88 festiva wont idle

[1upfront]

i was driving home a few days ago and when i came to a stop it just died, i was able to drive it home but now i need some advice from you festiva guru's on where to start my problem search.. I was thinking a vaccum leak of some sort caused by a bad pcv valve or possibly a small piece of crud in the jet for the idle circuit of the carb but im sure one of you will be able to give me a better idea of whats wrong. Thanks!

[FestYboy]

location? have you sprayed for vaccum leaks yet? does you choke work properly?

[WmWatt]

Check the condition of your spark plugs to see if the engine is buring clean. I would try a minor tuneup - clean plugs, wires, cap, rotor, spray carb cleaner into the carburettor and around the external linkages. A trick used by mechanics is to increase the base idle speed by turning the white plastic screw on the carb. More of a problem is a dying ignition control module which will cause intermittent stalling, but not just at idle. If nothing else helps you can remove the module and have it tested for free at some parts stores. If it is the module you can often wait for the engine to cool and it will restart.

[1upfront]

location? have you sprayed for vaccum leaks yet? does you choke work properly?

I live in coshocton ohio, the choke works fine and the car runs good when cold while the choke is on but when the choke releases then it dies. ill grab some carb cleaner from work and spray for leaks tonight.

[unknown]

Sounds like a vacuum leak to me. Or perhaps loose on the manifold. But, I am a nuclear physicist, not a mechanic. Sounds like it is sucking
more air than needed.

[FestYboy]

I live in coshocton ohio, the choke works fine and the car runs good when cold while the choke is on but when the choke releases then it dies. ill grab some carb cleaner from work and spray for leaks tonight.

ok, sounds like the base idle set screw is set WAY too low. there's also a choke set screw on the driverside of the carb (opposite of the base idle screw).

if it were a vac leak bad enough for it to die at idle with the choke off, the car won't want to start (still want to look for leaks anyway) but i would look at your base idle settings first.

[Movin]

With the car off spray that choke cleaner in every hole you see under the choke
plate. If your mix screw has been un capped count your turns in gently then remove it
and spray the heck out of that hole with the little red tip, if you have an air compressor
chase it with that.Put the idle screw back to its original location. Start the car and and rev it up to 3 grand and slam the choke plate tight shut until revs fall and repeat
two or three times. This should clear any debris...

Assuming nothing mechanical changed on that drive home, You have already
been told how to check all that mechanical stuff.

with the car idling whiff carb cleaner over the and down the carb. If you can make it
idle too high you have a vacuum leak. If it idles normal with the whiff you are lean
and will need an overhaul of the carb to remove the debris.

There is an idle fuel shut off you will have to disable to confirm this.

Be careful of sparks from any source while using the carb spray, it can
take months to regrow the hair and much longer for your friends
to forget about the "smoking "

[georgeb]

Put it on ramps and look at a couple plastic vacuum valves on the back of the engine. They open at a certain temp and will cause a vac leak when warm if the load side is broken or the hose is off.

[1upfront]

I went out last night and pulled the lid off the airfilter and started the car then turned the idle screw so it would stay running, I noticed right away that fuel was just dumping into the carb, does anyone have any idea what would be causing this? I was thinking maybe a piece of debris in the needle seat for the float..

[FestYboy]

sounds like you're off the idle circuit and the main jet is dribbling fuel through the venturi. given that, you first need to double check for vac leaks around the base of the carb (also use a good vaccum gauge to check the idle vaccum). if all that checks out, you should go after the float needle and idle circuit for debris.