The Mystery Of The Missing Spark

[OregonFestiva]

Happy Memorial Day Everyone! My deepest gratitude goes out to all of you that have sacrificed past and present for this great nation.

OK, today has been good and bad. I purchased a sweet 89' FI Automatic Festiva w/ AC in spectacular condition for $350 off of Craigslist. That is the good. The bad is that it has a most peculiar problem. Before I begin let me preface this with the fact that I am a mechanical novice. I learn a lot each I work on my Festivas, but I am certainly no expert, so if I use the wrong terminology I apologize.

The car runs perfectly for a certain period time (15-45 minutes). Then it will completely die and not be able to restart for a while or restart for only a few seconds and then die again. Here is what I have already done. Swapped in another fuel pump I got from a junk yard. It started right up, but the same problem occurred a short time later. Next I took the wire in between the distributor and the coil and pulled the distributor side out leaving it still attached to the coil, I then had my wife turn it over while I jumped the spark to the frame out the car. I wanted to see if I was getting any spark. After many attempts and a few good shocks from the wire (Ouch!), I determined that I was getting a spark only intermittently. I checked this at least 20 times so I am sure. This makes sense also because the problem only occurs intermittently. I started by swapping in a new wire. No luck there. Then I swapped in a working coil. Again no luck. So I have traced the missing spark back to whatever is before the coil. After that the wiring gets messy so I thought I would throw this out to the community for assistance. It will turn over all day long so I don't think it is the starter. I think this should be an easy fix, but I need help. Any ideas? Where does the spark begin? Thanks.

[stefan]

possibly the fusible links?

[Tim]

Loose connection somewhere?

[Hot_Wheels]

someone on here found out there distributr wasnt bolted down all the way and causing the car to die maybe check that

[zoe60]

the igniter inside the distributor is probably bad. they are kind of expensive.

[WmWatt]

Ther spark occurs when there is a sudden current drop inside the coil which causes a spike in voltage which is routed to a spark plug. The timing of the current drop and the routing of the spark are both done by the distributor.

The timing of the current drop is basically the rotation of the distributor where it rides on the engine cam shaft, however it is adjusted (advanced)when the engine is cold by mechanical means (a governor weight inside the distributor and a couple of vacuum hoses off the engine) and later when the engine (read O2 sensor) warms up by the car's computer. But again, all timing pulses come finally from the ignition control module (ICM) which has separate circuits for fast and slow idle, etc (I'm not sure how many there are).

I'd agree with the advice given already to take the ICM out and have it tested. Some auto parts stores test them for free. Read what I wrote
on my research and experience (also not a professional mechanic) on the Festiva ICM at www.nce.ca/~ag384/Cars.htm .

If it's theICM shop around because there is only one manufacturer but many, many parts suppliers whose prices vary by 100%. Low price here in Canada is about $150. I don't know of an junk yard which givesa refund on bad electonics components so taking a ICM out of a used distributor is pretty risky. I tried it and lost.

Good luck.

[WmWatt]

Sorry, that was www.ncf.ca/~ag384/Cars.htm
.

[OregonFestiva]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I checked the fusible links and they look to be in good working order. I checked the distributor bolts and thet are fastened down correctly. I have not yet got the ICM tested, but if I am losing spark before it even hits the distributor wouldn't that rule out the ICM? Perhaps I am missing something. I followed the wiring coming out of the coil, but it goes through the firewall into a mass of wires and I get lost after that. Does anyone know if there are any relays in the wiring that goes from the coil through the firewall and then under the dash? Any other ideas? I appreciate the help I have already received.

[WmWatt]

According to the wiring diagram in the Haynes manual the wire on the +ive pole of the ignition coil (black with white stripe) on 1989 FI engine is split and goes to both a condenser and to the ignition switch. I don't know enough about electricity to know if a condenser can heat up after a while and fail or what effect that might have. As for the ignition switch, I've had a problem with mine shorting out the windshield wipers and sometimes the headlights. After attempting to diagnose the problem for some time, including removing and tearing down the windshield wiper motor, I solved the problem by squirting a few drops of oil into the keyhole. Hope some of that helps.

For information, the wire from the -ive pole on the coil (yellow with green stripe) is also split and goes to both the ignition control module and to a connector for a tachometer.

Good luck.

[OregonFestiva]

I realize this is years old now, but I wanted to confirm that the problem was in fact the ICM. I replaced it and it fixed the problem immediately. Thanks for the help everyone.

[htchbck]

Glad you got it running! Also glad that maybe this thread will help other folks diagnose their problem in the future I'll add that if you do have a bad ICM they can be pulled from just about any early '90s EFI Mazda (323, protege, MX6, 626, MPV) if you need to find one in a yard that may be easier than finding a festiva.

[TheresGabe]

Wow... Now that's an update! Do you still have your Festiva? How is it doing?

[denguy]

ROCKAUTO CATALOG......

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1991 FORD FESTIVA 1.3L L4 : Electrical : Ignition Control Module (ICM) Wiki Price Alternate
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[David88]

Updates are good. Thank you.

[OregonFestiva]

Wow... Now that's an update! Do you still have your Festiva? How is it doing?

Unfortunately that particular Festiva has been sold, but I still have 4 others so it's OK.