'88 Festiva Won't Start when cold or wet

[G-man422]

Hey guys,

I purchased my 1988 ford Festiva this past summer. She has been great and always started with no issues. Now that it's getting colder in the mornings, she doesn't want to start. It seems like anything below 40*F she won't start. Cranks fine. Today it was 50* and very rainy, and she won't start. I have a set of plugs and wires on order. Any other things I can check? I am a newby when it comes to car mechanics and maintenance, so try to be nice

Also, what do you Carbed Festy owners do to keep her as a daily driver in the very cold winter months?

Thanks in advance.

[Movin]

Get some choke and carb cleaner in a spray can..even walmart stuff works fine. Take the air filter lid, and the air filter housing off. Snap pics where the hoses go. Look under as you lift...probably another one. Clean the carb really good. Make sure all the little links and the choke plate on top move easy. It is ok to get a little down inside the carb but if you get very much down there you may have difficulty starting after you get it back together. If that happens hold the throttle clear to the floor and keep cranking until it starts. That is how you clear a flooded engine.

Open the choke plate ( it should be closed if the engine is cold ) and look down inside. Use a light if needed. Pull on the throttle cable a little. You should see the accelerator pump discharge some fuel into the venturi area. This is needed to start the car and why you should pump the throttle a couple times if it is cold. A couple more if it is well below freezing.

[jfd64]

Check the inside of your cap for moisture and corrosion on the electrode points,it very common for these to corrode.If they are not wore down they can be cleaned up.Check the distributor rotor and clean it if need be but remember its location if you remove it.Check for corrosion where your coil wire plug into cap and coil.Pull your plugs and clean and regap or put new in.Could be a faulty wire.I dont have a carby so another may want to weigh in on cleaning or adjustments on that.

[WmWatt]

You may have dirt or moisture in the ignition system. I'd wipe the wires, distributor, and coil with a clean rag. Spraying ends and contacts with WD-40 (water dispersant 40) could also help. I'd remove, clean, inspect and, if you have a gapper, check the gap on the spark plugs. I do this stuff at least once a year as part of a minor tune-up. It doesn't cost anything. My tuneup includes spraying with carburettor cleaner as recommended above. Festivas have a weak ingition system so it's good to keep it clean and dry.

[G-man422]

Thanks for all the recommendations everybody. I've cleaned the points on the distributor and wiped it out, replaced plugs and wires, used carb cleaner on that carb, and cleaned up connections on the ignition coil. I noticed while cleaning the ignition coil, the wire going from the distributor to the top of the coil was somewhat burned at the bottom. After taking it off the top of the ignition coil, I noticed there were signs of major arching, and no center post for the wire to stick on to. Is there supposed to be a post that the wire connects onto? It just seemed hollow inside the outside metal ring the rubber slides onto.

[Movin]

The core of the wire should be bent back over the outside of the wire about 3/4 inch. The metal is crimped around the wire and core with a little bulging inside the prongs of the metal so it will not pull off the wire. A crimper is made just for this crimp.