Vacuum systems Delete and horn question. 89 model

[blksmth88]

Hey fellas first off sorry for the long post. Second sorry if this has been covered but i have been searching quite a bit through the help of google and cant find the info im after. my internet isnt the best so i get limited results at the moment. i hope ive not overlooked anything obvious. But anyways im new here but ive crept this place for some time now. i have 10+years in automotive and fabrication/ blacksmithing experience so i plan on doing quite a bit of fun things with this little car. ill get some pics up of it when i get back to the house. and as a side note i plan to do a weber carb in the future but for now i want to see how much improvement i can squeeze out of it with what it has. ive owned 3 festivas now, my first one was a 174k mile carbed one, my second was a 91 model fuel injected with 140k and now i have a 249k mile 1989 carbed one again. i cant believe how much stronger the carbed ones seem to feel compared to the fuel injected one i had. The first carbed festy i owned had been messed with by a previous owner. he had deleted the emissions stuff off it and plugged some of the nipples on the carb and it ran like a cut cat. Now besides that im constantly reading or hearing folks say, oh yea i got rid of all that vacuum spaghetti mess and caped it all off. never ran better.. So naturally im trying to do my research but i cant seem to find any documented info on what all can be removed with out screwing things up and what should be left alone. This has kicked up some curiosity for me because the one i have now runs ok but it definitely doesnt have the pep that the first one had and im thinking it could be all these vacuum systems it has. not that it has them but in prob 250k miles they are clogged up and probably not working properly. So from this point i started by doing away with the EGR tubes (i know thats not exactly what this system is called but im using egr because you know what im talking about) and the set up on the intake. that actually smoothed the running of the car quite a bit surprisingly. and then even more surprising when i decided to take apart the mechanism that came off the intake, i found it wasnt filled with sludge but it was dry and extremely corroded like chalky rusty lookin corrosion and half full of sand... yes sand... i dont get it either. next i pulled out the charcoal canister and the bottom of it had foam that completely fell apart when i touched it. then i could see the material behind the screen was a complete mess also. i put the canister back, it was more of an inspection than a removal attempt.

From this point id like to know what i can remove from this car that isnt necessary. ive got a haynes manual for the car and its been an invaluable resource.

The question i have about my horn is where is the relay located? the horn was missing on my car so i bought a new one. hooked it up and nothing. i checked the steering wheel buttons and all was well there so im thinking my relay is bad or something. but where is it!!??? lol

Thanks for looking and again im sorry for the long post, im bad for trying to info pack my posts. i like to try to cover all bases to help eliminate questions before they are asked lol

[FestYboy]

First we'll clarify the EGR statement: the acronym you're looking for is PAIR ( passive air injection reaction) and it's there to keep your cat alive and working. Removing the system requires you to gut the cat or straight pipe it. As for removing anything else, I'd start with a basic tune up, timing check, compression check, and vacuum leak check. Working systems won't effect power production. Also don't be afraid to set base ignition timing to 6 btdc. Factory timing is 0 btdc. This will help wake things up. Also verify the secondary in the carb is operating (this is kinda a PITA because it's load actuated, not mechanical).

Once all this is done, then removal of ancillary vac hoses can begin. Just stay away from the idle kick (load comp) circuits.

[WmWatt]

Search on "horn relay" got this thread...

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?54495-Horn-relay-location&highlight=horn+relay+88

[blksmth88]

First off ive tried to find the horn relay everywhere. ive been looking for a picture of its location because in the few posts i seen saying anything about it all said left of cluster but this is the first one ive seen that said not to rempove it, which i already found out on my own. googling horn relay location ford festiva doesnt bring up much.

and for the vaccum stuff its already had a full tune up, cleaned carb, new fuel pump, new ignition coil, new plugs and wires, and a few other minors in there. this was supposedly before i bought the thing too so who knows how much of it is true. somethings in there you can obviously see are brand new luckily. i do like this timing idea. i know ill never make a race car out of it or even anything blisteringly fast but it would be nice to make it run as good as it can with what it has and after inspecting some of the vacuum systems very few if any seem to be at 100% ive also soaked everything in starting fluid and to my surprise i dont have any vac leaks. and yes the cat will be getting removed. i was always told the PAIR system (thank you) was more for putting fresh air in with the exhaust. not so much for the cat but to add more good air out the back to help dilute the concentrations of carbon dioxide so you trickily have cleaner emissions. however i guess if its plumbed in before the cat then it would make sense to help burn up things in there with the added oxygen. cool point. im about to leave school for the day i plan to do some more cleaning and tinkering when i get home. my local junk yard has a 91 or 92 model with AC! ive been pulling parts from it. im going to take your advise with the tune up and timing since 89 im sure there a lot to work its way out of ideal. other than that ill be looking for 92 mode upgrades. i dont expect there to be much.

[WmWatt]

"i was always told the PAIR system (thank you) was more for putting fresh air in with the exhaust" - that's the EGR valve which is very easy to take off and clean if you're looking for something else to do

[bravekozak]

welcomsignThe horn relay is way up under the left side of the steering column on a relay tree. It's the grey one that says GE70.
Don't mess with any vacuum lines unless you switch to a non-feedback carb such as an Escort. I removed my charcoal canister and vapor tank, after I vented my gas cap.

[FestYboy]

"i was always told the PAIR system (thank you) was more for putting fresh air in with the exhaust" - that's the EGR valve which is very easy to take off and clean if you're looking for something else to do

Got that backwards Mr Watt, the EGR introduces exhaust gas into the intake to help cool the combustion temps and therefore lower NOx production. It also has a slight effect in reducing the effective size of the engine by inserting inert gasses which take up room in the chamber.

[WmWatt]

Sorry, right, EGR is for putting exhaust in with fresh air, not fresh air in with exhaust.