Used car woes...

[darkstealth16]

Hey all, new here to the forum. Just got my first festiva about 2 weeks ago. Have wanted one for a while, and finally got the chance to snatch one up! Here is my problem. The previous owner apparently didnt believe in fixing things "right". The plug wires didnt have boots on them, it has a strange A/C delete done to it, all kinds of wierd things. So basically, here is my issue. Car was running. Valves were kinda loud cuz it prolly needs a valve job, but nothing killer. Thats easy. I went out to drive to work, started the car, was driving down the road and it sputtered and quit. Was kinda low on gas, and hadnt had the car long to know when it rruns out, so got a gas can dumped in, started back up and drove to the gas station. Put another 10 bucks or so in, and went on my way on my 40 mile drive to work. Half way there, had a loss of power, spitting didnt want to keep high way speed, pulled off the high way, and it died. Discovered the plug wires were just bare running into the distributor cap, cleaned them, and got it to start back up and it would barely keep running, almost like it was dragging a cylinder. Got another couple miles on the driveway trying to limp it home with a friend behind me, and it died again. So I got it home, tried to start it a few times and didnt do anything. Decided now was the best time to pull the valve cover to really investigate the valves. Removed the air box, and the front part of the throttle body, just to get clearance to remove valve cover bolt on the middle back. Checked things out, put it back together, and went to work trying to get it running again. Now I am having the key problem that is common, where the key only turns when its in a very particular spot, and now all of a sudden when I key the ignition to on, fuel pump kicks on and stays on, doesnt prime and shut off like usual, and I can hear it humming constant just with the key on. I also dont have igition. What troubles me is, Ignition can cause the issue with not having fire from the coil, but would it cause the fuel pump itself to stay on and run constantly?> Wouldnt that be in the intake to tell the fuel pump when its primed and ready to go? There are so many wires that arent hooked up, looks like washer bottle has been taken out, a/c remoed, so I have quite a few extra wires that go to nothing, but it was running fine before, so I am at a loss, and know very little about these cars to be able to hunt down whats going on here.

[Studebaker]

Were in nc are you? maybe somebody close by an help.

What year is the car?

Some pictures of the loose wires might help.

David

[william]

Well being he said fuel pump running I'm guessing 90-93.
But the pump shouldn't be running at all unless it's jumpered.
The pump only comes on during cranking.
Its triggered by the afm the thing on top of the air box.
Try wiggling the afm wires and make sure the intake hose is hooked up with no holes.
It WILL NOT run with out it hooked up.

[TominMO]

I've heard there might be some Festiva people in Raleigh. Might be a rumor tho. Welcome to the forum.

Personally I'd start with a complete tuneup, to include plug wires, O2 sensor, and fuel filter. And oil change with a good filter. And add a bottle of fuel system cleaner to the gas. Then you will at least know where you stand with these items. You probably need a valve cover gasket too, because every Festy seems to need one when it gets bought. It's useful to have a Haynes manual for reference too.

Is the car carby, or an 89 auto EFI, or a later year? Manual or auto?

[darkstealth16]

Its an automatic 89, but has fuel injection. Its prolly a late model 89. And im a pretty decent mechanic otherwise, so all the regular, oil change, fuel system cleaner, air filter advice is already done and checked lol, but thanks! A lot of simple things can be missed. I did in fact take off the air filter box to clean it out, and may not have connected the AFM properly, or somehow inadvertantly damaged it. I went to remove the cable, but it would not budge, started to undo the screws on it, and realized it wasnt just a MAF that can be removed like that, so I may take another look at that. Thanks for the advice gents!

[frogman]

Welcome to the "Madness". Learn to use the forum search, there's a lot of info and good tips on any subject dealing with Festiva's.

[TominMO]

Its an automatic 89, but has fuel injection. Its prolly a late model 89. And im a pretty decent mechanic otherwise, so all the regular, oil change, fuel system cleaner, air filter advice is already done and checked lol, but thanks! A lot of simple things can be missed. I did in fact take off the air filter box to clean it out, and may not have connected the AFM properly, or somehow inadvertantly damaged it. I went to remove the cable, but it would not budge, started to undo the screws on it, and realized it wasnt just a MAF that can be removed like that, so I may take another look at that. Thanks for the advice gents!

Yeah, DON'T undo those screws! There is a little rectangular clip that holds the electrical connector on.

[WmWatt]

Try spraying WD-40 or electical contact cleaner into the igntion key hole and see if it clears that problem up.

[darkstealth16]

Yep, so it appears that I damaged the AFM (maf) when i was taking things apart to try to diagnose the running issue. Now in search of either a work around to test to be sure, or to find one. 200$ for the maf is a hard pill to swallow, especially since I am the one that damaged it in the first place! Its more than what I paid for the whole car!

[Chobobulous]

*vaf

Post up a wtb thread they can be had for pretty cheap. Maybe the festiva store has one.

[darkstealth16]

Ill take a look, new to forums like this, so still learning the ins and outs of how people post and where, etc. Im checking the for sale section now. And thanks for the clarification, Autozone calls it a MAF, so thats what I followed suit in calling it, though the part itself reads Air Flow Meter....

[Chobobulous]

The MAF (mass air flow) was used with the Aspire. Our festivas use the VAF (vane air flow)

I know I've seen one for sale recently.

Edit : couple to get you started.

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53803

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56267

[darkstealth16]

Just got a VAF from the junkyard today, ignition coil, and the rocker assembly out of an older festy. The valves are really loud, and the hydraulic adjusters are worn i do believe, and would rather have the manual adjusting set. It appears to be a straight bolt in swap, if anyone has any objections to that, please let me know. I can always return them to the JY, but from the looks of it it should work, its all the same thing really... I also happened to walk past a suzuki aerio SX, the hatchback version of the aerio, and the spoiler looked pretty slick. So I popped it off, took it over to the festy a few aisles over, and eyeballed a test fit, and it looks pretty dang close! Could just bolt on some brackets to attach, or cut it down to fit, Ill do a write up on the process, would be my first ever doing a write up on something, but id imagine those cars would be pretty easy to come across I see them from time to time, and if its a cool lookin spoiler for 25$ cant shake a stick at that! hopefully i put on this VAF and ignition coil and she decides to purr back to life, heres to crossing fingers and clicking heels together and hoping some magic will happen!

[darkstealth16]

So thought I would do a quick update. Got a good VAF and igniton coil from the JY. Fuel pump issue straightened out with VAF, and ive got good spark, and fuel is coming out of the filter at least, but still not cranking up. Just turns and turns, doesnt wanna knock off. Still have ignition switch issue with being tempermental, but that doesnt seem like it would be related, since it turns and gets spark. Any other ideas out there mates?

[william]

Main relay it's on the drivers fender by the coolent tank.
It controls the injectors.