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93 festiva no start :(

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  • 93 festiva no start :(

    Started off as applying throttle to an already known position that would bring the desired rate of acceleration (I drive easy on acceleration to save fuel instead of hot rodding to the speed limit).. and the car would occasionally stumble or there'd be a quickly alternating over acceleration and underacceleration compared to my intended rate of acceleration.

    Then one day on a trip, the car sputtered and died, wouldn't restart. I go recover it with my F350 and a tow strap. Get it home, change the fuel filter which was at least a little restricted. Fuel pump is pumping. Changed spark plugs, wires, cap, rotor - the spark will jump at least a half an inch. Noid light on three injectors (other one is impossible to get to without disassembly).. all three reachable injectors light the noid. Checked for trouble codes.. none. Fuel pressure with key on engine off and test plug jumped = ~38.5psi. Fuel pressure with 17 inHg vaccum applied to fuel pressure regulator 31psi, and with 20inHg vaccum applied (from hand vaccum pump both times because engine won't start): 29psi.
    Specs from haynes manual:
    fuel pump test connector jumped (engine not running): 38-44psi
    vaccum sensing hose attached (at idle): 30-38psi [except my engine won't start so vaccum pump17&20inHg)
    vaccum sensing hose detached (at idle) 36-44psi [can't even try to simulate this test with no start]


    Did have a fuel pressure leakdown until I pinched the fuel return line with fuel pump test plug jumped, key on, and pressure jumped to at least 52psi, then the pressure leakdown went from several psi per second lost to many minutes not losing even 1 psi after disconnecting the jumper (and letting go of the fuel return line).

    Leaned the seat up and got in to the fuel pump.. light still passes through the filter on the bottom of the fuel pump.

    Timing belt was done 10-12 thousand miles ago.

    Engine did get back to starting and running after it died at walmart. Occasional... what seemed like a miss, sitting at idle. Under heavy throttle (anywhere from 1/4 or 1/3 depressed, to full throttle) the engine would stop making power at all.. and sitting still in park if punched the throttle it would also die or try to die, but sitting still or driving if the accelerator was pressed slowly - the engine would run and accelerate the vehicle, but only up to about 25 to 33% throttle before it'd quit. Let off the throttle and slowly press it less than 25-33% and it would again accelerate. Added seafoam to the fuel tank slightly stronger than 1oz per gallon but less than 2oz per gallon (I think it was 8oz in 6 to 6.5gal of fuel). Drove it around that day, then the next day it was doing better, and the third day it was worse.

    But currently it's not starting, doesn't even sound like it's trying to fire except for once in blue moon. Do smell fuel after cranking it for a while, strongest at the tailpipe.

    Fuel tank at least half full. Battery is good, and charged. Battery terminals freshly cleaned and reinstalled.Timing belt should still be good with how recent it was done. Fresh plugs wires cap rotor.

    Any ideas? What to check? Any questions for me?

  • #2
    Have you checked for spark recently. I did see that you had spark towards the top of your posting but do you have spark right now? My '93 acted as you are describing and a junkyard distributor fixed it. The other thing you might want to check is the igniter. Its the small module mounted near the ignition coil. They came from the factory with a Mitsubishi made module. I believe the number is 701. I don't believe they are readily test-able. In other words try another one. I heard they were getting impossible to find (obsolete) but if you look on eBay you can buy them all day for around $10. Not sure of the quality or who makes them. The local You Pull it gets about $5.00 for them. I always keep a spare in my glovebox and yes it did save the day one time. Lots of Mazda products from the early to mid '90s use the same igniter. Good Luck!
    '88 Festiva LX 5 speed, A/C, Carb, restored $$$ body paint, badly wrecked @ 200k.
    '93 Festiva L, 5 speed, Aqua, bought from the original owner,.Zero rust but very nasty otherwise. Awaits the B6T.
    '91 Festiva L, 5 speed, bought to drive while putting the B6T in the '93. now B6ME powered.

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    • #3
      ^^ offical name is "ignition control module". original generic name was transistorized points. Standard Auto Parts makes them too.
      Last edited by WmWatt; 11-25-2018, 08:06 AM.
      Original owner of silver grey carburetted 1989 Festiva. 105k km as of June 2006. 140k km as of June 2021.

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      • #4
        Backtrack electricity from distributor until you find some??
        Last edited by denguy; 11-25-2018, 08:34 AM.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by WmWatt View Post
          ^^ offical name is "ignition control module". original generic name was transistorized points. Standard Auto Parts makes them too.
          No arguments from me on this one. It does seem like the American manufacturers like to use "ignition module".
          Japanese manufacturers usually go with "igniter"
          Cars made in Korea re-badged as a Ford product we will use the "ignition module" terminology. Why? Because it's a Ford.
          We should be glad Ford (I assume) wrote our Factory Service Manuals. Could you imagine the Koreans writing them and attempting to translate them into English. lol.
          '88 Festiva LX 5 speed, A/C, Carb, restored $$$ body paint, badly wrecked @ 200k.
          '93 Festiva L, 5 speed, Aqua, bought from the original owner,.Zero rust but very nasty otherwise. Awaits the B6T.
          '91 Festiva L, 5 speed, bought to drive while putting the B6T in the '93. now B6ME powered.

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          • #6
            No cracks in the intake tube?
            Trees aren't kind to me...

            currently: 2 88Ls (Scrappy and Jersey), 88LX, 90L(Pepe), 91L, 91GL (Skippy) 93 GL Sport (the Mighty Favakk), 94 (Bruce) & 95 Aspire SEs, 97 Aspire (The Joker),
            94 Justy 4WD, 87 Fiero GT, plus 2 parts cars. That's my fleet.

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            • #7
              so after dad wanted to throw a fuel pump at it and still no start... I said grab a can of ether. it ain't even trying to burn the ether.

              I've no idea where or which thread.. but I recall reading somewhere around about a mcguyvered tester for some part of the ignition. Ringing any bells for anyone?

              Just checked again for spark with screwdriver on a plug wire.. orange spark.

              Then checked spark at end of coil wire.. orange spark.
              Last edited by xxxdsmer; 02-04-2019, 10:04 PM.

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              • #8
                Swap in a known good coil?

                Check the permanent subjects at the top of this forum page for a distributor tester.
                Original owner of silver grey carburetted 1989 Festiva. 105k km as of June 2006. 140k km as of June 2021.

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                • #9
                  new coil and new ignition module (the part that sits near coil).. got blue spark outta coil.. still won't burn ether, aka starting fluid

                  distributor tester post is missing the diagram for how to assemble the mcguyvered efi distributor tester
                  Last edited by xxxdsmer; 02-06-2019, 03:12 PM.

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                  • #10
                    Having this same issue as we speak, went through the same exact steps lol. It's been frustrating trying to track it down but if I find a solution before you, I'll let you know.

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                    • #11
                      So, found out my distributor was soaked. After replacing wires, plugs, found out that the cap and distributor had water inside it. Dried it out and she fired right up. Hopefully that's what you are going through, if not the VAF and ECT could be bad and telling the PCM to run a rich AFR.

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