Scott Stone

OK.. new/returning member here, think I was a member back in the 90s(?) but can't remember. Anyway, I'm Scott, and here's my car: 1993 RX7 R1 ~50,000 on hand-rebuilt engine by Rick's Rotary Performance in Pleasanton, CA PowerFC ECU Greddy exhaust/intercooler JDM aftermarket twin-turbos Cold air intake Apexi coil-overs Enkei RPF-1 18" wheels so... everything was fine with the stock turbos. Was getting boost to about 6-7 psi starting almost right away on the first turbo, then the ~4000rpm dip, engage 2nd turbo, hit about 12psi peak on the 2nd turbo. Problem was, turbo housings were leaking oil. So I dropped several thousand into a JDM twin turbo kit which was supposed to let me run about 20 psi. Had it all professionally installed (I live near Everett, WA currently) and... problems ever since. It's making almost no boost below 3800rpm. then it kicks up to 20 like a dragon.. most of the time. sometimes I only get 10, sometimes 15, sometimes zero. Hits the dip/second turbo at 5500-6000 which is kinda useless with the redline at 8000. Off the line it's slower than a Toyota since it's not making any low-end boost. I've had it in the shop like 7 times (same people who did the turbo swap) and it's still not fixed. They replaced the EGI relay, fuel filter, re-tuned the ECU, their guys say "oh yeah it's fine" but it's *not fine*. I've had this car since 1999, I know how it's supposed to drive and this isn't it. I can't find any other mechanic in the area who will even look at it. I could take it back to the original shop (Z Sport in Everett, WA) and let them mess around with it more, I could take it back to Rick in California, but... any ideas what could even cause this? It seems like a wastegate issue since I *hear* the turbo under 3800, it's just not putting any boost to the manifold. Any recommendation for a shop in western WA would also help. "Jerry's Little Car Shop/Mazdas Only" in Kent won't look at it, he says they won't look at a car with an aftermarket ECU, so that's out. Please help I don't want to get rid of this car but I'm not sure how to fix him properly now

Scott Stone

Ok, my mistake, I misremembered the turbos.. they're BNR, not JDM. Essentially stock housings with bigger internal parts. Actually does make 20psi once it gets going; just ... doesn't get going very often.

When they were first installed and pre-"tuning" (mechanic said drive it for 500 miles to break in the turbos, then we tune it), I had the exact opposite problem - made boost just fine at the low end, petered out above 4k, figured tuning would take care of that... well, I suppose it did but now it's the opposite problem ><

armans

iTrader: (2)

Welcome to the forum, Scott. Have you looked into the wastegate actuator? When your turbo is really spinning and makes no boost to the intercooler, then I'd think of a wastegate-related problem first.

Scott Stone

I'm having the wastegate actuators looked at on Friday. Turns out the car also has upgraded fuel injectors (not sure what size), but my guy in CA that installed them back in 2004 when he did the engine, said that they should make enough pressure to handle 20psi (and it does, when I can get it to push 20 lol). If the local guy can't fix the wastegate actuators I'll take it back to CA... Rick's Rotary Performance in Pleasanton, CA. If any of you are in that area, he always did good work for me when I lived there and he has a couple modified FDs just like mine, so I'm sure he could get to the bottom of it.

TomU

iTrader: (11)

If it was working before, but not after you had the turbos changed, my guess is your shop didn't install it correctly and if they didn't install it correctly are you confident they will be able to fix it? Do they have experience working on FDs?

Are you running sequential and how much of the control system is original (solenoids, actuators, hose)? If any of it is, it needs to be gone through to ensure proper operation. It's not that hard, but tedious. I just went through mine and found the turbo actuator and about half of my solenoids were bad and I only have 65k. Below is a good thread on the subject

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...-stuff-802060/

There's also restrictor pills in the wastegate and turbo precontrol actuator lines. It's easy to miss those when changing the hoses

Scott Stone

I'm taking it to a different shop The shop that did the turbos has had months to fix it and the guy working on it doesn't seem to even think there's a problem. Have taken several others for rides in it just to make sure it's not just "me" - it's not just me. I'll print out or bring links to all the info that you guys have provided me with, to the new shop. Hopefully it's something simple or at least easily findable. Otherwise I'm driving to California

Thanks for everyone's help so far - I'll post the results next week when I know.

Joe rawket

There's a shop all the way down in Kent called Goodbox Motorsports (GoodBox MotorSports). I've heard good things about them but actually haven't used them yet, but will be taking my FD to them soon to get a few things looked at.