I'm going to be giving my festiva a tune up.

[WBBulldogs]

I was thinking of just changing the oil and replacing the oil and air filter. Should I also change the spark plugs and spark plug wires? What else should I do as a tune up?
BTW, what brand should I buy of oil? Does it really matter?

[TRUCKtiva]

for my money nothing beats a new cap/rotor + bosh platinum 2's They Rock

[freshtiva]

How is it running ?

[WBBulldogs]

Well it hardly has no power when accelerating.

Well it hardly has no power when accelerating. And besides the oil is in need of a change.

[canlboater]

Re: Well it hardly has no power when accelerating.

Well it hardly has no power when accelerating. And besides the oil is in need of a change.

Every oil change I always toss a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in the car. Usually either Lucas Oil or Chevron with Techron fuel SYSTEM cleaner. Also if you have not done so you may want to change out the fuel filter. Mine was in pretty bad shape and getting a new one helped a lot

[WmWatt]

Poor performance might not have anything to do with the things you wrote about. I wouldn't spend any money until you can diagnose what's wrong.

Without spending any money you can clean and check the gap on the plugs and clean the wires and distributor cap. I've only changed the cap on my '89 in the 17 years I've owned it once and that was because I tried to clean the contacts with sandpaper and ruined them. I've changed the wires twice from pulling them off too many times and ruining them too. I checked them each time with a ohm-meter to make sure there was too much resistance before changing them. I got ones with a lifetime warranty so I can get a new set free any time. When I do a tuneup I also check the timing but you need a tachometer and a timing light for that. I got a couple at garage sales over the years. However, if there is a problem with the ignition an inexpensive vacuum guage will tell you and save the price of changing parts that are still good.

The Haynes manual troubleshooting section has a list of things to check for poor performance. Some of them, like cracked and leaking vacuum hoses can be checked without spending any money.

A compression guage is also pretty cheap, under $20. When I bought one it showed low compression on one cylinder. Taking off the valve covered showed a lot of carbon over the #3 exhaust valve. An inexpensive can of cleaner dissolved that and evened out the compression again. I just used the compression guage to check the engine on a gas lawn mower.

The Haynes manual and some cheap diagnostic tools last a lifetime and more than pay for themselves in savings on parts you don't need.

[the_roadrunner]

Re: Well it hardly has no power when accelerating.

Well it hardly has no power when accelerating. And besides the oil is in need of a change.

Every oil change I always toss a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in the car. Usually either Lucas Oil or Chevron with Techron fuel SYSTEM cleaner. Also if you have not done so you may want to change out the fuel filter. Mine was in pretty bad shape and getting a new one helped a lot

How does one change a fuel filter? I know its not too hard but I've never done it before.

[packrat427]

Fuel injected ,you will need to pull the fuse on the fuel pump ,then start it and basically run it out of fuel ,because the system is under high pressure .
Still be careful when taking off the hoses ,there may still be some residual pressure. Pull them off very slowly.
The filter is down by the firewall next to the steering shaft where it comes thru.
There is also a clamp around the filter canister that will need to bo loosened.
Just take your time and be careful .

[canlboater]

Fuel injected ,you will need to pull the fuse on the fuel pump ,then start it and basically run it out of fuel ,because the system is under high pressure .
Still be careful when taking off the hoses ,there may still be some residual pressure. Pull them off very slowly.
The filter is down by the firewall next to the steering shaft where it comes thru.
There is also a clamp around the filter canister that will need to bo loosened.
Just take your time and be careful .

It is much more interesting to just pull the fuel line. you get a little gas all over the place and sure there is the whole fire and explotion thing......but you got to live a little don't ya?

The fuel filter is directly under the master cylinder.

Also both times I have replaced my filter i have pout new hose clamps on just to make things easier in the future. They are a couple of bucks but make it 10 times easier next time