Question about a 91 Festiva we just purchased my son.

[NWS]

Over the weekend we purchased my son a 91 Festiva to be his first car in February when he get his license. It runs great and we were told the suspension, brakes, engine, transmission, and seats were out of a 97 aspire.

We do have one issue though. There is some knocking in the front end when going slow over bumps and then sometimes vibrations at speeds above 50 mph. I'm thinking ball joints, tie rods, or cv joints, but I don't know if I need to buy festiva parts or aspire parts.


Also my speedometer cable is broken but seems much longer than what I am seeing on the Internet. I can follow it into the engine compartment and down into the transmission but I can't see where ithe goes from there. I pull on it and there is no resistance. I pulled 6 inches or so out before I stopped not knowing where it is coming from.

[bravekozak]

The spedometer cable goes straight down into the transmission.
Remove the speedometer gear from the transmission and check for wear, stripped or missing teeth. They are plastic and are designed to break nicely (instead of the steel gear inside your transmission). Maybe the cable isn't screwed into the speedometer gear.

[william]

Low speed clunk could be the rack and pinion. Turn the wheel all the way to one side then grab the rack on the side that's extended and check for up and down play.
As for speedo cable pull the cluster and make sure it's attached to the back side . When yo say you pulled 6 inches or so then Stoped are you talking from the fire wall or ? Of so it's disconnected from the cluster.

[NWS]

Low speed clunk could be the rack and pinion. Turn the wheel all the way to one side then grab the rack on the side that's extended and check for up and down play.
As for speedo cable pull the cluster and make sure it's attached to the back side . When yo say you pulled 6 inches or so then Stoped are you talking from the fire wall or ? Of so it's disconnected from the cluster.

No, six inches from the transmission.

[WmWatt]

Knocking: easy to check if the pinch bolts hloding the ball joints onto the hubs are tight. If they losen the ball joints can move up and down over bumps and knock. Note: engine mounts and sway bar bushings are more forward and back knocks than up and down knocks so not likely the source of your noise.
I think, but am not sure, if you still have the 12 inch tires then you still have Festiva hubs and suspension. I think Aspire uses 13 inch tires? Lots of peopel have done the conversion but not me so I'm not usre and can't remember. You could do a seach if this site on Aspire wheels.

[Eaglefreek]

After installing new shocks all around, I also have some clunks when hitting certain types of bumps. I haven't tracked it down yet. I've owned 2 Festivas and have tried different wheel and tire combos and still have some vibrations above 50. My experience is the cheaper the tire the worse the vibration.

[NWS]

Knocking: easy to check if the pinch bolts hloding the ball joints onto the hubs are tight. If they losen the ball joints can move up and down over bumps and knock. Note: engine mounts and sway bar bushings are more forward and back knocks than up and down knocks so not likely the source of your noise.

Possibly something I could tighten rather than replace?

[WmWatt]

^^ Correct.

[NWS]

Knocking: easy to check if the pinch bolts hloding the ball joints onto the hubs are tight. If they losen the ball joints can move up and down over bumps and knock. Note: engine mounts and sway bar bushings are more forward and back knocks than up and down knocks so not likely the source of your noise.
I think, but am not sure, if you still have the 12 inch tires then you still have Festiva hubs and suspension. I think Aspire uses 13 inch tires? Lots of peopel have done the conversion but not me so I'm not usre and can't remember. You could do a seach if this site on Aspire wheels.

I have 13" tires

[lessersivad]

I have 13" tires

Having 13" tires isn't a definite way to tell because certain vehicles which came with 13" tires can be swapped onto a Festiva.

A more accurate way to tell is to measure the bolt circle of the wheel. Going straight across from the CENTER of one lug to another will give you either a reading of 4.5" or approx. 4".

If you get a measurement of (may as well say) 4", then more than likely you indeed have an Aspire brakes/suspension.

IF this is confirmed by the above measuring then comes the question of where the clunking, and possibly the 50+mph vibration is coming from.

Assuming the suspension has been changed doesn't mean it was done to completion. IF the outer tie rods weren't changed to Aspire or Escort parts then there could be the source of the clunk and vibration.

This is simply a 'spitball' guess over the interwebz as I don't have direct access to the vehicle.

Hope this helps.

[zoe60]

Vibration over 50 could be a bad or out of balance tire. Try rotating tires front to back and see if there is any difference.

[Studebaker]

Check your PMs