84RX_Se7en

Won't start. Puttered to a start and ran for a second but then puttered to a stop and won't start again. I think something like fuel line freeze? I don't want to keep trying, don't wanna kill it. Anybody else have trouble in below zero temps getting their rex started?


-4 degrees with a wind chill of -25 degrees.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

welcome to ohio, lol. i dont drive my 7's in the winter. i used to when i had nothing else to drive and i did have trouble starting them in the winter. sometimes the tach would freeze and not move until the interior warmed up enough to "unfreeze" the electronics so that the tach would move. try putting some gas directly in the carb and give it a try. fuel line freeze, possibly. make sure you keep the tank better than 1/4 full at all times in the winter.

Captain Lou

i've run carbuarated, and now fuel injected in -20 celcuis+

whats happening is your engine block has frozen, so you're getting spark, but the engine itself is too cold, in addition to stuff seizing, the cold itself makes it harder for it to maintain combustion.

Ifyou can get it to turn over at all, you'r edoing fine, just keep at it, eventiually teh attempts will warm it enough to get it running, assuming the car runs solid otherwise


if you'r ein a hurry you can put a space heater under the car and blow onto the oil pan. assumign you can block out the wind.

85rotarypower

The reason rotaries are hard to start in really cold weather is the fact that they flood easily, and factors that affect a regular piston engine are even worse in a rotary. If you flood a rotary in the cold, good luck ever getting it unflooded until it warms up outside. I've heard some pretty bad horror stories about flooding rotaries in the cold.

84rx7gsl

this just happend to my 7 it turned out it was fuel line freeze. there is this bottle of stuff that most gas stations sell (cant remeber name) u put it in you tank before you fill up and it takes out all the moisture so youre lines dont freeze. if they already have its just a waiting game until it works its way thru the lines. it took a about 20-30 mins and 2 bottles of the stuff till my 7 finally fired up.

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

The product is called "HEET", and can be purchased at most auto parts places. Recommend that you also run 5w30 motor oil in that climate. Alot of 7's that were sold in that climate came with a cold start assit or sub-zero as I believe they called it. It would contain a solution of anti-freeze chemical for fuel and would inject in with the fuel.

Biggest thing also is to have the biggest cranking battery like the optimas for cranking power.
And as another member stated if the vehicle stays outside at night to put some sort of heater under the car or in the engine bay. Block heaters are widely used in piston motors.

84RX_Se7en

Well when I get off work today I'm going to go home and push it into the garage. It's only supposed to get up to 6 degrees today. Then I'll use my small space heater I have used for the same purpose on other cars. Basically it would turn over and putter a little as if it was going to start. I think it was just frozen.
The other day I ran it to nearly out and then put $10 in to put it at a 1/4 tank again. My mistake. I should have filled it up and then added moisture remover like HEET to remove the moisture more so that I did. I figure there is probably a lot of moisture in there even running to near empty wouldn't get rid of after sitting for a year and eight months or so.

OnlyOnThurs

Man im so happy i live in south Texas...i don't know how you guys do it. I would hate to live in those types of conditions!

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

right now in Vermilion, Ohio its 1 degree. literally 1 degree without factoring in windchill. what rx7doctor was talking about is called the "sub zero starting assist" system. it uses an antifreeze/water mix and its injected directly into the carb when temperaturea are below freezing. i've never seen one work properly. i just leave the bottle there for the correctness of the car. its literally miserable outside right now. i dont have a heater for my garage so i really dont even feel like working on putting the engine in my 10AE.

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

^ Forget the heater, you need a wood burning stove in the garage,lol.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

i'd love one! my wife and i put a bid in on a house yesterday and the garage has already been measured for 7 storage and work space, tool/workbench space and heater space. the garage will hold both of my 7's, all three toolboxes, standing and bench top, as well as the heater and my enormous collection of spare parts and it'll have ok work room. i hope the seller accepts our bid! oh yeah, the house is nice too

imabyter

Mine sits outside all night and has started fine in temps to -10. It turns over pretty slow, but always catches.

josh20

i had the same problem i checked my spark plugs and they were all fouled. i went got got some new ones and it started right up

84RX_Se7en

Might be the case as well. Only owned the car two days. I was going to do a full tune-up tonight. Gonna get it in the garage and do a tune up with filters, plugs, oil, rotor/and cap, and wires. Then if and when that starts I am going to run seafoam in the gas tank. I am also going to flush the cooling and put new anti-freeze in. All new fluids will hopefully help. It's been sitting for so long.

84RX_Se7en

Now that you mention it too the plugs looked a little black through the white casing. It would still turn like it was gonna start but it was sluggish so I may have flooded it in the cold and fouled the plugs.

dean23

my cars frozen outside my girlfriends house... the bad: cant drive my car...the good: i "have" to stay the night withmmy girlfriend. im starting to thinkmmy car just wants me to stay here. hahahaha

84RX_Se7en

Frozen the same way? It's more comforting to think that warming it up and the tune-up and the car will be going strong.

rotaryB-2000

ny is cold too..my car is leaning out big time..must be the cold dense air.
for those that can run a scoop its like an intercooler at -5 weather

84RX_Se7en

Well I did a tune-up. The plugs looked fine and every store around here didn't have them so I went ahead and did everything else. Put seafoam in and damn that thing is turning out smoke like crazy.

Hopefully after this she'll be beautiful.

84RX_Se7en

Still smokin... and I'm high on it.

dean23

ok. if your car gets froze up, use the engine start spray crap. my car started up, so im pretty sure itll work for everyone else that tries

84RX_Se7en

Mine was a mixture of all sorts of things. Runs amazingly now.
Now all I need is tires, brakes, suspension, and exhaust.

clbsinvaders

It is...too damned cold here right now. -11* with wind chill. Without the wind, it really isn't too bad at all. Haven't started the seven, worried since it's at the shop.

fluffysheap

A '7 in a good state of tune will start up fine in the cold, fuel injected is easier but either will run. Make sure your ignition and battery are in great shape, and remember once you get it running don't let it die or you'll be sorry. A good spark will ignite the fuel no matter how cold it is.

If it gets really cold you might need to find a way to get some heat into your carburetor. The engine doesn't really care how cold it is but the carb does a little. Try wrapping it in an electric blanket, put it in a plastic bag with some of those heat packets for camping, whatever. Once the car's warmed up it'll retain heat for several hours, so if you're expecting a brief cold snap and really need to go somewhere you could even try making sure to warm it up every few hours so it doesn't have time to get too cold.

Living in Seattle now... coldest it ever gets here is 20 degrees ABOVE zero... wimps.

Doctor.Jekyll

You can buy small bottles of "gas line anti-freeze" for $1-2. I think the idea is you put one bottle in before filling up. I don't really know the ratio. I think it is mostly ethanol. (Do not use the anti-freeze that you would put in your radiator!)

You can buy a heater with a big magnet on it. They run off AC like a block heater. Stick it on the passenger side of the engine below the carburetor.

I started my first gen in -15 C the other day. I didn't have a heater on it. It took several tries. There were a few attempts where it sputtered.

Normally (even when it's warm) I get in and put the key in then turn the key enough to hear the fuel pump ticking. I wait a few seconds before I pull the choke and try to start it.

Also when it's cold don't crank the starter for more than say 10 seconds continuously and give it a rest (say 10-20 seconds) between attempts. I've heard you can burn out the starter if you over work it.