Crank and Fuel but no spark after engine gets hot

[Michaelmckinney2335]

I'm at my whits end with this 1989 ford festiva 1.3 carb. I've replaced the coil, distributior, cap, rotor button, and mechanical fuel pump. The car will run till it you turn it off and has no spark when you try to restart it while the engine is warm. I've checked the fuseable links they seem to be good. No spark coming from coil. All the fuses inside the dash appear to be good but you can wait till the car gets cool and it will fire up and run like a brand new car but there is white smoke coming out of the exaust pipe. Any suggestions???

Car has 250000 miles has had before problems started a New timing belt, spark plugs, and spark plug wires.

[zoe60]

Probably the ignition control module in the distributor. If you search Ford Festiva on ebay there should be a guy selling them for around $60.00. Otherwise Rock auto has them for $95.00. White smoke could be oil burning or blown head gasket.

[Michaelmckinney2335]

That came inside the new distributior so that's new the head gasket is good the fuel air mix is off and it's causing it to run too rich I'm thinking it's a senser maybe oxygen or cts

[TominMO]

I would still suspect the ICM. I've seen that same symptom before with other cars--once the module cools down, it starts and runs normally until it overheats again. Motors will actually get a bit hotter after shutting down when warm, since there is no longer any coolant flowing to keep the temp down to the proper operating range. Then they eventually cool off, of course. See if you can get the ICM tested.

[Michaelmckinney2335]

Thanks for your input would there be a way to test this or should we go ahead and replace it. It should be free since it was new on the distributior when we replaced it

[dalebwilson]

Crank the engine and check for voltage on the blue wire at the ICM. This is the output from the ECU that supplies power. Then check the primary coil wires to see if you have voltage across them. Do this while cranking as well.


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[dalebwilson]

My bad not realizing this was an 89 carby. I was referring to troubleshooting an external ICM mounted on the drivers side strut tower. I would still check for power at the coil primary.


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[Michaelmckinney2335]

Ok thanks I haven't had the chance to test it yet. The first distributior we got from o rillys the icm was cracked and the dust cover wouldn't fit so that was warranted back not ever having it on the car

[tooldude]

That came inside the new distributior so that's new the head gasket is good the fuel air mix is off and it's causing it to run too rich I'm thinking it's a senser maybe oxygen or cts

The reman part most likely has a used ign module in it. Reman parts are not new and many of them are only given the minimum parts and work needed to function and meet the warranty period and quality level the rebuilder is willing to maintain. The module was probably bad to begin with and either not tested properly or tested when cool, if at all. With the carby distributor, you could get one that has weak or wrong springs (stock springs each have 2 different spring rates) or even a vacuum diaphram not advancing properly. I had one which, right out of the box, was giving a faulty advance curve, causing bucking, hesitation, and deceleration at full throttle.

[WmWatt]

I believe the coil needs a signal from the ICM to cut the circuit and generate the high voltage pulse. Typically ICM's deteriorate and cause intermittent stalling while running and only restart after they cool down. If your engine starts okay after waiting for it to cool down it could be the ICM. Some parts stores used to have a tester and you could take the ICM out and get it tested. Last time I tried in 2013 they couldn't remember how to wire it up and the new tech at the place which makes them gave us wrong information. Eventually the quality control guy at the ICM manufacturer gave us the right hookup and mine tested okay. In my case it turned out to be the coil was old, original equipment, and replacing it cured the stalling.

[Michaelmckinney2335]

Thanks everyone for your help. Its finally fixed after two years of setting anyone have the timing procedures?

[David88]

Glad you got it fixed.What ended up being the problem?

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[Michaelmckinney2335]

The icm was bad we had to get a new distributior so after 3 distributiors we finally got a good one. I appreciate everyone's input it would of taken me alot more money and more time if I hadn't of came here

[J Daniel Santos]

Hi, nice to hear that you fixed your festy! I own an 89 Festy Black auto that doesn't run It too has a bad Distributor. I cant find one at my local junk yard but too cheap to buy off Rock Auto yet. I hope this year i can start to fix it. Im riding in my other festy 90 aqua stick shift.

[Michaelmckinney2335]

Good luck getting a good one. We've had this festiva since before I was born my grandfather drove it everyday to work since it was new up to two years ago when these problems started. Probably 15 people has tried to buy it when gas was so high it's insane the mpg that car gets like 45-52. So it's nice to have it back running but I just have to put it back in time for it to run right. That distributor was like 165 at o rileys plus a 30.00 core since they had to order one could of saved 50 bucks from rock auto but the quick ordering for new one came in handy this time. (Since we had to get 3) what do you mean when you say yours is aqua? Is that the color or?