My 85 GS has a maddening problem. It will start up and run normally from a cold start.
Usually it will run and restart like it should. But more and more frequently it is leaving me
stranded by either the engine just stoping running or refusing to start after it warms up.
Symtoms:
1. Always starts when engine cold.

2. After driving 15-30 miles at highway speed (engine hot), the engine just sputters a little
and stops running.

3. Drive less than 5 miles to store, shop for 30 min., engine starts and runs normally.
Drive less than 500 yards and the engine sputters and stops running.

4. Either way, i wait 1-3 hours for the engine to cool down and she fires right up! ??
I drive off with the engine running good as ever.

This is a very intermitant thing. I think it happens more often in warmer weather but that
is just my feeling since i haven't kept a log. I have swapped igniters, new battery, tuneup
within the last 1000 miles from Rotery Permormance. Still keeps happening. I have pretty much
quit driving the car at this point, since it is a pain to be stuck at the store for hours, or
worse when the engine quits at 75 mph and i have to try and get to the right shoulder just
coasting along.
If anyone has had this problem, or knows the most likely answer, i would sure appreaciate any
advice.

Thanks

 

spun a bering?

 

Worn apex seals and/or flaking chrome on the rotor housings. One of my engines is difficult to restart hot, but fires up quick when cold. It's missing a hole lot of chrome and is fairly gutless because of it. The apex seals and springs are plenty healthy though. I had to remove the header to perform the visual/manual examination.

 

Low compression or hot-flooding.

 

Which bearing would be spun?
The car has 180K on it, but the the new engine only has 40 K on it.
(watch the temp. When you see coolant smoke in the rear view mirror -- its too late)

Would hot flooding happen, and cause the engine to stop running after it has been running fine down the freeway for 45 minutes?

 

I had a very similiar problem, I could drive 90 miles on a full tank....at 90 miles my engine would die out( like no gas)..I would sit for a min, it would start fine, run maybe 10 miles then die out..sit 5 min this time, start run maybe 3 miles sit 15 min now to get restarted...finally 1 block for 30 min sitting. very odd kinda sweet ailicony smell when it would die out.

 

I think it is in the fuel injection system/choke. I have carburetors in both my 7s but know gas mix is where most problems lie. Apex seals spin till they blow. Your injectors need cleaning/replacing.

 

if it only happens when you let the revs down, you could be running rich as a ****.

 

KC - did you or the shop find out what caused it to just quit running ?
The new engine is the same as the original - a 12a with a 4-barral carb.
At the suggestion of Rotary Performance (Garland TX, RX-7 shop) i put a can of the Berryman fuel system cleaner in the tank.
I had driven it 50 miles before i put in the Berrymans and it ran fine for another 200 miles after it put it in. New tank of gas, and just yesterday i drove it the 3 miles to Wally- World where it did the thing where it starts - drives 500 yards and quits running until i wait a few hours.
Could there be a relay involved here somewhere? My 'truck' is a '90 Volvo Wagon that has lots of relays that crap out all the time.
It happens at all revs..... although i have been getting much worse gas mileage than i used to (17mpg vs. 23 a few years ago)

 

thats funny my 82 auto does the same thing, but only when the temp gauge gets at 1/4 of the way up and the car will die no matter if it's driving or idling. then when you go to restart it the starter/engine makes a sound similar to an air rachet! let the car cool down and it starts fine and runs til it hits the 1/4 mark on the temp gauge again then dies! before i put the car in storage i did notice the catalytic converter was clogged(almost set a pile of leaves on fire) LoL!

 

i would say if it would only start when cold and not hot it could be the ignition switch. most are plastic and when it gets too hot it doesnt want to start the motor untill it cools down, i know that older nissans have this problem, not sure about our cars.

 

i had this happen on my honda check the fuel relay if there is one on a 7 that fixed it cuz it did the smae thing and wouldnt start till cool down

 

i had the same problem till i clean/steamed my engine ... . . i think it has to due from low compression like an apex sticking or something. try steaming your car and see what it does.

 

don't steem it

 

I have the exact same problem, I'm about to disassemble the engine to find out what it is. I suspect a collapsed corner seal spring.

Same thing happens in my car when hot. Anyhow, when you know your car like I do, you rule out everything else and I know it's the engine when 3 carbs have been swapped, compression tests, 4 diff distributors have been used, timing and specs checked...it's the engine...

Mine did overheat at a race so....

I'll let you know my findings in about a week, I pull the engine out tomorrow just need to lift it everything is already out of the way.

 

Low comp

 

low comp

 

I chased mine all over the place. Car ran perfect until it didnt run. when it didnt run couldnt see why. Months passed i drove only with a full tank. I was about to do a sieance.

The closest i got to locating it( maybe)...was pulling to check the fuel line a little silcone slimy looking worm stuff slipped out. I was wondering if my gas tank lining had corroded maybe over time and turned into a gel looking stuff( the liner). It was getting sucked up the fuel line. I dont know what the smell was....wasn't anything i recognized.

My problem is different though, no amount of sitting helps me, all i have to do is carry gas, keep the car full to not trigger the problem. Once i do trigger the problem, then some sitting helps get me down the road until i fill up....short stop at first 3 min for 10 miles..until 30 min only gets me a block

I checked and replaced everything( obvious stuff)..so did shops..but like i said when it worked it ran great when it stopped it was bascially a dead car until i filled it up.

I put a different carb on and rebuilding that one...boiled out the tank replaced the lines....new fuel pump. I have a recent engine that appears strong and tests fine. Im hoping the new carb and cleaning all the lines and pump are it.

I'll let you know.

 

Check the compression of the engine. I'd do this when it's cold and hot. It's possbile that you have a carboned up engine and some of the seals could be stuck. Check out thread titled: Decarbonizing A Rotary

Good luck!

 

well i never ck the compression on my 82 cause i never really had the time since i have been working on my FD. i know one time when i started that car the throttle cable stuck, a old friend of mine named jay decided he was going to choke the engine out by putting his has over the barrels of the carb! all i did was look at him like this and he says all F**ck this bitch sucks hard *** hell!!! i finally get the car to shut off and boy was his hands hurting

 

Thanks for the good suggestions.
I have spent the morning reading Felix's FAQ and the article
about decarbonizing the Rotary. I have no idea why a carbonized engine would just stop running
after running OK, but from what i read i think i at least have a carboned up engine.
Way back in the good-ol-days when i had a job, i would make at least 20 trips a week to my
place of work which is only 5 miles away. And i am guilty of shifting at too low an RPM most
of the time. So i am going to try and decarbon the engine and see if i can rejuvinate the
seals inside the engine since there is a huge cloud of smoke coming out the back when i start
it after it has sat for a few weeks.
I also was looking at the Haynes manuel this morning. I think their schemetic shows a fuel
pump relay for the 85 12a. But they don't tell where it is located. Can anyone tell me where
to find it?

I will try the decarbonizing this week, start driving her again, and let you all know if
that fixed the problem.
Thanks,
Ron

 

low compresion, no doubt
ATF/MMO it

 

for some reason this cracked me up.

 

thanks HAHA well, glad i have not posted in vane!

that sums up a lot of my RX experiences thus far actually.

 

weirdest symptom of a car i have ever read. I just hopes the never happens to me. tomorrow im going to pick up some mmo and decard my engine, just bcuz this story made me a bit pariniod due to the fact that my car has been sitting 4 3 yrs b4 i bout it with was 3 months ago n 250 miles of driving after the sit.