I'm trying to get my RX-7 to start. It sat for a weekend, not even 2 days, and now won't start. I just get a whirring sound when I turn the key, no firing, nothing. The ignition is hooked up correctly. Any ideas?

 

my guess is it's flooded. it whirs because there is low compression due to the gas washing out all the oil that was sealing the rotors

 

possibly the starter? i've had issues with my 71 galaxie where the starter solinoid (sp?) went out and wasnt engaging the starter properly.. and other times when the wires were loose on my rx-7 and it did the same thing.

 

Just a guess. Last time you started it, you moved it from the driveway to the street (or visa versa) and then stopped it. It's flooded, see FAQ section.

 

ditto, flooded. Pull the plugs out, let'm dry. Squirt some oil in the holes, put them in and take it for a drive for a mile in the country to burn off the oil.

 

a weak battery doesn't help either....

To un-flood with out removing spark plugs, just remove the fuel pump fuse and try to start the car. do this a few times.... if there is enough fuel it may even run for a few seconds. let the motor die on it's own. they put the fuse back in and start the car normally.

If this doesn't work, I'd exmine the cap/ rotor and if everything is perfect I'd test the ignitors....

that is to say if the starter is fine aswell.

 

Last time I drove it was a nice long flogging-ish type drive, always let it warm up, even to move a spot...never want to risk flooding. Thanks all, I'll try some unflood procedures in the morning. Also, just regular oil into the holes? I'll probably pull the plugs tonight, let them dry, and assemble once I get home tommorrow from class, around noon or so.

 

normal oil should be fine. some people use Automatic Transmission Fluid or Marvel Mystery Oil

 

I just threw in some 10w-30 I had in my garage. Seemed to work good, but it took a while to start, about 10 minutes of intermittent cranking. Got it running, yay! On the way home, got a huge screw in my driver's tire. Wonderful, mounting my slicks tomorrow, since it doesn't come out much anyway, mostly for autocross.

 

If you don't already have a fuel cut off switch i would suggest installing one. It is soooo easy.