1988 Ford Festiva Engine Knock
Asked by Codock Sep 27, 2007 at 05:38 AM about the 1988 Ford Festiva
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
Aight I cleaned up my festivas Carb and now the engine will start and idle relyably. Next problem is is there is a loud tapping/knocking sound coming from I THINK the third piston from the left O O X O Not completely certain though. I replaced the mechanical fuel pump with an electrical one and buzzed the little arm thing on the mechanical one off. Would the spot on the cam, that is supposed to lift that pump arm, cause such a knocking sound? Only things I can think of is A. It is that spot on the cam somehow making the sound. B. Something is wrong with one of the valves and its not lifting or lowering or what ever properly. C. My timing might be off but since I didn't mess with the timeing as far as I know... or D. Maybe I have a spark plug not firing... would that cause a loud knocky tappy sound if a plug wasn't firing at the right time?
6 Answers
littlehorn answered 16 years ago
Either the valves being a problem or a bad plug or wire are most likely your issue. If you removed the camshaft to remove the arm for the mechanical fuel pump, you may have affected engine timing. The spot on the camshaft should not cause that sound as it shouldn't hit anything besides the arm, which is gone now. You might check timing as well as add some Marvel Mystery Oil to the oil and see if that frees up what might be a stuck lifter.
Its not to that point yet... but so far as I can tell from fiddling with everything, its nothing to do with the valves. I got a book on it and followed the instructions to remove the rocker arm assembly, cleaned all the parts with some gas and a soft wire brush, put it all back together in the exact reverse order of how it came apart, put it back in the engine, torqued it down in the pattern the book said, got out my feeler gauges and did a valve adjustment (admitedly the engine was not warmed up like it was suposed to be but *shrugs*) Still had the knock and all so just for kicks I took the oil pan out and found a lovely assortment of metal bits and slivers which were soft enough to bend and deform with my finger nails. Which I am told by a friend means I lost/am loosing one of the crankshaft bearings and or piston rod bearings. Not certain but it seems likely. So unless I get a better idea, I'll give it an oil change, put in some sludge cleaner, let it run for about an hour, change the oil again with some Marvel mystery oil added and drive it around for fun until it completely breaks on me or I find a better option of things to do with it.... Roll cage and a dirt ramp sounds interesting...
i have the same tapping sound on the number two from the left. It has a miss and a loud tapping sound. It done this once before but it fixed itself. What could be the problem on my 90 model festiva.
yes the tapping is comeing from the mechanical fp arm.dumb thing to do,all u can do now is wait for it yo blow.
jpdaddyof2 answered 11 years ago
Yesser, count on the fuel pump going out. Pre-pair to change the pump, filter, and flush the lines with Carb cleaner. I reccomend a few tanks with Sea-Foam added!
