starting and stalling problems

[chrysuk]

hi a friend of mine who takes me to and from work is having problems with her car, it often cuts out whilst we waiting at traffic lights or stalls when we start to move, if she cant get it started I have to push the car to get it going again. If she is starting the car from it been turned of like when we come out of work it will take about 6 or 7 long start attempts before the battery starts wearing out and if it dies before she can get it started I have to push it again. when she is trying to start it this way after about 5 attempts it starts but always dies right away before she can rev, if she can get it to rev she has to rev it for a good few minutes so she can pull off otherwise it will just stall. It tends to be embarassing at petrol stations, even after the car is only off for 3 minutes it still takes a few starts to get it to rev so we can pull out. If it stalls whilst driving then it usually starts 2nd or 3rd time.

My guess the engine is just lacking energy of some sort to start and keep going but as I know nothing about cars that is far as my guess goes, she knows nothing either and has no money for a exepensive repair so I would like to hazard a guess of whats wrong and est cost of fix.

Thanks

[cbeck]

Petrol stations?

I would change/check the plugs and airfilter first... That's a common problem on cars that are not regularly maintained...

Moreover, if it has a distributer (you didn't mention the year model) change/check the cap on that too.

[chrysuk]

its a 1.1 I think from 1988 or 1989, is checking the plugs and airfilter possible by a novice or should we pay someone to do it?

[cbeck]

nah... I think you'd be ok to have at it. I was a novice the first time I changed mine... (I'd highly recomend a haynes manual though) For the filter, just pull it out and take a look at it. Someone owning a festiva would know better, but it should be in a rectangular box with the top half clamped down. Nothing too it other than take it out, put a new one in...

Plugs, take the wires off (only one off at a time so the firing order doesn't get messed) and use a plug socket to unscrew them and pull them out. the haynes manual has color pictures of what the plugs should look like if I remember correctly... but they should be dry and a little black/sooty.

try this link to give you an idea:
http://www.jonko.com/forum/tutorials/basics/plug.htm

one other thought... on some engines, a bad valve cover gasket can cause oil to leak down onto the plugs... so if you see that.. that's what's going on.

hope some of that helps

[chrysuk]

thanks for the advice, when I see her monday I will check I got the right year/model and will see if we can have a look next weekend.