3rd Generation Specific (1993-2002) 1993-2002 Discussion including performance modifications and Technical Support Sections.
Sponsored by:

Gurus: Help with really odd fisfire

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 01-16-04, 10:53 AM
  #1  
Re-engineering everything

Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
 
hyperion's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 751
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Gurus: Help with really odd fisfire

Oh mighty RX7 forum gurus,

My 94 R2 has a problem. This problem occurs when the car is stopped and out of gear. As I rev the motor, the engine speed rises until it hits about 5500 RPM. Then, the engine hesitates, stuck at that RPM. As I apply additional throttle, the engine refuses to rev higher until a certain point (I'm still pressing the accelerator slowly more and more) when it breaks free and begins to rev up again to redline.

This problem is worse when the car is cold; the revs get to about 3000 before this hesitation starts. As the car warms up, the hesitation moves up the rev range.

When listening to the car, it sounds like the ignition is severely breaking up (B-R-R-R instead RRRRRR) and stumbling.

This problem has been around since I bought the car early last year. Since then, I have replaced:

* plugs
* wires
* leading coil

To no effect. I am still looking at the trailing coils and the ignighter, but I am not optimistic that this will fix the problem. If you have EVER experienced something like this and have some ideas for me, I would greatly appreciate it! Help!

-ch
Old 01-16-04, 12:31 PM
  #2  
Recovering Milkaholic

iTrader: (7)
 
Fd3BOOST's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Budds Creek, Maryland
Posts: 8,203
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Have you checked all the ground wires?
Make sure that all the ground wires are securely fastened.
Old 01-16-04, 12:57 PM
  #3  
Re-engineering everything

Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
 
hyperion's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 751
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Yeah, I made sure everything was connected and added two extra-big wires from the PS pump and the UIM. Is there a ground location that I should check that would most affect this kind of issue?

-ch
Old 01-16-04, 03:42 PM
  #4  
Banned. I got OWNED!!!
 
BinaryRotary's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Illinois
Posts: 292
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
There are three main ground locations: one on the fire wall just behind the UIM on the passenger side of the vehicle, one on the driver's side fender beneath a black boxfull of relays, and one down below on the driver's side of the engine just above the lip of the oil pan. You need to scuff the metal behind the ground contact and the contact itself bare.
Old 01-16-04, 06:26 PM
  #5  
Re-engineering everything

Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
 
hyperion's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 751
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Yep, I replaced the UIM with a 4-gauge wire and used cooper conducting paste to help ground. I cleaned the one by the oil pan and used paste there as well. The connection under the fuse box looked fine to me but I added another from the PS pump to a bolt near the strut tower.

I think I'm grounded pretty well, but I can recheck things.

Any other ideas?

-ch
Old 01-16-04, 10:56 PM
  #6  
The Power of 1.3

 
911GT2's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Shrewsbury, Massachusetts
Posts: 2,837
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
No ideas, but a question. Why the hell are you revving your car to 5500 rpm in neutral, and especially when the engine is cold?

If it doesn't do this when it's in gear, what does it matter?
Old 01-17-04, 03:26 AM
  #7  
Re-engineering everything

Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
 
hyperion's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 751
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Ha, good question. The problem isn't at 5500 when it's cold, it's around 3000. And I don't do it when it's stone cold, but after about a minute. At that point the oil's viscosity is low enough to flow (especially if you run a synthetic) so I don't anticipate any issues.

Also, this problem does occur in gear as well, but only at light engine loads (like creeping up on 5500 in 1st gear).

The reason I'm interested is that this symptom may be indicative of other problems in the system. For instance, I've tuned the car very carefully but still get lots of backfiring even though I'm running a HF cat. (I'm retaining the air pump for smog issues.) This probably isn't related, but rule #1 is fix the things that are obviously broken first. I just don't like the idea of the car behaving badly because you never know when the issue will occur in a high-load situation, and I don't know what other systems it may be affecting.

