maf

Hi- I bought an 82 RX-7 GSL today,and did not have time to play with it.I did however, check the oil,(dipstick), and it smelled heavily of gasoline.
I asked one of the yard guys how the car got there, and he said the guys had started it, but it died , and they pushed it in place.
It has 80,000 miles, and looks to have been garaged, and ,I think well maintained.
My question is, (other than first changing oil and filter),what should I look for?
Do the carb models fuel pump leak into the "crankcase", like a conventional motor, if the fuel pump diaphram goes bad?
Do you think they could have just over choked it?
What is my best method to get it running, without screwing it up?
Thank you, in advance!! Mark
PS- It is a 12A, 5 speed.

RXnos1200

iTrader: (24)

How long was it sitting? I'd check the gas and make sure it's still good. Check the spark plugs to see how it was running. Find out why it stopped running. The fuel pump isn't attached to the block like the older piston engines. Has an electrical fuel pump. There are mechanical fuel pumps that rotary engines used in racing aways back.

GavinJuice

it was just probably excessively flooded..........change the oil fresh gas dump in some seafoam and giver hell

GavinJuice

oh yea, does the gas smell like "gas" or varnish? if it's not gas then it's got to go.

maf

Thanks!! It smells like fairly fresh fuel.I am sure that they started it within the last two weeks.Glad to hear about the electric pump, it must be good - if it's gettin too much.I really like Seafoam.It says that it can be used in the oil,(crankcase), as well as the fuel. Is the crankcase application good on rotaries? Seems like it might do the Marvel oil/ decarbonization thing.This may turn out to be a great deal!
I really apprecieate the advice.I will let you know how things turn out.

adrock3217

If its been sitting for more than 1 year without any large sum of driving...

Drain the tank, drop it, and clean it. Rust has most likely formed in the tank.

Change oil and coolant, spark plugs and wires, and shoot some 2-stroke in the leading plug holes.

Crank!

Valdez

iTrader: (1)

These cars won't deflood on their own. If it is badly flooded, you need to take out the spark plugs and disconnect the wires to both coils so the plug wires don't spark.
Then turn the car over for a while with out the plugs to clear out most of the gas trapped in the engine. Clean plugs, reassemble and try it again.

Kentetsu

Flooding will cause a lot of fuel to get into the oil, so changing it would be a good idea. Starting the car after it has been flooded can be a real challenge. Sometimes (usually works for me) you can just dump a couple caps full of oil down the small barrels of the carb, then start her up. The oil helps to rebuild compression and get her started. If that doesn't work, then you'll have to go with the "long version" of deflooding as stated above by Valdez.

Kentetsu

Oh yeah, and don't put the seafoam in the crankcase. Put it in the gas tank when you're down to about 1/8 tank, then go for a nice spirited drive.

aussiesmg

iTrader: (1)

And watch your exhaust in the mirror with the Seafoam in her, you'll be leaving a low level radar hazard behind you....lol

Once you've done all this change the plugs to either NGK or Nippon Denso, nothing else at all.

Kentetsu

I've had bad experiences with Denso plugs. I only use NGK now. Also, using the seafoam the way I described doesn't usually cause the "smoke screen" effect (sorry). You only get that if you dump it down the carb or suck it in through a vacuum line. I consider both of those methods to be a waste, unless you're into huge smoke shows, or like firemen or something.

Valdez

iTrader: (1)

Just make sure you disconnect the spark before turning it over without plugs. There will likely be a cloud of gas coming out and you don't want it to catch fire.

Yellow '79

pics!!!

maf

Changed the oil,could only find Denso plugs, installed them, fresh gas, Seafoam,(in the fuel.) Car started, would rev up, but slowly.Warmed up slowly, increased revs, sluggish.
Turned it off , pulled plugs, front rotor( closest to radiator) - plugs gas fouled, never appeared to fire. Rear rotor,(closest to firewall) - light black deposit, looks like only rear rotor was firing. Put some no smoke 2 stroke in the rotors, reinstalled plugs, let sit for 2 days.I did spin her over a few times to circulate oil.
Charged battery, tried to start sputtered a few times , but no start.
Pulled plugs, spun over, (clouds of fuel mist).(. Spun over more, to clear).
Put a compression gauge on leading plug hole, front rotor 120 psi.Did rear rotor , 120 psi. Cleaned wet plugs with brake clean, dried and reinstalled.
Switched coil leads,(front coil wire bad?) NO Start.
Put 10-40 Castrol high mileage in both rotors, spun lightly, left plugs out, came in and wrote this.
What is going on?
This is a VERY original 80,000 mile car, nothing messed with, ALL there.
Sorry about the pics, will do, but I would like to get it running,
For 13 inch, what is the best tire? (ALL 4 CHERRY original factory alloys)
Thanks - I am stumped!
Mark

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

While the plugs may look clean, if they are wet, they don't like to fire. I have fouled brand new plugs with 30 seconds of cranking and had to sandblast them, then hit them brake clean to get them to fire.

