89 Festiva keeps dieing on me...

[colbyrichards]

89 Ford Festiva 1.3L FI automatic....

ok so the other day i drive to a show and i leave for 8 hours....we get in my car and it chooses not to start at all....

i have plenty of gas and i end up having it towed back to my house. I try to start it and suddenly it just chooss not to turn over...it would try to but instead of a constant noise of turning over it makes the noise every 2 seconds very slowly until it finalkly just stops.

im thinking it was either the starter, battery or the alternator. i took my battery up to autozone today to get it tested and they recharged it for me saying it was low. i put it back in and now it starts. it took maybe 5 minutes to get it going but it eventually did.

ive driven it 3 times today since then and the first time i stop at a red light and after about 30 seconds from being stopped it just dies on me. takes another minute to get started and i go back home. and just now it died on me again the same way and thats why im posting. i dont think its the alternator because i took off the positive connector to the battery and it still runs...so what could be wrong??

[htchbck]

It could still be the alternator even though it will run with the battery unhooked. The alternator may not be completely bad, but it is just not running as well as it should. It might still be putting out enough juice to run the motor, but not enough to charge the battery properly. If you can get the car down to autozone they usually have some diagnostic equipment they can hook to it that can test for alternator and starter troubles. Good luck!

[packrat427]

^^ thats right , you may have 1 or 2 diodes toasted out of the 3 , it will charge barely, but not enough to keep the battery fully charge , low voltage will cause many problems , not enough to engage the starter .
Make sure to check all of you fuse links in you main box , on the dr .side inner fender , make sure they have a good connection , and check all of your engine grounds make sure they are tight too.

[WBBulldogs]

Sounds like an alternator problem to me. Believe it or not you can buy a rebuild kit for those diodes. I helped my dad put the new diodes in an Oldsmobile alternator. Didn't take long at all, I believe it's 10-20 dollars depending on the alternator and the part store.

[WmWatt]

Did you check the charging voltage with a voltmeter?
Put it across the battery terminals with the engine idling.
It should read 14.5 volts.

[oldgrezmonke]

take this from an old mechanic - NEVER pull battery cable while engine is running to check alternator. it can kill an alternator , also the spark can ignite the gasses coming from the battery , not a good thing. a simple voltmeter will tell you if alternator is working properly - engine off - 12-13 volts , engine running - 13+-14 volts even 15 if battery heavily discharged.