Help!!!
08-08-03, 04:17 AM
#1
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Help!!!
Hello! I've recently gotten a 1st gen Rx-7! It hasn't been started for about 5 years! Any helpful Info or Tips on how to get it running again, help plz!!
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08-08-03, 04:29 AM
#2
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check for spark, make sure battery has plenty of power, new plugs, change fluids, maybe do the atf trick (i know i'm gonna get bashed, but it worked for me!!!).
08-08-03, 04:33 AM
#3
I would say fresh fuel, filter, oil, oil filter, air filter 50/50 coolant, spark plugs maybe, and if youre in the big money, a new cap, rotor, and spark plug wires might be nice too. You could also put a little MMO or something in the chambers before you try and start it just to lube some stuff up. I perosnally would put some in on all seal sides, rotate by hand every now and then for about a day, then try and turn it over without the plugs in to clear out as much as possible as well as "work everything loose" again, then try and start her up.
~T.J.
~T.J.
08-08-03, 04:52 AM
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LOL, just for everyones information i'm not planning to restore this Baby! Although i love RX-7 to death! This Rx-7 is gonna be my toy,it's gonna be turned into a buggy! me and my friend like doin that to cars, my friend has made a buggy outa a Geo Metro (3 Cylinders!)!!!! and i got the RX-7! It's for fun and to see what is better lol!!!
08-08-03, 05:09 AM
#5
Even if you're not restoring it, you're going to need to do alot of the same things to it to get it running again. Was it stored in a garage? or outside under a tarp?
Mine was sitting outside so the entire brake system needed to be done. So did my suspension, which is I guess optional on a buggy, so don't worry about it.
All the things people said above are great to start:
Plugs and Wires
Distributor Cap and Rotor
Air, Fuel, Oil filters
Oil, Coolant (flush it well with Prestone SuperFlush), Tranny and Diff fluids
Drain the gas tank and refill with good fuel. After 5 years gasoline becomes sorta like Varnish, and will clog your fuel filter and carburetor if it gets the chance. Hell, the fuel that was left in your carb is probably varnish, so if the car manages to start, use a can or two of carb cleaner. If it doesn't manage to start, carb rebuild. Now of course with all this effort, if the body's good you might consider not buggy-ing it. :P:
And we'd like to see pics.
Here's a blurb on how to un carbon-lock an engine using ATF. Only use this if your engine is locked up from sitting as mine was..
Good luck
Jon
Mine was sitting outside so the entire brake system needed to be done. So did my suspension, which is I guess optional on a buggy, so don't worry about it.
All the things people said above are great to start:
Plugs and Wires
Distributor Cap and Rotor
Air, Fuel, Oil filters
Oil, Coolant (flush it well with Prestone SuperFlush), Tranny and Diff fluids
Drain the gas tank and refill with good fuel. After 5 years gasoline becomes sorta like Varnish, and will clog your fuel filter and carburetor if it gets the chance. Hell, the fuel that was left in your carb is probably varnish, so if the car manages to start, use a can or two of carb cleaner. If it doesn't manage to start, carb rebuild. Now of course with all this effort, if the body's good you might consider not buggy-ing it. :P:
And we'd like to see pics.
Here's a blurb on how to un carbon-lock an engine using ATF. Only use this if your engine is locked up from sitting as mine was..
vipernicus42 said
When my motor was siezed from 4 years of carbon buildup, I used ATF. I don't advocate it's use for anything other than unsiezing engines, since alot of people say it can be not-so-nice to the engine under other conditions. In this case I see you have little choice.
I've never tried MMO but if it does the same things as ATF, you should probably proceed like this:
1. Pull all four plugs
2. Squirt liberal amounts into all four holes and let sit at least an hour. (up to a day if it's really buggered in there)
3. Turn the engine by hand, pushing the top of the main pulley away from you (if you're standing on the driver's side). You can turn back and forth to get it moving, but in the end you want to be turning it this way so that the rotor edge scoops excess MMO and forces it to dribble out the bottom spark plug holes
4. Repeat the process, rotating the motor so that you can soak all the apex seals in MMO.
5. At the end, make sure you do three or more full rotations of the main pulley away from you, so that as much excess MMO and carbon crap as you can get is pushed out the bottom spark plug holes (the more MMO left in the engine, the worse it is for cat-clogging smoke and other not-so-good things).
