jvander67 ('90 Festiva won't start... suggestions?)

[jvander67]

I drive a 1990 Ford Festiva auto transmission...It has run great for years...today i turned it off and it wouldn't start. It cranks over well...we used a timing light and it is getting spark. Tank is full of gas...Are there any other Festiva owners on here that might have a suggestion?

[NateHale88]

Can you hear the fuel pump kicking on? Have somebody go put their ear up to the tank and then turn the ignition on. You should hear it kick on to prime it.

Also have you tried a little ether/starting fluid to see if it would try and fire?

[jvander67]

Originally Posted by NateHale88

Can you hear the fuel pump kicking on? Have somebody go put their ear up to the tank and then turn the ignition on. You should hear it kick on to prime it.

Also have you tried a little ether/starting fluid to see if it would try and fire?

We did that and then did a compression check...out of 4 cylinders two were @ 150 and the middle two were @ 35 and 95....we towed it home and are going to pull the head and replace the head gasket, also have the valves ground and replace the timing belt and assembly....as I realized my 1990 Festiva should have had the timing belt replaced @ 90,000miles and it has 130,000 miles....thinking it may have slipped...It's getting gas...and getting spark...so compression was the obvious next step. Annnnnd there it was. So after we do this work...We will pray that it starts.

[jvander67]

Originally Posted by jvander67

We did that and then did a compression check...out of 4 cylinders two were @ 150 and the middle two were @ 35 and 95....we towed it home and are going to pull the head and replace the head gasket, also have the valves ground and replace the timing belt and assembly....as I realized my 1990 Festiva should have had the timing belt replaced @ 90,000miles and it has 130,000 miles....thinking it may have slipped...It's getting gas...and getting spark...so compression was the obvious next step. Annnnnd there it was. So after we do this work...We will pray that it starts.

And yes, we can hear the fuel pump kicking in