Festiva just quit... Coil?

[H8PVMNT]

So I scored a '92 Festiva for free a few weeks ago. It even had a full tank of gas. Finally put some of my own gas in it last week. We drove it to the store to pick up ice cream and it just wouldn't start, naturally after we bought the ice cream. A nice freind gave us a ride home and I left the car in town. Plugs look OK, so do cap and rotor. It seems to have fuel preasure. The spark from the coil wire looks kind of orange instead of blue like I think it should be.

Am I right to suspect the coil or are there any other tricks to this car? Any grounds I should be looking for or other typical crusty things?

I think it's worth fixing. These things are pretty fun to drive.

[dalebwilson]

welcomsignMake sure you have 30-40 PSI at the fuel rail, timing belt is in good condition and crank, cam marks line up. Clean all grounds with a wire brush and reconnect. The VAF (Vane Air Flow) is critical to this car running correctly or at all. The door inside must move freely and the fuel pump switch must be functioning. Make sure there are no cracks in the intake tube that can create a vacuum leak. As far as spark, it all starts with the fusible links on the drivers side strut tower. These are the Achilles heal of the B3 engines. Replace those with PAL fuses if you plan on keeping the car. The ICM can occasionally go bad as well as the pickup in the distributer. Buy a Haynes manual. Check the simple things first. Air, fuel, spark, timing.

[H8PVMNT]

Thanks I'll check out those fusable links among other things. Might be tomorrow I just had a molar pulled out of my head...

[bravekozak]

I just had a molar pulled out of my head...

As long as your head is still attached, you are O.K.

Don't forget to check some simple stuff. Did you push in the clutch?
Be sure to also check the inertia switch in the back.

[H8PVMNT]

Well I forgot keys yesterday but I switched all the fuseable links to the headlight circuit and they are all good so I can rule those out. Cleaned the passenger side ground. Battery leads are a little old but everything on the car has power, bright lights, starter turns full speed, so I think they are good. Timing belt looks new and TDC is lined up with the distibutor. Clutch was pushed in and the switch works; the thing turns over it just won't fire. Haven't checked fuel psi but it has plenty of preasure when you pull the line off the engine side of the filter.

I will check the inertia switch. Can you reset the thing or do you just have to replace or bypass it?

[dalebwilson]

Yes the inertia switch can be reset. It is in the rear hatch area by the drivers side speaker. You may have to remove a plastic cover to access.

[eurotiva]

I've had a few distributors go bad

[H8PVMNT]

Checked the inertia switch. Looks like if it's popped up it's triped and you push it down to reset am I right? Anyway it didn't start weather it was up or down so I think I can rule that out. I think I'll bring a volt/ohm meter tomorrow and check some things.

[dalebwilson]

Yes you are correct on the inertia switch. FYI...There are wiring diagrams in the "Repair" section of this forum. Print those off if you do not have a Haynes manual. You will need them.

[tac]

I had a new plug fail (the center electrode broke off down below the insulator) and I assumed it created a small carbon track on the cap or rotor that I couldn't see. It would crank and would get a spark I thought was weak but would not fire. The cap and rotor was previously changed with the plugs, so I assumed it was good. After checking out all fuel related and compression problems, I replaced the coil and ignition module and still nothing. So just for giggles I bought a new rotor and cap and that solved the problem. I looked hard and long trying to see anything wrong with the cap and rotor I took off and couldn't find anything.

[H8PVMNT]

Thankfully the car even came with a Haynes manual!

The cap and rotor would be a cheap thing to try. I was going to test the wires tomorrow with an ohm meter. I probably shouldn't be such a tightwad but the car was free so I want to keep it minimal as I fix it up and not nickle and dime it into a $1,000. If I can get it to run again soon I will put some tires on it and maybe even spring for an air freshener.

[william]

Check that you have spark out of the distributor . To rule out pick up and icm . I'm not sure if the festival distributor works like the capri disty but if the pick up is bad on the capri it will spark at coil but nnot out to the plugs

[jaketlong11]

if you need a coil I have a used one you can have it if you need it and pay shipping good luck, also did you try catching it in gear? just a thought

[Skrapbob]

I had symptoms similar to yours. The engine would die and would only occasionally restart. I finally traced it to the wire plug to the VAF. With the engine running I could easily kill it just by wiggling the plug. It turn out to be the internal clips had broken from the soldering and were loose inside.(easily viewed with the plug pulled out of the VAF). A simple solder job and a $5 tube of RTV and it's been trouble free since. Don't give up on the Festiva, with persistence you will find and fix the issue and have a great little car for a long time.

[H8PVMNT]

Check that you have spark out of the distributor . To rule out pick up and icm . I'm not sure if the festival distributor works like the capri disty but if the pick up is bad on the capri it will spark at coil but nnot out to the plugs

Just checked with a buddy cranking the ignition and it has spark at the coil and at the plugs, but the spark looks kind of mellow and orange everywhere. I tend to think it should look hot and blue but I'm not sure what it looks like on this ignition.

Airflow Meter has good 5 volts refference signal to it. The battery + power reads only like 3 volts though which makes me suspicious. Should the supply to the AFM have full battery volts with the key on? The haynes manual isn't clear on this...