6. Replace the plugs (make sure they're good and clean and dry before they're reinstalled) and try to start the car.
You'll probably want to have another set of plugs handy because leftover MMO fouls spark plugs pretty bad. Or at least ATF does, I'm not sure about the famous Marvel Mystery Oil.
Good luck guys. Hopefully this will un-carbonize your engine, and get it running again. You might also have to consider the idea that perhaps the low compression leading to siezure is caused by a buggered apex seal. If this is the case, your engine might need a rebuild. I'll caution now that if you get the engine turning, but it's *really* hard to turn and MMO doesn't seem to make it better, *DO NOT* try to start it. A loose apex seal in a cranking engine will score up the sides of the chamber and make it un-rebuildable. I know, my friend Eric just went though this.
When my motor was siezed from 4 years of carbon buildup, I used ATF. I don't advocate it's use for anything other than unsiezing engines, since alot of people say it can be not-so-nice to the engine under other conditions. In this case I see you have little choice.
I've never tried MMO but if it does the same things as ATF, you should probably proceed like this:
1. Pull all four plugs
2. Squirt liberal amounts into all four holes and let sit at least an hour. (up to a day if it's really buggered in there)
3. Turn the engine by hand, pushing the top of the main pulley away from you (if you're standing on the driver's side). You can turn back and forth to get it moving, but in the end you want to be turning it this way so that the rotor edge scoops excess MMO and forces it to dribble out the bottom spark plug holes
4. Repeat the process, rotating the motor so that you can soak all the apex seals in MMO.
5. At the end, make sure you do three or more full rotations of the main pulley away from you, so that as much excess MMO and carbon crap as you can get is pushed out the bottom spark plug holes (the more MMO left in the engine, the worse it is for cat-clogging smoke and other not-so-good things).
6. Replace the plugs (make sure they're good and clean and dry before they're reinstalled) and try to start the car.
You'll probably want to have another set of plugs handy because leftover MMO fouls spark plugs pretty bad. Or at least ATF does, I'm not sure about the famous Marvel Mystery Oil.
Good luck guys. Hopefully this will un-carbonize your engine, and get it running again. You might also have to consider the idea that perhaps the low compression leading to siezure is caused by a buggered apex seal. If this is the case, your engine might need a rebuild. I'll caution now that if you get the engine turning, but it's *really* hard to turn and MMO doesn't seem to make it better, *DO NOT* try to start it. A loose apex seal in a cranking engine will score up the sides of the chamber and make it un-rebuildable. I know, my friend Eric just went though this.
Good luck
Jon
08-08-03, 05:50 AM
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Hey does anyone know how high you can lift the car? cuz the stock height is like 6 inches. i was thinking about puttin Jeep Springs on it to raise it but i dunno what the max is?
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08-08-03, 06:58 AM
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Mine sat for three and a half years and the engine was seized when I went to put it back on the road. I found this out by taking all the plugs out and then trying to turn her by hand. She wouldn't move at all. 
How I got it turning and going again was a combination of what read here. I put ATF in the in the engine via the plug holes and then put the plugs back in and left it sitting for two weeks. After that she still wouldn't turn by hand no matter how hard you tried so I hooked a johnson bar on the fly wheel and reefed on her. That did the trick and she is now purring away.
Mind you, when she finally did start, she blew crap about ten feet down the drive way!
Good luck with it.
How I got it turning and going again was a combination of what read here. I put ATF in the in the engine via the plug holes and then put the plugs back in and left it sitting for two weeks. After that she still wouldn't turn by hand no matter how hard you tried so I hooked a johnson bar on the fly wheel and reefed on her. That did the trick and she is now purring away.
Mind you, when she finally did start, she blew crap about ten feet down the drive way!
Good luck with it.
08-09-03, 03:17 AM
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Ok Today we tried turning it over by hand and! it turned over with ease! i was surprised! its missing alot. spark plug wires,gas lines running from the carb, and i think a starter, and battery! LOL and i got 2 weeks to get it running or i have to find a new place to set it!