I guess what I'm saying is that there's clearly something wrong and I want to make sure it's fixed.

-ch
Old 01-17-04, 03:34 AM
  #8  
1JZ powered

 
jspecracer7's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Where there's only two seasons, hot and wet! I love Okinawa
Posts: 4,423
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
what's your a/f at idle?
Old 01-17-04, 10:51 AM
  #9  
Nomad Mod

 
Toadman's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: The O.C.
Posts: 359
Received 3 Likes on 1 Post
Might want to replace your O2 sensor also.
Old 01-17-04, 11:06 AM
  #10  
Ee / Cpe

 
XSTransAm's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Gaithersburg, MD / WVU
Posts: 2,843
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Originally posted by hyperion
I've tuned the car very carefully
pfc or haltech? or other...

Im guessing this is your problem, my backfire/misfire were all due to improper tuning. All better now tho
Old 01-17-04, 11:24 AM
  #11  
Lives on the Forum

 
rxrotary2_7's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: southern NJ
Posts: 5,097
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
before i went stand alone EMS, i had problems with my coolant temp sensor that could never be explained. i did a temp fix w/ a POT to tricj\k the ecu into thinking the temp was different than it actualy was. it was a *bandaid*, but it worked. i spent over 6 month trying to figure the problem out with no luck. i wont even get into the list of things replace or tried. your head will smoke. but the $1.00 adjustable POT did the trick. maybe i am way off on your problem, but i feel your pain.
Old 01-17-04, 02:53 PM
  #12  
Full Member

 
DChan415's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 182
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
What city are you in and what ECU do you have?
Old 01-18-04, 06:18 PM
  #13  
Re-engineering everything

Thread Starter
iTrader: (2)
 
hyperion's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Posts: 751
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Thanks for all the responses, guys.

jspecracer7: My AFR's are between 11.0-12.0 as I rev the motor. Please see the attached image which shows a plot while I am stationary, out of gear, and reving the motor. The top red line is RPM, the top blue line is the TPS. You can see that I am progressively opening the throttle, but the car gets stuck at about 5400 RPM. (The bottom blue line is vacuum which also rises with the throttle, but the revs won't go higher.) The AFR starts at about 12:1 and drops to 11:1 as the problem starts. You can see that after some point the throttle opens enough the revs suddenly shoot up, and then I close the throttle. Also, as you can see the injector map is constant throughout.

Toadman: I'm thinking about it, but I've checked the sensor and it appears to be completely within specifications. The problem doesn't go away when I disable O2 functions in the ECU software, either.

XSTransAM: I'm running a PFC. I have a wide-band and I've tuned the car pretty well myself. However, I've tried other people's maps (with similar mods to myself) to no effect.

rxrotary2_7: Thanks for the support. There are so many issues with this motor I'm actually thinking it will be less expensive and frustrating to just buy a new one.

SChan415: I'm in Mountain View, and I've got a PFC that I bought a little less than a year ago. I've also swapped ECUs with another PFC owner to no effect.

-ch
Old 04-10-04, 08:22 PM
  #14  
Rotary Freak
 
alberto_mg's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: nyc+li, ny
Posts: 2,690
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
bumping to see if the problem was identified and fixed. i think i'm having the same problem.
Old 04-21-04, 03:19 PM
  #15  
Full Member

 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Dearborn, Mi
Posts: 68
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Just generated this problem after bringing the vehicle out of storage. Feels like I stab the brakes when sweeping throught the rpms. ~3400 rpm @ 3psi.

