thorin

i left it parked on a hill for a week.

i come back, and no matter how much i crank or choke or pump the gas, it just wont run. it sort of spitters and almost turns over though.

then i think, "maybe its flooded". so we rock it back and forth, in gear and push a bit to try and pump th gas out.

while attempting to push start it, it *almost* starts again. i give up, and leave it.

this morning, I try to start it again, but now no matter how much i crank it, it wont even come close to "catching". the started motor whirrs, but no combustion.

thoughts?

oh yeah, and i thought maybe i'd better doble check the plugs.. what size spark plugs does an 85 12a use? (i need to go out and buy a sp wrench)

jutny

13/16ths

pull the plugs and crank it for a 10 seconds, clean the plugs, put plugs back in... turn key, car starts.

thorin

thx. i gotta get a ride to the canadian tire, and then back to my friend's house to get at my car...

i guess this is my cue to install the fuel pump cutoff switch?

Rx7carl

When my oil burning pig DD (85 GSL auto) sits for more than a few days I need to use ether (starting fluid) to get it started. Since I ATF'd it to clean out the carbon from all the oil deposits its been behaving better.

<Insane jack in the box forgive me>
<puts on helmet>

V8kilr

im gonna ***** one of my threads here ,
even know I went under scrunity for this thread but it is very helpful if you read it all.

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...hreadid=141058

thorin

hmm. ill have to look into that. but the stores are closed, and this problem came up even though it was fairly warm and sunny today.

tomorrow, i will change the cap and rotor, as per your suggestion..

Keaponlaffen

JDuncan

iTrader: (3)

I've never seen a group of people afraid to say three letters in my life!

Fire
Take an old spark plug. Pull the wire off of a leading plug and put it on the old spark plug. Ground the old plug by holding the base against the center plate or other reachable bare spot on your engine, but make sure you can watch for the spark to jump the gap. Have a friend turn the car over while you do this. If you see spark, move to the other leading and check it as well. If you don't find spark, then it is a problem with your ignition system. Cap, Rotor, Coil, Ignitor, and all of the wiring between are suspect. If you see spark, move on.

Fuel
On a carbed car, remove the top from the air cleaner. This should give you a straight shot looking down the barrels of the carb. With the key in the run or on position, have a friend push the gas pedal in the car while you watch down the barrels of the carb. If you don't have a friend, you can work the linkage by hand as well. What you should see is some gas shooting out from the jets as the pedal is pumped. If you see gas, and your car had been running right up to this point, you can move on. If you don't see gas, then you need to check that you have fuel in your tank, that the fuel pump is working, that the fuel filter is not stopped up, and that the fuel inlet screens on the carb are not clogged.

Air
If you have both of the above and your car won't start, then air is your problem. Air is drawn into the engine by the vacuum created as the rotor moves past the intake port. Then, as the rotor continues to turn, that opening is closed off and the air that was sucked in is compressed against the side of the housing, ignited, and pushed on out the exhaust port. To allow for the rotor to rotate in the housing it has to be a little undersized in the housing. But while this makes it possible for the rotor to turn, it doesn't allow compression because the air would just pass between the gap between the rotor and housing walls. So there are seals that ride on springs that keep contact between the rotor and housing walls at all times in all directions. Since the air can't get past the seals, the turning rotor is able to move it and compress it. To allow those seals to function properly, they ride on a light film of oil. When a rotary engine is flooded that excess gas can strip away that film and cause the engine to loose compression. Also, if one of the seals were to break, that would cause you the lost of compression for the combustion strokes that it is related to. No compression, no air.

Now that I have said all of that, just so I can make a suggestion without angering the local carb guru or the dominion of people on here who have not figured out how to use MMO/ATF correctly, if you have spark and fuel, and the car was running properly up til this point in time, then the car is more than likely flooded. It may not be. Your rotor may be lying on the ground somewhere on the interstate. Who knows, but that is up to you to diagnose. What I would suggest is that you get a bottle of Marvel Mystery Oil from your local autozone or pep boys and roughly 2 fluid ounces into each of your Primary barrels of your carb while it is turning over. IF the car is just flooded, then I would be willing to say there is a 98% chance that the car will start by doing this. I have never seen it fail personally, but since all of the naysayers on here haven't been able to make it work for them, I will maintain 2% of doubt. Ultimately, this doesn't fix anything other than restore a film of oil to the seals and/or breaking down any carbon deposits that may be causing the seal to not seat properly. The burden of diagnosing your problem to insure it doesn't repeat falls on you. Good luck and I hope you get her running soon.


MMO MMO MMO MMO

thorin

oh, MMO, you say?

MMO, huh?

So what you're trying to say is M M O?????

I LIVE IN TEH CANADA WHERE THEYRE IS NO MMO EVARRR!!!! NO MOOARR!!! AAAHH

so yeah, they dont sell mmo here anymore.

i could pour in some atf, but as this si a residential area, id probably get a lt of flak for smoking up the joint. But screw them, those homeeonwnign ********.

if i pour 2 oz of atf in the carb would hat achieve the same thing?

JDuncan

iTrader: (3)

ATF will work as well, but I would probably reduce the amount by half as it does not combust as well and is much harder on your cat. What kind of weird Canadian snafu is this that they won't let you have MMO? That is TEH SUKX!

specRX7_22

i believe the 84-85 fuel pumps do not start pumping until the key is at the START position, am i incorrect? and i think thorin mentioned that he needed 85 plugs or something like that, so im assuming its an 85? which in that case would not work with his car.

edit: my bad, theres still fuel in the bowls

Rx7carl

You are correct specrx7_22

inittab

Well actually, in the 84-85, the key has to be in the run position with the engine running before the pump starts running.

85RX7GS

iTrader: (1)

Correct. It's one of those safety features which kills the fuel pump if you get into an accident that stops the engine.

Winnipeg85GSL

There a little relay which I snipped a wire from when I did my swap so that the pump runs when the key is on, you could always do that??

thorin

you know, increasingly, im thinking it might be water in the tank. my gas door doesnt close well and my cap is exposed....

i leave it parked for a week in the rain with only a 1/4 tank of gas.. its all adding up....