Tired of trying to keep my Festiva running

[crazyrog17]

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

+1

[Banana Bonanza]

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.

Nothing simple about that OEM computer carb and its bushel basket of black spaghetti. Fuel injection just might be simpler than it. When the OEM carb started acting up on my Festiva, it got replaced with an old fashioned Weber I saved from an old VW I used to own. Now that is simple and works great. And yes I know some folks live in smog nazis states and cant wipe their own rear without 5 permits and head of EPA personally inspecting it first. So they are stuck with the OEM thing.

And modern fuel injection isnt that simple and straight forward to some of us that have lived a few decades with non-computerized carburetors. It certainly isnt cheap to repair unless you have local pick a part junkyard with bunch junk Festivas to swap parts with.

[91_festy_Gl]

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

Ask the manufacture that question.

[drddan]

Getting a carb from an Escort(which is a Weber carb) or getting a small aftermarket Weber like the ones used on VW's will clear up your carb problems AND get rid of all those vacuum lines as well. I have a Weber on mine and it has never ran as well, as it does now with the Weber. They can be tuned for performance or tuned for economy, depending on the jets you choose to use with the carb. Very simple design to work on.
Here is my Weber thread for reference:
http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=30959

[5.0zone]

Oh I know why car manufactures went to EFI. Fuel economy and emissions.
But a carb has a LOT few parts that can go bad and leave your a** stranded beside the road. In over 500K miles the only time mine left me stranded, the coil went bad at about 550k miles.
Yes, I'm aware of all the vacume lines on the stock Festiva.
Have you ever tired to fix a EFI system that ended up being a bad connector? I have.
It took the Ford dealer 2 days to figure it out and they work on EFI cars everyday, but that was before OBDII, I'm sure its much better now... right.

[5.0zone]

Brickdog2000, any updates on the Festiva?
With all those kids you might want to check the tail pipe and make sure someone did stick their favorate food or toy in there
If you still need help, I may be able to come this Saturday.

[brickdog2000]

No updates. I have been busy trying to get to it, but seems like my wife has everyday booked. Either we have to do something or the kids have to do something or I have to watch the kids so she can do something. At this rate I will be dead before I even get to touch the car. I am hoping for sunday. At least as of right now it is sunday. I will be taking it over to my buddies house to work on it. So we should see then.

[brickdog2000]

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I dont know if you can see the pictures that well, but one is of the oil pan where it looks like it might be leaking. The other one is what I am assuming is the steering linkage of some sort that appears to be leaking onto the catalitic converter. I should be tearing into it on sunday, or that is plan as of right now.

[brickdog2000]

Well I looked at the car today with a couple of my buddies. What found out is that we are confused. First thing is why would I have a red wire that goes from the alternator to the electronic choke? The other question is why my butterfly on the carberator wont close on its own. So we came up with the idea that either I get a new carb or transfer over to fi, depending what is cheaper to do.

[crazyrog17]

maybe the wire will open the choke once the engine fires up?

[brickdog2000]

maybe the wire will open the choke once the engine fires up?

Well I do believe that the wire is to control the choke, but I figured it would be hooked up to a temp sensor of some sort and not the alternator.:scratch:

[crazyrog17]

i was thinking the same sort of thing but I imagine with a larger engine, unlike a single cylinder lawn tractor or weed whipper, you wouldn't need the choke for getting it warmed up, just getting it started.

[brickdog2000]

Could anyone that has a carbd festiva check to see if 1. the butterfly springs back to the close position and 2. what does the wire for choke hook up to. Thank you in advance for helping me with this matter.

[econoaddict]

When cold the choke plate does close on its own. Once warm it stays open.
The wire goes to the alternator. (red wire)
I haven't checked in depth but I believe once the car starts the alt provides power to the choke heater, inside should be a spring that when it heats up it pulls the choke plate open.

[TominMO]

For the choke wire, it can come from any 12-volt source that operates only when the motor is running; in your case, the alternator.