1988 Ford Festiva

[bdtheking]

I changed the alternator a while back and after I installed it the car was idling and it just quit (it had been running great until that point). I wondered if it was the alternator so I put the old one back in and no change. I adjusted the carburetor so it would idle at least but with mixed results. I bought a carb kit for it but I decided to check the fuses and noticed the 10a engine fuse was blown. I put another one in and it blew as soon as it started. any ideas what to look for? any help would be appreciated. thanks

[bravekozak]

welcomsignYou definitely need this wiring diagram to locate the short circuit. The fuse block is on page 7.

[bdtheking]

I just went underneath the car and unplugged the black plug and put in a new fuse and it ran normal. as soon as I plugged it in it blew. this car idled great before I changed the alternator. I am going to take the alternator in and have it checked and maybe get a new one.

[harpon]

Make sure the fusible links under the hood aren't shorting out too.

Also check and clean any harness-to-chassis ground points you can find-

The only time my 88 festiva EVER went sour I tried several solutions to the running rough and finally found it was simply the PLUG WIRES, after getting the car into a realy dark place- cause I could hear a little ticking like a short-
and figured I could better find the source in the dark
the wires looked like Dr. Frankensteins lab, with current jumping between them and onto bare metalk- they actually GLOWED-RUIDD:

I wrapped the wires in electrical tape which pretty much smoothed it right out until I got new wires on-

and the only other time it failed me was when the battery died-

I did however have the alternator replaced at about 200,00 to 230,000 it must've been - and didn't do it myself.

Don't know much about the alternator but I guess it too needs to be grounded- so check that maybe.