Festiva keeps dying....

[DrMaxwellEdison]

The Gremlin:

had this car since May and replaced the crank seal when I got it, all was fine and then the Cam seal blew (only had the money for one at a time, replaced the waterpump that started leaking at the same time the seal blew) now I've started driving it again after a month and a half hiatus and now I start it up and it runs fine, I put it in gear and it immediately stalls out, and gives a fit trying to start it again..... It's currently parked at a neighbor's house until I can get it running again. it has a hard time accelerating in 1st gear. I'm personally thinking it's a clogged cat, if that's the case, since there aren't any emissions I was thinking it'd be simple to just gut the cat and be done. Anyone here have any ideas I can try before I cut my resonator loose to get access to the cat??? Also it does NOT Idle.....

[JoDan]

Well you can always drill a hole in the pipe before the cat and see how it runs if you believe it's clogged.

[WmWatt]

A vacuum guage will give an indication of a clogged exhaust. See the permanent thread at the top of the forum on vacuum guage diagnostics.

If you think it's in the clutch or transmission you could try putting the front end up on stands (or blocks), starting the car, and putting it in gear. You can shift through the gears as well.

[DrMaxwellEdison]

it's an auto.... so it's a torque converter instead of a clutch.... I've already gutted one cat on another car, so it shouldn't be a big deal with the other car now...

[Pu241]

I'd unbolt the down pipe to the cat first and see if it runs any better, to ID a clogged cat before gutting it!
Might not be what you think it is.
Remember: diagnose first then replace/repair parts!

[DrMaxwellEdison]

I've tried unbolting them, no luck.... I'll try again, but the next time I try I'll Blast it.... I didn't want to do that while it wasn't at my house (or the house of a close friend or significant other) I'm taking it to a friend who has a shed/garage I can work on it in while it's hot out to get it running faster... because I HATE working on the cars in the sun, gotten sun poisoning a few times because of it.... I have a friend lending me a trailer/tow dolly so i can use the Ford Ranger I've been planning to buy from him to haul it to the house.... hope for progress tomorrow

[DrMaxwellEdison]

having just thought about it, I have a couple different down pipes if I need to heavily modify one...

[GenevaDirt]

Are you sure that it was put back together (timing belt) correctly when you replaced the seals. No power in first and dying when trying to take off were problems I was having with my daughters car and it turned out it was 2 teeth off when someone dropped a new motor in it.

[freshtiva]

Maybe the vane in your VAF needs lubed. I had a sticky one once and my car kept dying. Its also the source of your fuel pump switch. Just throwing it out there. Its probably never been service and has been sitting for awhile.

[DrMaxwellEdison]

Are you sure that it was put back together (timing belt) correctly when you replaced the seals. No power in first and dying when trying to take off were problems I was having with my daughters car and it turned out it was 2 teeth off when someone dropped a new motor in it.

Timing is dead on.....

[DrMaxwellEdison]

Maybe the vane in your VAF needs lubed. I had a sticky one once and my car kept dying. Its also the source of your fuel pump switch. Just throwing it out there. Its probably never been service and has been sitting for awhile.

used more than one VAF to eliminate that senario...

[GenevaDirt]

just for giggles.....where is the bolt head in the adjustment swing of the Disty?

[freshtiva]

Did you test the fuel pump pressure ? Sounds like a fuel problem to me.

[DrMaxwellEdison]

towards the top.... never messed with that timing when I did that, so it should still be where it was when the PO had the car.... it ran fine when I got it, no idling problems at all...

[DrMaxwellEdison]

Did you test the fuel pump pressure ? Sounds like a fuel problem to me.

as for testing the pressure, I don't have a gauge but I have manually overriden the Fuel Pump to make sure it was good... it was working when I took my jumper off as well... I cycled the switch a few times after it died...