Ignition contacts and such

[Retoxic]

Hello all, I'm Aaron. I've been reading hundreds of pages on this site since joining and cannot seem to find what specific issue is possessing my festy. 89' atx efi a/c

The color schematics in my EVTM matches the car harness where the ignition pigtail plugs in but not the ignition harness itself. I ordered another online and it matches the existing harness but not the car.

Some details....(first color set is car/evtm/ff colors, second set is my harness)
C211 connectors looking at SWITCH side notch up:
male 2 prong BK/R, BL/R - BK/W, BL
female 2 prong BK/W, W - W/R, BK/Y
single prong female BK/BL(atx) BK/Y(mtx) - BK/R
then of course the two small ones to the key reminder r/bk, bk

When testing the switch, the evtm says step 2 is W to BK/R continuity, (W/R to BK/W for me), a functioning switch should read: key OFF-open circuit, ACC-closed, ON-closed, and START-open.

On both switches the ACC position reads open. The little copper contact in both is clearly mushroomed and worn down due to the position of the switch plates when the car is in the RUN position riding and vibrting...etc. It doesnt appear to affect the RUN, START or OFF connections. Does the switch harness containing the W/R wire have this function?

I've been diagnosing a no spark (12 to coil on primary, No pulse ground) situation and am almost out of possibilities so I wonder if that would create a no spark scenerio?

Tried:
new fuel pump
new dist
new coil
new plugs/wires
used switch
cleaned fuseable links
cleaned switch
checked grounds
tested main relay
confirmed button rotates

Not Tried:
new cap&button
new VAF
new CONDENSOR
INJECTOR pulse noid test

when she was dying i noticed a weak orange spark before nothing at all....and after swapping/cleaning a few parts initially a single snapping blue spark from coil when the key was turned OFF.

I may have accidentally reversed the coil input wires before keying on after replacing dist and coil. Once key was turned I heard a small pop and seen some sort of flash from under the hood...

I also have ground continuity from the TACH test wire (coil switched 12v) to any earthed point. Is that normal?

Also how important is that small square conensor attatched to the dist from coil hot? My wire looks weak and questionable.

I apologize in advance for my post structure.

[bravekozak]

Also how important is that small square condensor attatched to the dist from coil hot? My wire looks weak and questionable.

It is important if you don't want any AM radio interference.

[WmWatt]

If the ignition switch is suspect I'd spray WD-40 or contact cleaner into the ignition key hole and work it around with the ignition key. Sometimes fixes problem.
You don't say where you are getting spark. A frequent cause of problems is the ignition control module (transistorized points) in the distrubutor (or on the firewall on some models).

[ryanprins13]

Hi and welcome to the forum! That's quite the first problem to come here with...
I do not have an evtm or service manual yet, (they are on their way in the mail though!) but I have heard that the 89 auto has a bunch of parts that are different than all other years. Is your evtm for an 89 auto and/or is it possible that the ignition wiring just used different colours on that year?

I have a poor understanding of wiring and electrical terms unfortunately and don't quite follow your ignition switch issue. What I would do personally If I was in your situation is make up jumper wires from the battery to that connection from the switch harness to the car harness. with your jumper wires crimp on whatever female terminals fit onto the spades on the car harness side of the plug and see if the car will start and run like that. That will rule out or in the switch being the problem.

You said you have not tried a new condensor, what would that help?

If something shorted or was reverse wired under the hood then youll have to start testing individual components. the evtm and service manual should have test procedures for that.

Do you have fuel? as in proper pressure on the rail and injectors firing when its cranking?

Did you check all fuses inside the car and the fuseable links and the main relay AFTER you had this flash of light under the hood? Did you try a different distributor and coil after that as well? all the little things beside the coil too?

[Retoxic]

Yes, fuses are still good, I'm going to try a fused link between the acc and run wires today as well as the older weak components if she's being stubborn still. The harness I'm guessing was switched once before we obtained the car. I'm not sure about fuel pressure I will check the injector pulse and fuel today and report back. The wd40/contact cleaner method wouldn't be much use due to the single contact being flattened (I'm sure I could swap a contact from the other switch but I fused the wires sharing the same open/closed pattern). Oddly enough I rebuilt the switch just hours before finding a how-to on ff. I found an ICM for this car for 70.00 new...I might have to go that route if both distributors are toast but am unsure of wire designations leading into the distributor both of mine are black on the 2 pin...
My evtm is for 1989 carb/efi, auto/manual. I'm really not as clueless as I probably sound I'm the local shadetree mechanic but this thing is giving me a complex. Only time I've had a car argue this much was my 85 Type-10 Cavalier, but that ended up being shot rings....I've got compression on the festivus though.

[tooldude]

I would try a fused jumper straight from Bat+ to coil+, bypassing all wiring & Ign Switch. I if no spark then, Ignition Module may be bad or spark is arcing to ground. A pop & flash underhood is troubling (in darkness?). A condenser can short to ground, not sure if it would kill that ignition - just disconnect to test. The Ignition Switch wire colors you describe are for 1988, the only year with different colors. The Switch schematics for all years are the same, so the functions should be the same. However, the 1988 EVTM gives the ACC open as you described above. That could be another manual error, then the fault would be the flattened switch contact as one might suspect.

