does it ever end with these cars?!
 

well, car died on me at the gas station, it had been acting funny earlier in the day (spuddering while cruising etc...)
then i go to the gas station, get out, leave my car idling, come back out and my cars not running (car was cold when this happened) so i go to restart it, nothing

i push it home, then i take the plugs out, they are black and caked with carbon, i crank the engine over with the plugs out to spit the gas out, put new plugs in, nothing.....

i take one of the leading plugs out to check for spark, really weak orange spark.

while im doing this some gas in the engine ignited and sounded like a 12 gauge blast under the hood, no biggie. put the plugs back in and the car wants to start but wont

i think ive pinned it to an iginition related problem, either the igniters or coils, not really sure,
all i know is i dont have a car today, batterys dead in it (from trying to get it started so much) and im getting really fed up with mazdas! :(

don't forget how satisfying they are when they are on the road though... Thats what these cars are all about, almost every 20 year old vehicle is going to have problems that need to be fixed, but who thought a old sports car without pistons would last so long in the first place? Over the winter I had ignition problems myself and now that im back on the road couldn't be happier, so much more power its rediculous...

Shio Ga nai
 

Greggs,

I know it can be frustrateing, but trust me, any, and I mean any 20+ year old car is gonna be a PITA unless yuo do an honest to god full restoration job on it. Owning an older sports car be it a RX-7, 240Z, an old camaro, or mustang is gonna be a PITA

when I was your age I partially restored an 67 mercury cougar, it drove me nuts, it had set so long that every wire it seems had been chewed on by a rat or mouse, and all of the vacum lines and dashpots for the headlights were just total fubar.

about the time I thought I had it all sorted out, (the day of the all important First Date) it somehow sucked the intake manifold gasket in at the lifter galley junction, when I was halfway to this gals house.

so it just goes to show, that rotary or not, piston or not, an older car will always be a PITA unless you are made of money, and can afford your own personal mechanic.

Kenn

Shio Ga Nai (it can't be helped)

:)

I almost had mine straightened out and was just working on the minor stuff after getting it all going well and some fuckwad stole it. I know how you feel, I went through tons of ups and downs with my car before I got it to where it was before it was stolen. I still think its the coil though, lol.

~T.J.

RIP - www.cardomain.com/id/rotormotordriver

lol thanks for the lecture and all, but im kinda wanting to get my car running today, can u help with that? :p:

you could probably try replacing the coils first if the spark you're getting is weak. Also the ignitors do go bad sometimes, so if there's a fellow rx owner you know, maybe they'll let you swap real quick just to test it out before you start throwing money at it. One last thing, don't try to crank it over for more than about 5 seconds at a time and pause for at least a few in-between tries because it's not too hard to fry a starter ;)

ive got 6 spare igniters, im honestly to fed up to mess with the car anymore for the time being.. oh im not to worried about the starter, ive got 2 spares :)

Have you tried the FAQ for the "End all to no starts"?


When is the last time you tuned it up? If you replaced the plugs, I would replace the cap and rotor....espically if it sounds like it's wanting to start. I've had some strange issues go away after a REAL tune up. That includes difficult starts and random stalling) Read how to do it all in the FAQ.

Don't forget your fule filter. Our tanks our 20 years old and some have stuff floating around. I ran a tank really low a few months ago and starting having stalling issues and starting issues as well. I replaced the $4.00 fuel filter and now it's running much better.

FAQ should help....

gsl-se fuel filters are not 4 dollars, lol (i put gsl-se tank, lines and filter in my car)

my car is pretty much all custom, the plugs are about 2k miles old, car ran like a champ up until yesterday when i shit out on me..

During my 3 day fiasco of my car not starting (ran fine the night earlier, remember I told you about it), remember what fixed mine? It flooded out and no matter how many times I unflooded it, it took me changing the plugs to make it work right. I am thinking with the weak spark, at least check the cap. My car ate the cap and rotor in almost 2K miles. If cap seems ok then I guess moving on to the coils would have to be the next step.

This guy must be getting close to retirement. :bigthumb:

push start the car lazy ass, its flodded :)

what about the orange spark issue? coil? bad wires? I'm thinking bad wires.

I've got an extra coil sitting around, if you need it, Greg.

I would say its your RX-7 telling you it dont want you no more, go get your honda.


but on the other hand just go through your ignition system. Im sure you have an xtra ignitor and coil laying around. swap them out and see if you can find the bad one.

yah its got a weak spark, but it could be he is firing the ignition through the fouled sparkplug... = orange spark.. try arcing the coil wire to the strut tower then see what kind of spark you get :)
even if its orange a rotary will usally start.. since rotaries are superior ;)

sean, you get me e-mail?

You're preachin to the choir brother! I've been in your position more times then I care to remember. But I guarantee once you get her started and running again, all will be forgiven.

the plug was a new one, and it was arched to the strut tower..

don't worry not another lecturer here...lol...sounds to me like you could have a rotton or corroded wire running into the coils...it is possible that the wire could be compromised internally and not visually detectable on the outside...if there is a bad wire either leading in or out of the coils that could very well explain the weak spark that you were describing...I've had the same thing happen the wire goes bad for some unknown reason and the car gives a spark but its too weak to roll it over...and by the sounds of things its not a fuel relay problem as there was gas getting to the motor so my guess would be bad wires connecting the coils...either that or your crank sensor is gone...

You say your plugs were "caked with carbon"? What kind of gas do you use? And how long have you been using it?

Premium gas is BAD for Rotaries! I've seen a rotary get carbon locked from premium gas in under 2k miles. This might not be what your problem is but still good to know.

Just forget it all and trade it for my 323! You know you wanna.

i use regular unleaded and i run premix.

Bad Alternator, and no it never ends.

Did you have weak spark on all plugs, or just leading? Maybe your coil is getting weak.

It sounds like you're just idling rich, which fouled the plugs while you were in the gas station. My Z used to do that if I forgot to turn off the choke once she warmed up. New set of plugs might make things better. Good luck...

Eric's car was getting super-weak orange spark on the plugs. We changed out his battery cables and BANG, we get ultra-blue sparks.

If your battery cables haven't been done in recent history, I'd start there. If they have been, I'd go with Kentetsu's suggestion and check that your fuel delivery is set up right. GSL-SE pump on a carb sounds like too much, but if it's running.... The black carbon leads me to believe that you're probably pretty close to dumping raw fuel into the intake.

Jon