Plethora of issues.

[Rick the Quick]

There are a bunch of videos on You Tube that will show you how to find the parasitic battery drain. You will need a volt ohm meter. They can be had on eBay for $20 or less. There is a decent Craftsman model being sold by several vendors on there for $20 + or - a few bucks. Another thing you should invest in is a Factory service manual. When I say factory I am talking the manual put out by Ford Motor Company. I got the main manual and the electric/vacuum troubleshooting manual both for $20. I would imagine the parasitic drain issue may very well be related to the fuse blowing issue. The alternator used on these cars is a very reliable unit. Going through as many as you have indicates problems such as poor installation or poor quality rebuilds. Same with the battery. If you had two batteries in two months it sounds like you were buying used or so called "reconditioned" batteries. Sometimes you get a good one sometimes not. Where do you think the rebuilder guy gets them? I had an '88 with a carb and never had any problems however that was 10 years ago. I have heard a lot of horror stories about the ethanol gas damaging carbs not to mention you are dealing with a carb. that is 30 years old. If the rest of the car is decent and you don't mind putting the money into it and you do not have to run the car through emission testing you can adapt other new carbs. to fit the engine in your car. Being in Wisconsin your biggest enemy is rust. How does the suspension mounting points look?

[skeeters_keeper]

It should be fairly obvious but if you continue down this path of just replacing fuses without finding and fixing the short you have somewhere your car is going to catch on fire.

Highly recommend you fix that before continuing to chase any of the other less serious problems.

[Nehemiah]

The internet tells me that there are two possible types of short circuiting- one that a wire is connected to ground somewhere it shouldnt be, and the other when wires are connected to each other where they shouldnt be.
I just tested the fuse links with this test on a multimeter.
VZM.IMG_20181123_120514.jpg
The battery was a steady 43. I got 34 in Room, 117 in Meter, and 111 in Engine. Cooling Fan is a tight fit; the probes wouldnt reach in.
Are those indicative of the first type of short circuit or the second?

I cant check codes bc my dash lights arent working.

The seam is the line directly above the spark plugs (Im holding down the wires from the distributor to the plugs in the picture)
20181123_121128.jpg.
I'm working on fixing it the actual problem. I don't know if the last three fuses blew later or on the first blow, and I wasn't driving or even in the car when it happened. I'm still trying to find the extent of damage.
Where are the suspension mounting points?
Can a multimeter function as a volt-ohm meter as well as a volt-ohm meter does, or are there functions on the VOmeter that arent present on a $12 multimeter?

[WmWatt]

Suggest you look on google.com for how to use multimeter.

[Rick the Quick]

The check engine light will not work if the "engine" fuse is burnt. The engine fuse powers the ECU. If the ECU is not getting power the check engine light will not come on. A good place for you to start is to figure out what is causing the parasitic drain. When you solve this problem it may solve the other fuse issues. Notice I said it may. There may be other problems. You would be wise to look for obvious signs of damage to the wiring harness. You will be looking for wires that may have been crushed by the battery, etc. and also fresh electrical tape hiding god only knows what. If you find fresh looking tape remove it and find out what it is hiding. Perhaps a splice where someone attempted to fix, repair, bypass, connect an accessory, etc. I have found most electrical problems on older cars are self inflicted by owners or mechanics (I use that term loosely) that hacked into the harness without knowing what they were doing. I imagine a lot of our cars ended up like this at one point in their lives. It's not like the average Festiva driver had unlimited funds to take it to Ford for servicing so they took it to their cousin Vinnie. It will cost you nothing to check all the ground connections. The factory wiring / vacuum manual will show you the location of every ground in the car. You Tube has videos that can show you better then I can explain here how to use your meter, how to find your parasitic drain and you will even find videos by Ryan who will show you how to check for rusted suspension mounts. There is enough talent on here to get you going. Learning to use the meter, follow instructional videos, obtaining the tools and factory service manuals is on you. Evaluating the car to decide if it worth fixing is on you. It's an expensive learning curve but it's life. BTW your $12 meter should perform all or most of the required tests to troubleshoot your car. You can roughly check it for accuracy by checking a known fully charged car battery which should read about 13-13.5 volts on your meter. An 8 ohm speaker allows you to test the ohm scale. This is not real scientific but if the car battery shows 9 volts on the meter and an 8 ohm speaker reads 63 ohms your meter is junk. As for the leak, it looks like the valve cover gasket. At this point don't even worry about it. Get the car running first. Also if you tell us where you live in Wisconsin there may be a member near you that would offer a helping hand. Good luck!

[Nehemiah]

You're the second person to sort-of almost advise evaluating its worth. How seriously should I be taking that suggestion? Obviously it's an old car, obviously I know next to nothing when it comes to maintenance and repair, and obviously I don't have the tools needed to perform most specialized repairs on-hand.

Are these good indicators that I should junk it and move on?

I've looked over and felt all the readily accessible parts of the harness, and nothing looks worn, cracked or frayed. There is electrical tape on it, but it's layered professionally, not wrapped in layers around a single spot -like when that one mechanic friend said some acc would be soo coool-.