Anybody found a definitive solution to this problem?
Old 04-21-04, 03:30 PM
  #16  
No it's not Turbo'd

 
DCrosby's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Los Angeles, Ca
Posts: 2,511
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
I have this issue at WOT, and anywhere around 5-10 psi... I've Replaced / swappend to check, just about everything.. (No Joke) Engine, Rad, Ic, Coils, ECU, Airpump, Igniter, going non seq. I even had the turbos appart while the engine was rebuilt, and the turbos looked good... but what I'm guessing it is now, is the turbos have either some play, or some imbalance in the shaft, that causes the bog, once it frees itself, it's fine again... maybe check how much boost you're making on a gauge, when this happens... mine is all over the place once it starts bucking and "Acting up"
I won't know for sure untill my GT35/40 comes in and gets installed, but like I said I've been chasing this for 2 months, with the help of a very good rotary mechanic, and that's our last resort... if it's not that, then it was a poor rebuild... the funny thing was the turbos acted up before the rebuld, we attributed it to a clogged cat @ 8 psi of backpressure... Since then we took the cats off to test, and no difference...
Old 06-10-04, 07:30 AM
  #17  
Snail-Turbo *)

 
rofuz's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Sweden
Posts: 123
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
>>DCrosby

have you notice any diffrence yet or do you still have the same hesitation?

//Rick
Old 06-10-04, 11:52 AM
  #18  
Hamado things my way!

 
P'cola FD's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Pensacola, Florida
Posts: 1,245
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Check you trigger wheel. Make sure that it isn't bent up too badly. Also, make sure that your crank angle sensors are within limit (1-2mm away from trigger wheel).
Old 06-10-04, 12:06 PM
  #19  
Rotary Freak

 
mad_7tist's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: tampa
Posts: 1,899
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
has anyone looked at the values in their tps's. watch it to make sure that they swing nice and smooth as you slowly open the throttle. sometimes it will have a bad spot on the rheostat and give a wrong reading.
Old 06-10-04, 12:57 PM
  #20  
Do it right, do it once

iTrader: (30)
 
turbojeff's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Eugene, OR, usa
Posts: 4,830
Likes: 0
Received 12 Likes on 8 Posts
I had a "customer" car that had a similar problem. It would really NOT want to rev over 4500-5000rpm. If pushed it would sort of push through it and then continue to redline with not much power. Low rev power was great.

The car would do this in every gear and in neutral, the check engine light would flicker but no codes were stored nor could they be captured.

I tore the entire top of the motor apart, checked all solenoids, injectors, vacuum diaphragms, etc. It all checked out just fine.

Finally I got to looking at the crank angle sensors, the wiring for the top/faster speed sensor was partially pulled out of the plug and there were only 2-3 strands of wire left on it.

Since the engine harness was sorta crispy and I had the entire freakin' thing torn apart I bought a NEW engine harness and the problem was GONE...
Old 09-12-05, 07:15 AM
  #21  
Moderator

iTrader: (7)
 
dgeesaman's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Fort Kickass
Posts: 12,302
Received 16 Likes on 15 Posts
Originally Posted by mad_7tist
has anyone looked at the values in their tps's. watch it to make sure that they swing nice and smooth as you slowly open the throttle. sometimes it will have a bad spot on the rheostat and give a wrong reading.
Please elaborate.

I was doing the tps adjustment on my car, and there were times when I didn't get good numbers or they would act funky for a couple seconds. I figured it was a poor connection either in my multimeter probes or the safety pin (I wish I had 3 hands - one to hold each multimeter lead, and one to move the throttle).

My symptoms (now that the car is running) is bad misfiring / bucking in general when I exceed 0psi.

Oh, and I did have some rev 'sticking' where it wouldn't fall immediately back to idle.

Dave

Last edited by dgeesaman; 09-12-05 at 07:38 AM.
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
1NSIGHT
Drifting
8
09-29-15 12:18 PM
Rotospectre
New Member RX-7 Technical
0
09-13-15 11:22 PM
immanuel__7
2nd Generation Specific (1986-1992)
89
09-05-15 10:23 AM
befarrer
2nd Generation Specific (1986-1992)
4
08-14-15 04:18 PM



Quick Reply: Gurus: Help with really odd fisfire



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:12 AM.