'88 Ford Festiva - Wierd Ignition Timing

[DougMountainLion]

I bought this baby on May 6th. Named her "Excalibur".

Excalibur's Engine runs unusually cool, but that's probably just a thermostat stuck open. No biggie there.

However, the engine performance is at it's best when set at 20° to 25°
ABOVE TDC instead of right on TDC as called out on the Haynes shop manual.

When set at TDC, the engine runs but has almost no power, and next to no acceleration at all. At 20° to 25° above TDC, it runs as if it were set AT TDC.

Is it possible I have a faulty timing belt in need of replacement?
This car has a 1.3L engine with Manual 4-speed transmission
and NO AC or Power steering. How hard is it to replace a timing belt?

Also I noticed that the top of the engine right behind the back side of the timing belt cover is oily. When I replace the timing belt, should I replace the camshaft oil seal while I'm at it?

Thoughts?

[DontFearTheReaper]

Since it is a '88 I assume it is carbed? Did you disconnect the vacuum advance from the distributor (and plug it) prior to checking your timing?

Just a thought...

[DougMountainLion]

Yep! Sure did! Still got the 20° - 25° offset from TDC.

[DougMountainLion]

By the way - it's carbed, all right. So was my prior Festiva, a 1989 Maroon colored one, which I totaled on August 15, '04.

I'm driving another Festiva simply because their gas economy is unbeatable!

[Speedbird]

Mine would read really high with a timing light. Change the belt. It should help. After taking the covers off, clean the area good around the cam seal. Then crank it up and look for fresh oil.

[geezerstiva]

my 88 runs very cool too. i think it could be the way the guage is calibrated

[miami man]

my 91 temp reads half way but fan runs all the time
my 93 temp goes up 1/4 of the way then the fan kicks on

[DougMountainLion]

Accessing Timing belt

According to the Haynes shop manual, I should be able to remove the Crankshaft Alternator pulley after removing the right front wheel splash guard.

Not so!

The Crankshaft Alternator pulley faces the frame of the car, just 3/4 of an inch away.

It looks to me like it won't come off without removing the engine from the car!

Any alternatives?

Doug

[Guest]

sounds like you have an a/c pulley as well. 2 grooves or 1? I put a chunk of wood on a jack under the engine at a non collapsable spot on the front of the oil pan and pulled the front motor mount pin bolt.. jacked it up making sure it didn't start to crush the pan (which it didn't) and pulled both pulleys..

[DougMountainLion]

Wierd Igniton Timing / Timing belt access issues

It has an AC pulley all right, thought the car has no AC itself.

One groove for the AC pulley, and one groove for the Alternator pulley.

Now, to make sure I'm reading you correctly, when I unbolt the front motor-mount pin bolt, that I am to elevate the engine, and not lower it?

Is that correct?

Doug

[Guest]

I raised my engine just enough to give me an angle at the bolts above the frame rail.. It was fairly quick and easy.. FYI, I just had to do it myself last week, to add the a/c pulley to drive my 2nd alt..

[WmWatt]

Had same problem on my '89. After removing all bolts from the pulley I put a pry bar into the motor mount above and gave it a shove. That shifted the engine enough for the pulley to drop out. Same thing when reinstalling pulley. Set it in from above and give the pry bar a shove. Dropped right back in. I put a piece of scrap plywood under the bar to keep it from marking up the paint.

[DougMountainLion]

Thanks for the tips, guys!

I'm going to be working on it this Saturday, but I've just about got all my parts [New Timing Belt, Water Pump, Camshaft and Front Crankshaft oil seals] accumulated.

As soon as I get the Timing belt dust cover gasket, I'll have everything I plan to replace.

Will let you know how it goes.

Thanks again!

[DougMountainLion]

New Timing Belt made no difference

I unbolted the engine pivot bolt and jacked up the timing-belt end of the engine, and got access to the pulleys and was able to replace the following:

Camshaft Oil seal
Water pump
Timing belt

But after putting the whole thing back together, it still has NO acceleration when the ignition timing is set at TDC per the Haynes Shop manual for 1988 Ford Festiva with 1.3L engine.

But the car runs 101% PERFECT when the ignition timing is advanced to the "wrong" setting at 25° ABOVE TDC.

So I have decided -To HELL with Shop Manual specs! If this car wants to run best at the "wrong" ignition timing setting, I'm gonna let it go at that.

Hey - if it runs, don't fix it, right?

[DougMountainLion]

Re: New Timing Belt made no difference

[quote="DougMountainLion"]I unbolted the engine pivot bolt and jacked up the timing-belt end of the engine, and got access to the pulleys and was able to replace the following:

Camshaft Oil seal
Water pump
Timing belt

But after putting the whole thing back together, it still has NO acceleration when the ignition timing is set at TDC per the Haynes Shop manual for 1988 Ford Festiva with 1.3L engine.

But the car runs 101% PERFECT when the ignition timing is advanced to the "wrong" setting at 25° ABOVE TDC.

Question - Do I really need to be concerned at all, of the car is running all right? Even the engine temperature Gage shows it to be running cool,
with good performance and no backfiring.

Is it possible I have a factory-defective Crankshaft Alternator pulley, with the timing mark 25° above where it is supposed to be on the pulley?

Could my Distributor need to be removed and re-installed with the gears lined up in a different way?

Or should I just leave well enough alone, since the car is running fine advanced at 25° above TDC?

Thoughts?