Mrs. RX-7

I am new to the forum and would greatly appreciate any suggestions from experienced people with this wonderful car. I have owned this 1984 GSL-SE for 7 months. I originally got it to learn stickshift driving and then I was going to get rid of it. It is quite rusty. Unfortunately, I fell in love with it and have found myself doing body work, painting and putting money into it (new throttle sensor, brake lines, plugs, cap...). It got to where it was hard to keep it running while driving to the point that it would die while going down the road. That's when the new throttle sensor was put in. After that, I immediately flooded the engine the first time I tried to start it because I was used to putting the accelerator all the way to the floor before turning the key (as the owners manual said). Now, I only put the accelerator slightly down, start the engine, but I have to keep my foot on the gas until it evens out and runs on it's own. It doesn't die while driving but the idle dips dangerously low while idling and it sounds like it is going to die. After the engine has warmed up and I stop it, I have to think before starting it again just how long it has been sitting. If I give it a little gas, sometimes it floods; if I don't give it any gas, I have to put the accelerator to the floor to get it to start, and sometimes if I'm lucky, it will start just by turning the key. Once she is moving, I experience a decrease in power once in a while; then, it picks back up and seems to run faster than ever. I'm sorry for the long thread but I wanted to fully explain my problem. Thank you for your time.

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

Im not to experienced on SE, but id check my 5th and 6th port actuators and make sure there freely moving..

The flooding is a common problem on a older FI, its usually because of leaky injectors, my 2nd gen has this problem. But its easily liveable, when starting the car make sure its at full operating temp before shutting it off, or it will flood.

Some of these SE guys can help you better than I

LongDuck

I also have an 84GSL-SE and have never had to add gas pedal pressure when starting, either hot or cold. In my experience, the Fuel Injection computer knows that it's a cold start and automatically bumps up fuel flow rate and idle via the Bypass Air Control Valve (BACV) which is attached to the driver side of the RE-EGI dynamic chamber. This is the protrusion on the driver side that also houses the Air Supply Valve (ASV). The ASV is what compensates for when you turn on the A/C compressor or the alternator is pulling load from lights, stereo, windows, etc. These are 2 different purposes, but mounted to the same thing on the SE's.

What you're describing as far as a 'surge' problem when you drive the car and it 'loses power, then gains power and runs faster than ever' might have to do with a vacuum leak in one of the control solenoids under the driver's side of the RE-EGI chamber. The 2 solenoids that are green and orange control Vacuum Advance for the spark timing (green), and Hot Start assist (orange) - which may be related to your starting woes. Check for vacuum leaks here by spraying carb cleaner around the tube connections with the engine running - if the idle changes, you may have a vacuum leak. Check for broken lines or split lines. Mine are pretty loose just from being on the car for so long, but seal ok.

Also, have you had your car to a dealer (or garage) for a tune-up to adjust timing/advance, etc.? This may help you to regain some of your performance. I had to bite the bullet on this today and take my SE in for dealer attention after exhausting all of my home workshop options. I hope to get it back with a diagnosis of something that I can change myself - the diagnostic fee is worth the headaches at this point.

Let us know if you're able to find anything definitive. The SE's are more temperamental then the carbureated versions of the 12A's out there, but the extra performance that you gain from Fuel Injection far outweighs the hassles when it's running correctly. HTH,