Where did the pep go?

[88Adventurer]

88 Festiva L, carbed engine. Took it in to have breaks put on, and had a new rotor button/distributor cap put on. New plugs and wires. Axles were greased, and that's all that should have been done. Now the car will only do 45 MPH. Checked to make sure the plugs were in good and snug and the wires were attached. It idles fine, but it won't go over 45 unless I'm going downhill. Any ideas on where I should begin looking?

[Festy46]

If the engine will rev up good in neutral, check your brakes. Jack up each wheel (that got new brakes) and be sure the wheel turns freely. If the mechanic didn't check/clean the pistons on the calipers, it's possible that the pistons are not retracting after you apply the brakes. If they are not, the wheel will be very hard or maybe impossible to turn when you jack up the car and try to turn the wheel. If that's the case, take it back to the guy that installed the brakes and have him do it right.

[88Adventurer]

Thanks, I'll give that a try tonight. Someone said that maybe the distributor had been moved? If so is there a direction to turn it that could increase the power a bit?

[Festy46]

If the guy only replaced the cap and rotor, there is no reason he should have moved the distributor.
If he did try to move the distributor to set the timing, he may not have understood the correct way to do it and he has the timing retarded. To advance the timing (more power) turn the distributor clockwise as you face the end of the distributor cap (where the wires plug in). If you are going to "mess" with the timing without a timing light, scribe a scratch mark on the flange of the distributor and the head so you can put the distributor back where it was originally if moving it doesn't help. One other thing you can check are the 2 rubber hoses that connect to the distributor. Make sure they are both connected at each end (carb, intake, and distributor) and that they are not cracked and broken from age.

[88Adventurer]

Yeah, there really was no reason for the timing to have been messed with. It was a Ford dealership garage that did the work. I'll get it jacked up tonight and try spinning the wheels. Any more ideas of what it could be? I drive 100 miles round trip to work everyday and a top speed of 45 would make that a long trip. Thanks.

[Festy46]

I am going to assume you are somewhat familiar with a carburetor. Start the engine and get it up to operating temperature and then take the lid off the air cleaner. Look at the choke butterfly and see if it is straight up and down. If it's partially closed, this could be some of your problem. If it is wide open, shut off the engine. Get a trouble light or a flashlight and look down in the throat of the carb. With the engine OFF, have someone push the accelerator all the way to the floor and watch the primary side butterfly in the bottom of the carb. When the pedal is all the way to the floor, the butterfly should be straight up and down. Only the primary side will open. The secondary side will stay closed because that side works off engine vacuum. If the primary side does not open completely, check the throttle cable for frayed cable, loose bracket, etc. You said it idles good so I don't think the plug wires are mixed up, but just to be sure check the firing order. The plugs are numbered in order 1-2-3-4 starting from the front of the engine. Follow the #1 plug wire back to the distributor and note its location. Now looking at the top of the distributor cap and going counter-clockwise the plug wires should be attached in this order 1-3-4-2.

If it still doesn't work right, answer these 2 questions. Will the engine rev up when it's sitting in neutral and does the engine rev up when you're doing 45 mph but just won't go any faster?

[88Adventurer]

Thanks, I'll check the carb tomorrow and make sure the plug wires are in the correct order. Will post the results. But yeah, it idles fine after I get it started and going down the road, no stumbling from it. I pulled the plugs last night to make sure they were gapped right and had to adjust all 4 a little bit. Cleaned what looked like vaseline from the wires where they go over the plugs and got it up to 50 - 53 mph. When driving it seems like there's a blockage or something that keeps it from accelerating, will definitely check the carb and see if that's the problem. If it is, am I looking at a difficult job to get it fixed? Thanks.

[88Adventurer]

And last night I jacked the car up and checked the wheels. They would spin for maybe 3 - 5 seconds after I let go of them.

[Festy46]

If your wheels turn that easily, that's not your problem. Any of the problems I described about the carb are not very difficult to fix even the worst case scenario. While you are checking your carb, take a look at the left side (as you face it from the front). There should be a sight glass on the side of the carb and it should be about half filled with gas. Lean against the front of the car to jiggle it a little and see if you can see gas slopping around in the glass. Since this happened right after the car was probably raised up on a lift, check your entire exhaust pipe from the engine to the back of the car. It's possible part of their lifting device may have contacted your exhaust pipe and pinched it shut. If it still doesn't work after you checked these things, post back and we can try something else.

[Tom]

Your throttle linkege is being blocked by the air breather so that your trottle isn't pushing all the way down. Undo the wing nut and loosen the air breather and move it around a little and then carefully seat it properly.

[88Adventurer]

Just got done checking the carb and it all seems to be in order. It's opened up when running, and opens up with the engine off when the accelerator is pushed down. Gas in the sight glass. Spark plugs are in the right order. Moved the air cleaner around and it fits good. However, there's no PCV filter in the air cleaner and it was smoking out of the tube like a little freight train. Haynes manual says it could be bad rings. I've heard they could also just be dirty. The oil looked like tar when I got the car and I haven't put too many miles on the car since I've had it. It's sat around a lot. Going to run some Sea Foam in and see what that can clean up. If it is bad rings, any opinions on how hard they are to replace? When I get the oil changed after the Sea Foam I'll also check and see if the exhaust is pinched. I appreciate all the advice.

[Festy46]

Your PCV valve is probably plugged if you are getting blow-by out the intake tube. Get a new PCV valve for the engine. It may help your performance, too. You said you haven't put too many miles on the car. Do you know for a fact that the car would run 60 or 70 mph before you took in in for servicing? Beg, buy, or borrow a compression gauge and check your engine's compression so you know what you are working with. While you're borrowing tools, get a timing light and make sure your timing is right, both at idle and at 5000 rpms. You probably shouldn't try to do a "ring job" without having someone who has done one before help you. It's not just a matter of taking the old rings off and putting new ones on.

[batstiva]

Not to ask a really obvious question, but how was the car running when you took it in there? Maybe I'm just crotchety in my old age, but I don't like anyone working on my car anymore. Too many bad experiences. Having said all that, if the carb seems right, your wheels spin freely, and the timing has not been messed with, kinda wondering if You might not have ended up with either crappy plugs, or crappy plug wires. Have seen brand new wires, out of the box, not last a day before they started causing problems. Just a thought.

[warlocke]

yep, it is possible to get bad plugs and wires, id go get BRAND new ones of a good brand, plus use NGK plugs

[88Adventurer]

Yep, the car could run 65 - 70 when I would take it to work. After messing around with it tonight I was wondering if there was a chance at bad plugs and or wires. That's the only thing that was changed other than having the brakes worked on. That happened to a 92 Festy I had years ago, wound up putting the old wires back on. I'll stop after work and get some NGK plugs, anyone recommend a particular brand of wires? And after reading the manual last night it does sound like a ring job could be quite a chore. At least the PCV valve is cheap. Thanks for all the input, will update after changing out the plugs and wires.