[Retoxic]

So, if both harnesses I have are for an 88 then the ig switch would be designed to be open-open-closed-open from W to BK/R (W/R to BK/W for me) instead of open-closed-closed-open as listed as functioning for an 89? I've checked all continuity today from coil to ecu to dist to signal wire and it checks OK so thankfully no fried wires.

Apparently my W wire from IGN to y/gn tach signal/coil switched hot was replaced at some point and it looks like a dealer fix..that explains why that wire isn't the correct color going into the ICM...I'm seeing that the BK/W wire is supposed to be spliced into the hot wire leading to the ICM but on mine it is plugged into prong B. Prong C shows a little + beside it and prong A is the bl/o wire leading back to the ECA. When replacing the DIST, it's kind of hard to swap those wires onto the wrong prongs of the ICM due to the heat basically locking the wires into their permanent shapes if that makes any sense...I wonder if the wires were unintentionally mixed up at the ICM prongs but corrected at their 2 prong connector...

Is it important to have the BK/W wire connected to ICM prong C,+
I have the old weak ICM still and in case I fried the new one I intended to try the old one but fear I'll pop that one too if these wires are swapped.

[Retoxic]

Does anyone know how/where to obtain this wiring diagram https://fordfestiva.com/forums/showt...ributor-tester I can't seem to find the buy button anywhere for the distester on their site.

[tooldude]

[QUOTE=Retoxic;749813]So, if both harnesses I have are for an 88 then the ig switch would be designed to be open-open-closed-open from W to BK/R (W/R to BK/W for me) instead of open-closed-closed-open as listed as functioning for an 89? I've checked all continuity today from coil to ecu to dist to signal wire and it checks OK so thankfully no fried wires.

Apparently my W wire from IGN to y/gn tach signal/coil switched hot was replaced at some point and it looks like a dealer fix..that explains why that wire isn't the correct color going into the ICM...I'm seeing that the BK/W wire is supposed to be spliced into the hot wire leading to the ICM but on mine it is plugged into prong B. Prong C shows a little + beside it and prong A is the bl/o wire leading back to the ECA. When replacing the DIST, it's kind of hard to swap those wires onto the wrong prongs of the ICM due to the heat basically locking the wires into their permanent shapes if that makes any sense...I wonder if the wires were unintentionally mixed up at the ICM prongs but corrected at their 2 prong connector...

Is it important to have the BK/W wire connected to ICM prong C,+
I have the old weak ICM still and in case I fried the new one I intended to try the old one but fear I'll pop

Starting over. The EVTM is showing colors for the stock car harness. For 1988 it's Start (BK/R) - IGN (BK/Y) - On (BK/W) - ACC (BL) - Power to IGN Switch is (W/R). The 1988 test procedure chart shows ON (Run) circuit tests as Open-Open-Closed-Open. That agrees with the switch schematic.

[WmWatt]

I don't know if they sell distester to the public. They sell to parts stores who test for free. You could try just searching for distesters for sale and see what comes up. Maybe on eBay? They company is owned by Equus(?) now who also make vacuum guages and stuff. Who now owns Equus I don't know. A lot of "consolodation" and "offshoring" in the auto parts industry.

[WmWatt]

^^ I was referring to a different (commercial) ignition module tester, not the home made one in the "distributor tester" thread at the top of the repair help forum. Sorry about my confusion.

[Retoxic]

Hello again fellas...sorry I hadn't replied in a while there's been a lot going on here so the Festy has been napping under a 70yr old walnut tree for the last month and was nearly crushed by it in our last wind storm here when it fell. Thankfully it only took out the neighbor's car...not funny I know.

Guys, all I need to breathe life back into the 1.3 is the correct polarity for the icm leads. My evtm says one is white and one is black. However, both of mine are black but appear to be routed correctly to their respective locations confirmed via continuity beeps...

I have the new icm but cannot risk connecting the wrong wires (possibly again). I have resorted to offering the locals a bit of compensation to anyone who would allow me to take one photo and one continuity test under the hood of a running Festiva...no joke..

The evtm also shows a dashed-line on the white wire coming from the dist for a short length. What does that refer to? I couldn't find anything online stating its purpose or in the legends/instructions of the evtm itself. I don't want to crush this thing over something as small as this. Everything else is done and replaced all I need are these two wires reconnected.

Thank you all and again I apologize for my ignorance.

[TominMO]

Hello all, I'm Aaron. I've been reading hundreds of pages on this site since joining and cannot seem to find what specific issue is possessing my festy. 89' atx efi a/c

The color schematics in my EVTM matches the car harness where the ignition pigtail plugs in but not the ignition harness itself. I ordered another online and it matches the existing harness but not the car.

Just to make sure, you do know that 1989 EFI was unique to that year only, right? Possibly what you ordered online was for 1990-93. Good luck finding 1989 -specific components. Even if the online part's description says Festiva "all EFI ", they might not know that 1989 is different.