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Ok, I have been diagnosing and replacing parts for two weeks, my mechanic and I are both stumped so I am going to try my best to explain the chain of events/problems here in this post. Hopefully someone else has ran into a similar issue and can help me narrow my problems down.
Last Monday my car ran out of gas, after refilling my tank I began experiencing problems best described as loss of power/choking while accelerating. So I started by changing the fuel filter thinking that maybe it was clogged with sediment possibly sucked up from the depths of my 15 year old tank. The problem continued.
Took it to a local shop and was told the fuel pump was bad. I had the pump replaced and the car seemed to be working like new. I put about 80 miles on the car that day and the next without even a hint of the problem remaining.
Three days later im driving on the highway and my battery light comes on, I continue to drive the car for the remainder of the day, each trip noticing more and more what seemed to be the same choking issue.
I was having before the pump replacement. Test the battery and it shows bad, it's under warranty so I exchanged it but the light stayed on when the new battery was installed. So I had the alternator tested and it was reading 12. Something. I replaced the alternator, the battery light turned off and the battery is getting charged now. That did nothing to resolve the fuel/air issue and the choking continued to worsen.
The moment I knew the alternator was not causing this problem I took it back to the shop that had replaced the fuel pump two days earlier. They continued to diagnose the car for the rest of the day, explaining that the problem now must be with the MAF or Throttle position sensors but that they would not have an obd1 tester until the following morning. (During the time they were diagnosing they assured me they checked plugs, plug wires, d cap, rotor, timing, etc.)
Fast forward to the next day, they run live data with the obd1 and determine it is indeed the MAF. So I order the part, they throw it on as soon as it got there that evening. Now the car will barely start and was still displaying the same symptoms only now amplified. The mechanic at this point put the old MAF back on and the car started right up and returned to its semi-drivable yet temperamental state. He tells me the new MAF is faulty and we must order another one. So they order the new one and the same thing happened when they installed it, so the new MAF didnt resolve the issue and it made the whole issue even worse.
So they order another new fuel pump, install it and everything was fixed. It was driving like new. Just like the first time they replaced the pump. So I drove it over the next two days with no problems.
Now This morning I head out for work, expecting no problems as it was running and driving great just yesterday, but on my drive I noticed a little hesitation, and then a little more. I decided to turn around and go home as I did not want to end up stranded. On my way home the problem worsened and at one point I was at a stop at the bottom of a hill giving it gas While it continued to sputter and choke out. I turned the car off and back on. After feathering the throttle a little I was able to get going again but the problem was for sure back again and the car was driving just like it was before the pump replacement. Choking during gear changes and around the 3500-4000 rpm when it's actually in gear and rolling.
Completely stumped at this point I talked to another mechanic. He insisted I delete the catalytic converter and try it then, so I took It to a muffler shop, had them cut it out and replace it with straight tubing...
This is when and where things get really frustrating to me. It's as if the problem has been resolved 90%... the car hesitates a little the first time I put it into gear, I feather the gas and drive it for a while and the problem almost completely goes away whereas before the more I drove it the worse it got. there is still a slight hesitation when I'm accelerating in the middle of the gear, but now it's just a little hesitation and isn't happening during the gear changes... if the problem was 100% resolved I would relax and just buy a new catalytic converter, but something is still off somewhere.
I hope that I explained all this junk clear enough. i would be so grateful to hear some opinions from other festiva owners and experts. Thanks In advance.
Last Monday my car ran out of gas, after refilling my tank I began experiencing problems best described as loss of power/choking while accelerating. So I started by changing the fuel filter thinking that maybe it was clogged with sediment possibly sucked up from the depths of my 15 year old tank. The problem continued.
Took it to a local shop and was told the fuel pump was bad. I had the pump replaced and the car seemed to be working like new. I put about 80 miles on the car that day and the next without even a hint of the problem remaining.
Three days later im driving on the highway and my battery light comes on, I continue to drive the car for the remainder of the day, each trip noticing more and more what seemed to be the same choking issue.
I was having before the pump replacement. Test the battery and it shows bad, it's under warranty so I exchanged it but the light stayed on when the new battery was installed. So I had the alternator tested and it was reading 12. Something. I replaced the alternator, the battery light turned off and the battery is getting charged now. That did nothing to resolve the fuel/air issue and the choking continued to worsen.
The moment I knew the alternator was not causing this problem I took it back to the shop that had replaced the fuel pump two days earlier. They continued to diagnose the car for the rest of the day, explaining that the problem now must be with the MAF or Throttle position sensors but that they would not have an obd1 tester until the following morning. (During the time they were diagnosing they assured me they checked plugs, plug wires, d cap, rotor, timing, etc.)
Fast forward to the next day, they run live data with the obd1 and determine it is indeed the MAF. So I order the part, they throw it on as soon as it got there that evening. Now the car will barely start and was still displaying the same symptoms only now amplified. The mechanic at this point put the old MAF back on and the car started right up and returned to its semi-drivable yet temperamental state. He tells me the new MAF is faulty and we must order another one. So they order the new one and the same thing happened when they installed it, so the new MAF didnt resolve the issue and it made the whole issue even worse.
So they order another new fuel pump, install it and everything was fixed. It was driving like new. Just like the first time they replaced the pump. So I drove it over the next two days with no problems.
Now This morning I head out for work, expecting no problems as it was running and driving great just yesterday, but on my drive I noticed a little hesitation, and then a little more. I decided to turn around and go home as I did not want to end up stranded. On my way home the problem worsened and at one point I was at a stop at the bottom of a hill giving it gas While it continued to sputter and choke out. I turned the car off and back on. After feathering the throttle a little I was able to get going again but the problem was for sure back again and the car was driving just like it was before the pump replacement. Choking during gear changes and around the 3500-4000 rpm when it's actually in gear and rolling.
Completely stumped at this point I talked to another mechanic. He insisted I delete the catalytic converter and try it then, so I took It to a muffler shop, had them cut it out and replace it with straight tubing...
This is when and where things get really frustrating to me. It's as if the problem has been resolved 90%... the car hesitates a little the first time I put it into gear, I feather the gas and drive it for a while and the problem almost completely goes away whereas before the more I drove it the worse it got. there is still a slight hesitation when I'm accelerating in the middle of the gear, but now it's just a little hesitation and isn't happening during the gear changes... if the problem was 100% resolved I would relax and just buy a new catalytic converter, but something is still off somewhere.
I hope that I explained all this junk clear enough. i would be so grateful to hear some opinions from other festiva owners and experts. Thanks In advance.
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