fuel mileage problems

[monkeykiller1996]

OK im new to the whole festiva seen i originally bought an 88 festiva but it caught fire 2 days after buying it, it had allot of carb problems :gritteeth: however a few days after that i found and bought an 89 festiva for $600 out the door from a used car dealer it's carbureted with the 5 speed but for some reason im only geting ~25mpg it has 196k miles on it but runs like a champ no smoke or anything even on cold days but however when cold and i mean cold i live in the north east i have to pump the piss out of it to get it started and some time like if i go to the store ill shut it off and when i get back to the car its flooded i know i had some vacuum leaks i took care those also one of the vacuum solenoids on the firewall had a crack in the top of it i filled in the crack with super glue could that be causing my crappy mpg's and flooding issue i love my car so far hardly any of the major rust that ive seen on allot of the festiva's lucky it was factory undercoated ive heard of these getting at least 300k to 500k mile on the motors so i want mine to last but if it does blow i picked up a spare motor and tanny for it for a wopping 55 dollars for the pair

thanks in advance

Steven;

[drddan]

Probably the 02 sensor needs replaced. I'll reserve any answers about the solenoid to others. A bad 02 will cause bad mpg

[bravekozak]

Ditch the feedback carb + O2 sensor and buy an Escort carb + Rocketman adapter.

Best thing I ever did was get rid of the computer and put on a set of these puppies!

Real carbies don't need computers.

[monkeykiller1996]

the o2 sensor would be a good place to start and if i had the money and time right now id ditch the overly complicated carb that they use on these also could the obd1 system detect a bad o2 sensor i dont have a spot for the check engine light on my dash but i could do the paperclip trick to check for codes and if not how would i check it (multimeter probably)

[Movin]

Basics can pull the MPG down, check the cam timing, the ignition timing, the ignition advance from initial..that is a biggy, Exhaust probably is not plugged but it will really pull miles down. Check the vacuum advance.

[monkeykiller1996]

well looks like i have some work ahead of me thanks for the advice and what mpg's should i be getting i figures mid to low 30's for this old car should be about right

[drddan]

My 88 carb 4 spd got 40+

It now has a B6 5 spd and a Weber 32/36. Last mpg run netted 39 mpg.

You should get about the same with the issues fixed

[harpon]

The PTC circuit which is the heater under the carb could be down- and likely a fusible link then- always a good place to start looking for trouble on these cars. On carbureted models- one of the three fusible links, under the hood in front of the driver is dedicated to the PTC circuit= Prethermal carbureted or something- and it pre=heats the fuel slightly for better carburetion.

You should get about 35 at least running well, but probably closer to 60 mph and not 70-75 especially with a 5 speed. my 88 got 35 with a 4 speed at 60-65 most of the time.

Also check the plug wires in a dark place on a dark night. It shouldn't be making any ticking noises, and you can see any arching between worn wires in a very dark place. I had this problem once- tried a lot of things, and once I saw the wires arcing between themselves, some fresh wires cured the whole problem

[harpon]

I eventually took almost all the vacuum lines and EGR components off and plugged the holes on the carb, and it ran reliably and better than ever really. If you studied the specs on the EGR system and components themselves, you can realize that they do very little otherwise- a percentage of a percentage, according to their own specs and claims-

a small 4 cylinder 1.3 motor with 200 K on it, it's mostly just B.S, unless legislated financial trouble by the state you live in. It was gonna be very costly expense over very little to continue to get through smog n California- back in Indiana it was just an efficient high mileage car that ran great again.

[monkeykiller1996]

i dont have to worry about emissions in the state i live in because if the car is 25 years or older (mines 26 :fofd: ) it doesn't need an emissions check and it has new spark plugs and wires on it and also a new rotary and distrubtor cap on it

and kinda a of the topic question for some reason i done get heat out of my dash vents but my floor and defroster vents put out nice heat the dash vents just blow cold air

[Movin]

The defrost and heater are more direct to the heater core and the vent is more direct to the outside than normal cars. Both work better from smaller components than other cars can achieve.

[harpon]

check the fusible links, and clean the contacts- especially the one marked PTC- this is the carburetor pre-heater. Trouble with that could result in the symptoms you describe.

The fussy-ble links are a strange item, they are somehow "fusible" but they didn't come with fuses- some people here remove them and replace them with in line fuses or PAL fuses, but they are a common source of electrical connection problems due to their exposed nature, and the wires between the connectors can burn up if there's a short on that circuit.

[monkeykiller1996]

i might just endup doing the b6 swap a junkyard close to me has allot of them and they only want about $150 including the core charge i kinda want the extra power and the fuel injection is nice to have i tired this old b3

[drddan]

All festy's are like that. Cold air out the dash vents. Nice in the summer, not so much in the winter

[fliermike_12]

Hi there! Were you able to increase your mpg?

I have a 1990 fuel injected blueberry festiva, and just got my mpg after a tune up (plugs, wires, cap/rotor, oil/filter) And im still only getting 30mpg. Most of my driving was 60mph on the freeway.
Is there a way to check the airflow meter, or should I just replace it? Any help would be appreciated! I'm just so surprised at how low it was after a tuneup. I should atleast get 35, right?

I hope I'm not invading your thread, just hoping you made some headway on your issues
-Mike