i just bought this car and have been driving it for a week. i have noticed it getting worse. it starts right up and idles great. it is a 5 speed. when i put it in to gear and take off no problem. i can shift and drive it for a few minutes no problem. after i get going it starts running like it is not getting gas and the car gets real jerky. no matter what gear. if i stop and start out again in 1st gear it will start going ok and then it does it again. i can have it in neutral and rev the rpms up to 4000 and it runs good. but when i am going down the road at whatever it will start running bad. tonight when i was back to my road and turned it finally died turning into my road. but then it idled ok when i was sitting and reved it up. it shifts gears fine. i was thinking of changing the fuel filter. is this a carb or fuel pump problem. or a internal engine porblem. i don't think the transmission is bad. let me know any help would be great. and if anyone is from the columbus, ohio area that would be great. thank

 

Most likely it is your fuel filter or pump. When you take off, and start running through gears where does it start to run bad? Does it start in a specific gear?

 

I would have to agree with the fuel filter statement. thats kinda what it sounds like. but why not go ahead and do a "tune up". air filter, plugs, wires, fuel filter stuff like that. Just to eliminate the easiest possible solutions. just my 2 cents.

 

Definetly a fuel filter!!

 

what if my 7 does the exact same thing but the filter i brand new, the carb is good on the car i took it off of, and good on mine as well. I'm pretty sure my line is clogged up, when ever i drive normal its ok, as soon as i want to get on it, it takes only seconds before it dies. I tried this today with the car in neutral, revving and revving and revving and it was running good and it just stalled from maybe 5500 rpms and as it crossed 3500 rpms it fired a little then died completely. right after it died i jumped out and checked the fuel filter which was full of fuel, wouldn't that suggest a clog in front of the pump if it's not the pump itself. does the pump run harder when the engine does? when my car was warming up and idleing the filter had little fuel in it, after running it hard the filter clogged up, but maybe the extra fuel in the filter is because it couldn't pass through to the engine. anyways how do i clean out my fuel lines? I would like to not remove the tank as i already did, and i cleaned it pretty well and it is pretty hard to put back in. sorry for "stealing" your post for a moment, thanks guys
zach

 

Could be that the pump gets flakey when under load?

 

thanks for the replies. it goes through the gears. i think it's not getting enough fuel. it runs and then starts acting goofy when i try and accelerate as i go through the gears. if i stop and idle no problem. i'll try the filter and if it doesn't work maybe a fuel pump. thanks

 

Keep us posted because mine is doing almost the same thing yours is. Next I am going to install new throttle cable to see if this helps. My throttle cable is a little chewed up.

 

Arent there also a few screen like things in the carburator that act as filters as well as the in line fuel filter, if the in line filter isnt clogged and its not a problem with the lines it could be these screens, I seem to remember last year when I ran my car out of gas one time the in line filter clogged up real bad and my car wouldnt even start, so i replaced it myself but the car still did something similar to what you described, anyways my dad took it somewhere to get fixed and the mechanic supposedly just cleaned a few little screens in the carb and it was fine. Im sorry i cant tell you where these screens are but maybe this will spark a thought someone else may have.

 

i had the EXACT same problem with my rx7, took out my fuel filter and it was CLOGGED TO THE SHITHOUSE. like i THINK it was supposed to be clear plastic?? but it was black... so yeah i couldnt find the problem for like months, turned out to be a $6 fuel filter, and thats australian dollars, so like $4 US :P

 

I tried some stuff today, I disconnected my fuel filter from both sides and fuel was pouring out of the pump side, the tank side was dry. So I dropped my tank and blew through the tank assembly, I didn't see an obvious problem??? The fuel sock/strainer didn't even look clogged up, I'll take the sock with me to school tomorrow and ask my auto tech teacher if I should replace it. Autozone or Advance Auto don't sell the sock so from the dealer is like $10 or something but maybe a 3 day delay so i want to get my car back on the road quick. I also blew through the three lines that go into the tank (mine is a 1985 12a) toward the carb, I could only pass air through the main fuel line. I had another post about my tank venting not working and the charcoal canister isn't clogged so its either the check/cut valve or the line thats clogged, I'd like to fix that while the tank is out since it's so freaking hard to put back in especially with a half a tank.
thanks,
zach

 

When you get done don't forget to do a pressure/volume test on the fuel pump and make sure there is no kinked rubber line or pinched steel line. rx7doctor

 

Mine was doing that unitl yesterday. I went to replace the filter, and there wasn't one. The lines were filthy!! I haven't driven it yet since I cleaned the lines and put a new filter in, but I let it run for a while. I put a clear filter near the carb, so I could look at what's going on. It all seems to be fine now, but I find out for sure tonight.

 

I had the same problem a long time ago. Heck, I think I even posted my results. It ended up that the stock fuel pump had gone bad. Was getting just the bottom edge of the pressure range but couldn't flow nearly enough. Went out and bought a Carter 7psi pump and holley 1-4psi regulator. Got it tuned down to 2.7 or 2.8 now and it cruises! Oh yeah, had to have the tank dropped and cleaned because I kept filling fuel filters too since it had sat so long.