Engine wont run

[stefan]

So as ive mentioned elsewhere, i went to go look at another festiva today..
When you try to start it it would fire but it wouldn't stay running... if you gave it some gas, you could keep it running for a couple seconds but then it would die again.

how hard would this be to fix? My friend thought it was a broken/dirty sensor. Visually the only thing i could see wrong is the valve cover was leaking and the block was caked with oil.

[b3 madness]

What year of Festiva? Carb or EFI?...

[packrat427]

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3590

Yes it would help to know what year ^^ ,to determine if it is carb of FI.
But since I searched and found out it was EFI. I am going to go with the fuel pump ,I could be a plugged filter , but your symptoms relate to the pump .

[stefan]

sorry guys, its a 1990 EFI 5spd L model

the owner thought it was the distributor, but it didn't seem like a spark issue... and it has new plugs/wires/cap&rotor

i think it might be a filter, cause i think we got it to run for 5 seconds one time.. how many filters are there? just the one under the hood? or is there on in the tank too?

[packrat427]

There is the big one under the hood , and a small sock on the end of the pick up line in the tank .

If you are unsure how long it has been since the filter , put one on , but I am sure you have a pump that has laid down on you .
There is the access panel under the rear seat , under the carpet that will let you get to the fuel pump. Real easy job.

[miami man]

my 93 did something like that but it was the hose from the vaf meter to the throttle body that was bad....hose had holes in it.

[htchbck]

Could also be that the injectors are a little clogged if it hasn't been run in a while. I had this problem when I put in my BP, and I just kept feeding it starter spray and cranking it till it finally worked. I think the starter spray finally cleared the injectore cause it would run a few seconds and die, and then one time it just kept running and has been ever since.

[stefan]

ok guys, i got this car in my garage right now.

it still has the same problem, we even managed to move it a bit.

i can hear the fuel pump (atleast i think i can, its pretty quiet) Is there anyway to test the pump without a pressure gauge?

[25Horseplay]

Could be a bad distributer. I have had that before.

[stefan]

Yea, thats what the former owner thought it was. Is there anyway to test it? And are there any alternatives to a new one? Cause aren't they pretty expensive...

How dose the filter look? Is this ok?

[25Horseplay]

Filter looks OK. The problem I had was the injecters weren't pulseing and the circuit ran through the distributer. As soon as I replaced it it started right away. I don't know how you would test that unless someone near you had a Festiva and let you try the distributer.

[Festiva GTX]

yellow filter looks still good for age as long not brittle or holes... be careful testing with gasoline and don't try catch fire with sparks.

[stefan]

Could i keep feeding it starter spray to see if it would run off that? Or would that damage something?

Cause then i could tell if it was a fuel delivery problem or not, correct?

[mattswabb]

That's not the fuel filter. It's the inlet screen for the pump. The filter is located in the engine compartment below the brake booster.


Make sure the air filter electrical connector is plugged in. The engine will start but won't run with this unplugged.

Next, make sure that each spark plug is getting spark. Pull 1 plug wirre and insert an old plug and lay it on something metal. Crank the engine and look for spark. Check all 4 plug wires.

Pull and inspect each plug. 1 at a time so not to get the wires mixed up.

Remove the distributor cap and inspect.

Do all this then you can move on to the fuel system. I'd bet money it's not the fuel pump or filter.

Did the car sit a while before you got it?

[rotinaj13]

well an engine needs fuel, air and spark to run. Start by checking the simple things. Go to autozone and see what all they will loan you. Test the fuel pressure with a test kit. Than use an inline spark tester to make sure ur getting a good hot spark. Pull the top of the air filter box apart from the bottom and try to run it. It could also be a MAF problem which are not that fun to deal with. If it is getting good spark and proper fuel pressure I would check the air flow for vacuum leaks and make sure the maf is not the problem. Oh yeah skipped a step I would put a noid light on the injectors and check them. I highly doubt it is the O2 sensor, prolly not the TPS. Make sure the plugs are not fubared with carbon and such. hmm there are a lot of things you can check. Post a follow up with every thing you have done to date and I will try to help some more.