When you are deflooding, you need to pull the fuse for the fuel pump and hold the accelerator pedal to the floor. Pinching off the fuel supply line to the carb doesn't hurt either. It's the hose that doesn't have the silver bullet in the line between the carb and firewall.

Make sure you are getting good spark to both leading plugs. The trailing won't make much difference. The slow reving may be an indication of inadequate fuel supply, or more likely a plugged exhaust system.

rOtAryIsbEttEr

your fuel filter may be clogged too

maf

Fuel filter plugged? Even if I have WAY too much fuel, and good fuel pump sound?

maf

Trochoid- I figured the slow reving was due to the front rotor not firing.
Why would the front not fire, and the rear go fine, with exactly equal treatment?Is there a controling factor for the front coil?
ie fusible link, fuse, etc? Thanks for the imput.

espresso

The front and rear do not have separate coils. The leading and trailing plugs do. If there is an issue with only ONE leading plug, youd problem exists between the distributor rotor and the tip of the spark plug on the affected cylinder. You cannot just swap the plug wires between leading plugs; you have to swap both ends, at the plug AND at the dist. cap. I would remove the cap and have a look at the contacts inside. I'd be willing to bet you'll find you want to get a replacement cap and rotor, or at the least get some emery cloth and clean everything back to clean, smooth metal in there. Check also for carbon tracking. If that doesn't help, swap the wirse and see if the problem follows the wire (if it does, get new wires). Then try swapping plugs, although it's unlikely to be a plug issue with brand new ones.

If that fails to fix the problem, your next step is to open up the carb, I would think.

maf

thanks- I did not know about the coils,I did already swap the coil wires on both ends, to no avail.Cap looks great inside , as does the rotor.I cleaned inside the cap, and the rotor with a brass brush, just to make sure.
Must be that the front rotor is "more flooded".
Rear rotor fires well, front won't.

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Pull the front leading plug wire off the dizzy while cranking. If it sparks there, check the other end of the wire. If it's firing there, the plug is flooded. If that's the case, swap the front leading plug with the rear trailing plug. Since the rear is firing ok, that rear trailing plug should be good too.

Kentetsu

I have never had good luck with Denso plugs. Find some NGK plugs (that's what I would do)...

maf

Kentetsu- I looked for NGK's after your previous post,(I believe!), but my local sources, close to home did not have them.I will go farther, and find some.
Thank you! Mark

Kentetsu

In the mean time, you may want to visually verify that you have spark on the leading plugs. This can actually be hard to catch sometimes, which can lead to all kinds of hassles. Just pull the plug wire off, throw on an old spark plug (in fairly good condition if you have one) and then crank it over watching for spark. Good luck...

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

I'm not sure why you've had bad luck with the NDs, they are the oem plug that came in the 7s from the factory. I do know there were some old style ones floating around on eBay a couple of years ago. They were the short shank nut ones that required the 'special' thinwall socket. I have a feeling they were a really old plug with the wrong heat range for the newer engines that had the eyebrows around the plug holes.

If the rear rotor is firing fine and the front one is not, then the coil and ignitor for the leading are good. Things to check for the front would be: Inspect the contacts inside the cap, it's possible for one to break, particularly if the cap is misaligned. Ohm test the plug wire, or swap the plug wires. Recheck the wires to make sure they are hooked up correctly. T1 top front, L1 lower front, T2 top rear, L2 lower rear. It's easy to get them out of place.

The front float may be sticking, flooding the front rotor. Where the hard fuel line bolts to the top of the carb, under each of the banjo bolts are the needles and seats. Tap on the front banjo bolt.

Slow reving could be due to the front plugs not firing, but the engine will usually run rough if one rotor is completely dead. When you did your compression test, the results you gave were total compression for each rotor, but not each rotor face. It's possible to get a high reading from a housing, yet still have a blown seal. Remove the schrader,(release) valve from the compression tester. You should get 3 even bounces from each housing. The ghetto test is to take out 1 plug, crank the engine over and listen for 3 even whooshes. If you have one weak one or only one strong one and two weak ones, you have a seal problem.