When car is first turned over the starter seems to be spinning at a decent speed but after a few revolutions it slows considerably. The voltage drops on the battery while cranking and the starter slows to a halt. I've been through the threads and checked everything I found all with positive results and I can't seem to find anything else to try. Before I go and drop another 50 bucks on a starter, does anyone have another idea of what could cause such a condition.

A few facts:
1981 project car that set for a year that I picked up for cheap
It has ran once (guess I got lucky and the planets were aligned)
New alternator
New battery
New battery cables
Checked all connections and grounds
Removed exhaust (secondary cat line was plugged)
Cap, button, plugs and wires were replaced before I got it (igniters tested good on the distrib)
Ignition solenoids were replaced (had an old set laying around)
Engine rotates freely

Any help appreciated,

-Keith
kwalker@t2drafting.com

 

Rorarys are know for flooding and no start problems. Once the plugs get wet, they need to be removed, cleaned and dried. The extra fuel in the combustion chambers needs to be blown out too. There is a thread in the FAQs at the beginning of the section on how to DeFlood a Rotary.

Welcome to the forum. In my sig line are links to the online FSMs, carb manual and other reading. Download what ever you need and enjoy.
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Thanks for the information and even more for the welcome.

 

Sounds like your starter is going. Those are the same symptoms i suffered before replacing mine.

 

I took the plugs out and it turned over strong without the compression

 

Yep, I had one do the same thing, Started drawing to many amps which was killing my battery and eventually quit.

Taking the plugs out reduced the load the starter has to deal with so it would seem some what normal like that.

 

After rereading your first post, your battery may not be fully charged, (voltage drop), even if it is new. Put it on a trickle charger and let it go all night. Other than that, make sure all of the connections are clean, even a slight coating of oil/grease can reduce electrical flow.

If that doesn't solve the issue, take the starter and have it tested.

 

Might try jump start too for quick way to rule out not enough cranking amps.

 

When you do the battery and connections, put some DiElectric grease or Vasoline on the contacts to prevent corrossion.

 

Put new brushes in the starter....no go....ordered a reman starter

 

When you replaced the brushes did you check the armature and remove any black non-conducting garp from the commutator? Usually a little emory cloth does the trick, or even a little lacquer thinner.

Sometimes, if the starter has seen hard use, the nose bushing for the pinion gear can wear in the quadrant away from the ring gear and the brushes no longer work right with the commutator, so you have to replace it with a new oilite (sintered bronze) bushing. Sometimes you can just remove the old bushing, rotate 180 degrees to present a new bearing face to the pinion shaft, and reinsert it in the nose. But first, put the bushing in your palm, open side up, fill it with engine oil and then press down with your thumb until oil seeps out of the pores of the sintered bronze.

 

I had a similar problem that turned out to be bad battery cables. I was chasing my tail around looking for things,and it turned out to be a bad negative ground cable. I replaced both,and all is well.

 

yeah these 1st gens have bad grounding problem...well 20+ years on stock wiring will probably do that. Start easy first then go up. id do what MazdaZx said. I had starting rpoblems as well a while back iand it was the battery cable connections.

 

my starter just went out.
hmm how much are battery cables?

 

You can get decent cables for about $10 at the autostore (copper, but never aluminium), but for real hotdog cables for someplace like Alaska or Minnesota where it REALLY gets cold, you want to make your own cables from arc welding cables and boat type post clamps (like from West Marine). Arc welding cable has thousands of strands because DC current mostly flows thru the 'skin' of a strand, thus many strands gives lots of skin. Also, welding cable is very flexible.

the 'skin effect' yields much greater current capacity than using solid copper in a thick size. Remember, the current flows in the skin. That's why arc welders use it. A little simple math will show why.

 

wow, sombody else who actually knows how to build a starter. right on. this is becoming a lost art. starters are so easy to build.

 

http://www.discountmarinesupplies.co...ft_LENGTH.html

you want a good wire heres a multiple stranded copper tin covered wire. extremely flexible which means it will carry an assload of current.

 

Yes, I cleaned up everything very well, it was covered in crud and a bit warn. I found a remanufactured for 40 bucks so I just bit the bullet.

I really appreciate everyones suggestions.

 

Does this mean the problem is solved?

 

Not at the moment, I'm waiting on the starter to show up.

BTW look what I picked up for 100 bucks.

http://www.t2drafting.com/rx7/1986/

The guy said it ran last year but melted something, but he admitted he new nothing about rotaries. I haven't began looking at anything yet. Could I be looking at a 13B swap for mine lol

Once again thanks for all your posts.

-Keith

 

Got the starter in today, hope to get the good results I'm looking for tomorrow.

(and the 86, has 49 psi of compression in the #1 and 0 psi at the #2, anyone need parts)

sorry, trying to get to that magic number 10 post

 

Nice FC toy.

 

What you posted right there is completely contrary to what they taught me in my Bachelor of Electrical Engineering. The Skin effect is about high frequency currents tending to propagate at the skin of the conductive material, not low frequency.

Perhaps you should do a little reading, I did an assignment specific to this topic not more than 18 months ago.

http://fermi.la.asu.edu/w9cf/skin/

Here is a seemingly credible reference source that states what I'm saying, notice the .edu.


Now back on topic

I just replaced my 350cca battery with a 800cca battery and gained about 80-100 cranking rpm

 

Well the new starter went in and cranked great but par for the coarse something else went bad. The fuel pump is has lost it's will to live.

The good news is it starts and runs with a little gas in the carb.

Thanks everyone,

-Keith

 

Fuel pump was okay...tank full of crud. Shot some air up the lines to clean it out and it runs fine. Next step tank cleaning. One more post and I get to 10 and I'll leave this thread alone.