I live in Watertown.

[scitzz]

Can't say much at the moment, but these cars are perfect for learning on. Won't take much in the way of tools. Your 12 buck meter should be fine for you,i keep free harbor freight meters in my travel bag to beat up on and use for road side diagnosis

Sent from a mental institution

[dalebwilson]

Check the wiring fastened to the back of the block that runs from the fuse link block to the alternator. These are under the intake and exposed to abnormal heat.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rick the Quick]

I live in Watertown.[/QUOTE]

It's an old car but everything is relevant. Old compared to a new one. They had a Ford Trimotor airplane it town last week and it was $75 for a 20 minute ride. The Trimotor was built in 1928 and it is still air worthy. Still consider your 90 something Festiva old? You say you don't know anything about maintenance and repair and you don't have the tools. The question is do you want to learn? I have a bunch of tools and a shop to work in and know quite a bit about maintenance and repairs. I'm not bragging, it's a fact. However on this Festiva forum there are many that surpass my skills and knowledge. The one thing we have in common is time. Time spent learning and educating ourselves and time collecting tools. It doesn't happen overnight. The big question you need to ask yourself is do you want to learn these skills and invest in the tools needed to do the work. And BTW it's not always enjoyable work. Some of it is downright dirty and even dangerous. It's a lot easier to delegate the dirty work to others but for me I learned out of necessity. I had some really crappy cars when I was growing up in Chicago. I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. When my '60 Bel Air broke down mom and dad didn't tell me to take it to the local shop. I fixed it myself. Outside, usually in the cold because that's when it usually broke. I didn't have tools either but never shied away from buying a good tool that I could use for a lifetime. The other thing I acquired that is lifetime is my skills and knowledge and like I said they both could use some improving. One thing I know is at this point I am not afraid of taking on the jobs that scare some others. If I don't know I find out. Self education. I am amazed when I hear what people are paying for simple maintenance and repairs on their cars. It feels good to know I will never (never say never) be at the mercy of the repair shops. And to all you shop owners I don't mean any disrespect. I am sure there are plenty of good shops. Perhaps a poor man like me sees the world differently than the other side does. If you want to make the commitment and learn auto repair the Festiva is the perfect car to start with. Your biggest enemy is rust. If the car is extremely rusty in the area of the suspension mounting points I would not put any money in it. I did a few things right in my life and one was moving to a mild climate. I don't miss the midwest weather and the rust that goes along with it. Both of my cars were headed to the junkyard when I got them because of the high repair estimates to keep them running. One car is waiting for an engine swap and the other has been my daily driver for going on 2 years. It still looks like crap but has never let me down is fun to drive and is very economical and ...not rusty. If I ever get my paying paint jobs finished I will fix them up as pretty as the '88 was when it got wrecked. It would be different if it was terminally rusted. Good luck!

[WmWatt]

You can do a lot with a set of 3/8" sockets and ratchet and a set of open end wrenches, plus a Philips screwdriver (the socket set should have screwdriver heads). That's all I had for quite a while. I only started collecting 1/2" sockets when I started doing heavier stuff like suspension. I found if I spent money on a general purpose tool to fix a problem the savings from doing it myself paid for the tool and I then had the tool to save on more maintenance and repairs. "nothing needs no maintenance"

[Nehemiah]

May have discovered the issue.
20181124_115358.jpg
20181124_115336.jpg

This wire was not connected properly to the post (by me). Apparently arced and wrecked a whole line!

[Flw Sock]

I live like 20minutes away from Watertown. If you're still having issues in a couple weeks after my finals are over and I'm back from school, maybe I could stop by and help you with some of your issues

[scitzz]

Something been touching something it shouldn't.

Check that wire all the way across the back side of the engine. I had a friend helping me once route it under the clutch cable and i didn't catch it. A week later it wore through and almost set my car on fire.

Sent from a mental institution

[Nehemiah]

The suspension mounting points arent very rusty, but the drivers side floorpan creaks if you step in one spot -it's rusted all the way through in about a two inch diameter hole.

I have standard tools, but that's related to mechanical work. Everywhere I look online has specific requirements for any electrical work (+ the warning 'just remember you might die')

I traced it across and it doesnt seem to be touching anything, or frayed, or burnt anywhere else. When I can get under the car I'll do a more thorough check though. The guy who was 'guiding' me said that I just must not have tightened the nut enough onto that bolt/post coming out of the alternator, and that would be the cause of my parasitic draw (just the alternator not being connected to the battery cathode on occasion), as well as the source for my electrical fault (the alternator would build charge until it arced to the disconnected bolt- resulting in blown fuses and a charred wire)

Learning to do mechanical work is maybe 60% of why I wanted to buy a Festiva, and it's also why I have a '99 Chevy Tracker that I haven't gotten rid of, and recently bought an '82 KZ750.

I intentionally buy things that require TLC bc then my familiarity and skill develop.

[Rick the Quick]

You're making progress!