still broke, by passing EGR valve now.

[yogaslackers]

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10479

was the original post!

1989 Festiva with a carbureted engine and manual tranny. 215,000 miles 100,000 on the rebuilt engine and 50,000 on the new tranny

Alas the Car was running great for 300 miles then... Not sure what happened now I am stranded in williston North Dakota in a blizzard with a car that wont go over 55 MPH in 4th Gear. The symptoms leading up to this are long and drawn out.
1. Car Made similar but much less sever Cut outs in 5th gear.
I changed the configuration of the vacuum hoses
2. Made it 45 miles and the problem got so bad the car would not go faster than 30.
Changed hoses back, NOTE the air cleaner cover was completely Iced over, And the plug that was in the large hole had blown out.
3. Now there is mucus white substance in the PCV valve, and hints of water on the oil dipstick
I took the hose that comes from the one of the large holes in the air cleaner and stuck it in the other for a few seconds then plugged it back into the right hole and plugged the other hole with duct tape.

Also my mpg went from 32 to 14 mpg

Is there a vacuum diagram for the hoses on the air cleaner what do all the ports due?

[WmWatt]

On the carburetted engine ...

The alum. device with the two big hoses bolted to the right side of the air cleaner is what Ford calls a "pulse air system". Sorry, can't remember what it does but do recall that on the Festiva it's duplicated by another system which does the same thing. I'd have to get the Haynes emissions control manual out of the public library and look it up.

The air intake horn has a flap which closes when the engine heats up. An air hose controls it.

How's the PCV valve on top of the valve cover? Does it rattle when shaken?

[Bowls]

Jeeze sam, can't catch a break can you?
that white mucus isn't corrosion by any chance is it?
As for the rest, im stumped i don't think i can help here without doing some research, ill hit google and see what i can find for yah though man.

[yogaslackers]

1989 Festiva with a carbureted engine and manual tranny. 215,000 miles 100,000 on the rebuilt engine and 50,000 on the new tranny

The oil seems fine and the white stuff is gone.

Now it seems like it is chocking.
in 4th my max speed is about 50mph, seems like it is firing on all the cylinders this time. not the abrupt cut out like before more like driving through sand, it bogs down the engine.

Also exhaust smells rich, the muffler is rusted through in 5 places so it is hard to get and accurate feel for the amount of back pressure. It has a new Cat.
could I just cut the exhaust off all the way? I just need to get the car home so I can work on it. 350 miles.
the exhaust going into the pulse air system has more pressure then that coming out the holy exhaust system.

The inside of the rubber PCV valve rubber grommet has melted. I have rigged so the valve is not leaking but I surmise the pieces of the melted rubber were getting sucked in to the valve.


Currently the Egr valve is by-passed used a piece cut from a red bull can an blocked the ports and now the check engine light is on. Should I remove this block. I did not affect anything that I could tell after I did it only thing that changed was the light came on.

Thoughts?

[yogaslackers]

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10479 was the original post.

[yogaslackers]

The #2 plug second shortest wire was very wet when I removed it. I cleaned it off ran the car performed better was able to get in to 5th but max speed of 65mph, and it got worse as I headed back to the house. about a 2.5 mile trip.

[Festy46]

When the car is warmed up, take the top off the air cleaner and make sure the choke is wide open. The butterfly should be standing straight up and down. Try to turn it open with your hand if it's closed. If this was your problem, it should run with full power if you can keep it blocked open.

If the choke was open, look on the left side (as you face the engine) of the carb and see if there is gas showing in the sight glass. Wiggle the car a little and you should see the gas moving inside the sight glass. The gas level should be about half way up in the glass. If you can't see any gas, your float level could be too low in which case you would need to take the top off the carb to adjust it. Before you take the carb apart (if you don't see any gas) take the gas line off the carb and hold the end of the hose in a plastic jug like a 2 quart milk jug. Crank the engine and you should see a good amount of gas flow into the jug. If very little flows, you may have a weak fuel pump or possibly some ice in the fuel lines.

If you still don't have any WOT (wide open throttle), try advancing (turn) the distributor. It's possible your vacuum advance leaks and doesn't advance the timing enough.

If everything above checks out ok, it's possible you may have messed up the power valve spring when you had it apart. I can tell you how to make a temporary throttle control for the secondary barrel on the carb that will get you home, but it won't be much fun driving unless it is all interstate highways. It wouldn't hurt to put a couple bottles of dry gas in the gas tank, too.

[Bowls]

Haha, you know your stuff festy. i tried to find out anything but i dont got enough experience in them breaking down like that. Hope i never do!

Thanks for helpin out sam, i couldn't figure that out

[25Horseplay]

Haha, you know your stuff festy. i tried to find out anything but i dont got enough experience in them breaking down like that. Hope i never do!

Thanks for helpin out sam, i couldn't figure that out

Then STOP giving repair advice. Your advice is often wrong.

[Bowls]

its not advice, is suggestions, trial and error. i'm not telling people to go out and buy parts, or disconnect this and try that. i say IT might be this, i take time to look up this stuff on the web, i don't just make this stuff up.

[mattswabb]

By looking at some of the questions you've asked in your own threads since you have been on this site leads us to believe that you're not experienced enough to give repair advice. The problem is that the people you are advising may not know this and waste their time.

[Bowls]

my car problems, aren't just go and replace a fuel filter. i have a BAD transmission, bad throwout bearing, the clutch is due to be replaced and i plan to take the flywheel into a machinist. These aren't problems that u trouble shoot, you REPLACE them. i know how engines work, any fool who could look up an engine diagram could atleast troubleshoot engine problems. i aint telling people to replace anything, im saying try a compression test, it wont hurt. i don't give advice. if i say replace your rotor and distributor, thats advice. if i say it could be your fuses or a short. thats a provided option, for trial and error.
cars dont just break down, there is a problem and a cause, i just say look at this, it could be a problem.