or fix it.:scratch: Is there anyone who might be able to help me with these issues? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[wybnrml]

Plus there is a constant squeal and I thought it was the belt, but apparently not.

Possibly the alternator.

[brickdog2000]

[ATTACH]3962[/ATTACH]

This is a pic of the car.

[Pu241]

Brickdog,

Hold on I need to make a call and see if I can get hold of a certain carbie driving Jimmy Buffet looking guy on here and see if he can help you.
First thing I'd do is unbolt the cat and see if it is clogged.
Be careful to use PB blaster on the bolts as they will snap off the stainless steel studs on the cat reactor, then your in trouble.
PM me your phone # so the NC person I have in mind can contact you directly.

[batstiva]

I'd be willing to bet the squeal if it is not the belt, it is the alt. itself. My guess would be that the bearings inside the alt. are bad/ going bad.

I'd also be willing to bet the cat is clogged. Two ways you can find this out. Pu241 suggested one way, the other is to run the car at night long enough that the cat would smoke, shut the car off, and see if the cat is orange/glowing. If your cat is clogged, and you've got all the carbie emissions/recirculation stuff still hooked up, then your ECU/ECM will be getting horrible readings and trying to compensate in ways that will not work. If that makes sense.

[brickdog2000]

Thank you for the info. I will check the cat tomorrow. I did replace my battery cause teh shop my wife took it to killed it. Apparently they couldent tell the key was in the accesory position by the fan being on or my radio display that stays lit. I will also check my alternator to see if it pushing out the correct voltage.

[brickdog2000]

Batstiva what you are saying makes perfect sense to me. I am a diesel mechanic, but I am not use to carburated engines and vaccum lines. Matter of fact I found a festiva at the junk yard the other day. It must be a 90 or newer since it is efi. I thought about buying the engine, but I keep telling myself if I buy an engine it will be an upgrade (1.6l or 1.9l). Although I am thinking about buying all the efi components to eliminate my carb and vaccum lines.

[91_festy_Gl]

FI is the way to go.

[brickdog2000]

FI is the way to go.

What all would I need? I know the fuel pump, the wiring, ECU/ECM?, and the part to replace the carb (forgot the name of it). Is there anything else?

[batstiva]

^^Fuel rail, intake and injectors.
I've got a carbie and an FI car, can't really say that I prefer one over the other. Bigger thing I notice is the tranny difference between a 4 speed and a 5 speed.

[91_festy_Gl]

Fuel tank and all the plumbing for it. I just like FI because its less of a pain when it comes to fuel problems.

[scitzz]

Good Googly Moogley! You are a heck of a way away from me to be in the same state! LOL!

Anyhole, another easy thing to try for testing the Cat is to loosen, or even remove the O2 sensor... PB blaster is your friend here as well!

Constant squeal? Try removing the alt belt, and starting it up. If you still have a squeal, there is always the chance that the shop got the pilot bearing in the flywheel wrong somehow. Don't ask me how, but it has been done before....

My alternator was producing power, but the bearings were bad, a while back, so checking voltage won't definitely eliminate it as the problem, BTW...

[5.0zone]

FI is the way to go.

You've got to be kidding. Why would anyone want to do that?

[5.0zone]

You are about an hour and a half from me but I can come help you if you need it.
I would rather do that than see you sale the car.
Carbed Festivas are one of the easyest cars I've ever worked on.
There are way fewer parts to go bad on a carbed Festiva than an EFI car.

[WmWatt]

Too many kids on the car. Maybe one of them is doing the squealing.

Another way to check for clogged exhaust is with a vacuum gauge.