g prime

it's gonna be long
For a while now my car hasn't been starting just cranking. The fuel is pumping all the way into the rotors, and the wires are sparking and the battery is new as well as a recent alt. rebuild. All it would do is crank and flood, so I would unflood it and try it again, with the same outcome. So today I tried some new plugs, not the kind I used before(worried about thread being wrong and going to far in). It cranked for a sec or two then BOOM sounded like a incedible back fire. Did a kill a apex seal? or the hole engine? I then got out took all the plugs out and moved the belt by hand (moved relativly easily)and lots of smoke came out of the holes(however it does smoke a bit a start anyway espicially when it hasn't started in a while). I tried the old plugs again to see if they would boom and it again just cranked.
Thanks for reading

Lotus00

how old are your "old" spark plugs? are the plugs getting good spark, or just sparking. it should be blue.

did you use NGK spark plugs? I dont know the specific # they are, but I dont think you can get away with using anything else.

Hopefully your new plugs werent so long they chiped an apex seal!

Edit: oh, and are you sure your timing is correct?

Rx7carl

The smoke was probably residual from what was in the engine. You need to make sure you put the correct plugs in. What did you install?

g prime

thanks for the quick reply, the old plugs are fairly old, not sure how old. I guess they are just sparking, only a little orange spark. I was using NGKs before and panned to get more but couldn't find any, I suppose in my haste I could of majorly fucked up. I don't see how the timming would be off if I havn't messed with it since before it was running. Is there any way to test a apex seal without going and getting a compression check?

Thanks again

I will get some NGKs tomarrow if I can find some, not putting the old ones back in.

nopistonsforjoe

you can do a ghetto compression test and just take out the sparkplugs and listen for the little farting noises from the plug holes if you only here one from one of the rotors youve got a blown seal... not an exact science but it might help.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

the boom was probably a little detonation or a miss fire. you probably did not chip an apex seal unles you used totally the wrong plug. have you tried push starting it. usually they will fire up on a push start, even with ultra low compression. also, have you tried a mmo flush, atf treatment, or carb cleaner?

g prime

I'll try the ghetto test, Will I hear one after another or one then pause then another?

I don't really want to push start it, because if it doesn't start I got to push back. I getting plugs tonite, the NGKs I origonally used. There is carb cleaner in the tank so it should already be running somewhat lean.

Is there any danger in starting the car if the apex seal is bad? What will it act like? I post again when I try those new plugs.

mwatson184

That doesn't sound so good. Sounds like either a stuck or a blown seal. Do you hear 2 wooshes and a put, or 1 woosh and 2 puts?

-Marques

g prime

I tried the new plugs, and it worked, not with out lack of effort. It was hard to start, smoke alot at start and took awhile to idle on it's own. But it then sounded fine and didn't smoke, and idled on it's own after it warmed up. I think I may have survived with dumb luck.

Could I still have a bad seal? or just oil control ring issues and other stuff, I drive it tomarrow and see how it behaves. Thanks to everyone that helped

mwatson184

It could have been a stuck seal that finaly got loose, or the plugs could have done it, or a combination of the two. Good job on getting her running though!

-Marques

Steve Shulz

Was flooded due to crappy plugs, the boom was a detonation of all the gas. To be sure do the "ghetto comp test" but if it ran and idled ok then its probably ok. Did it drive? A bad rotor is indicative of revving to 4k just to get out of the driveway.

g prime

I drove it today and it's running like crap. It died while idleing(warming it up) and was hard to start again.
I didn't have to rev high to get going, but once on the road trying to accelerate was a struggle and above 4kish it barely went and I heard a sound sorta like water dripping from a faucet. It ran much slower then it used to.
Some guy when I got back and it was ideling in the driveway said it sounded like "water buid up" I am still a n00b so does this make any sence?

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

perhaps stale gas. did you say carb cleaner in the gas?????? baf news, don't do that. have you sprayed carb cleaner down the carb while you had a car running?? spits and spudders and smokes. runs like crap, huh? i think that could be part of your problem. i'd drain the gas, replace the plugs, inspect the cap and rotor and probably sand the contacts a little. put in fresh gas and use the choke.

g prime

I used the STP carb cleaner. I says "pour entire contents into full gas tank"

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

ugh, i dunno man......

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

i would have personally used the spray type. that crap is not always good though. i guess its just me though

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

try this:
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...hreadid=270251

g prime

hindsight's overrated, so what now any thoughts, what do fuel additves do to a rotary?

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

nothing usually. the rotary is very pickey and sensitive to things.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

i was thinking though, perhaps it was just too much cleaner for the car to handle at once........ i know that when i clean my carbs every spring and fall, they usually run rough for a day or two and then clear out. maybe you should keep it idling. change the fuel filter and run fresh gas through it.

g prime

I'll try running it lots tomarrow and changing the filter, thanks for the help.

g prime

It also sucks *** that it is winter (just to bitch)

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

i hate the winter. if you need anything else, please feel free to ask. there is plenty of knowledge floating around the forum

g prime

I drove it lots today and it was doing bettter. Then I was stopping, downshifting from 3rd to 2nd and it stalled and hasn't started since. It again just cranks and cranks, the one guy who stopped to help said it could be a weak fuel pump, would it of started the last few times even with a weak one? It does pump gas, that I can tell. Any thoughts? Thanks

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

perhaps the fuel pump cuts out. it may have faulty wiring or it may be plain worn out. does it leak gas at the accelerator pump? or, better yet, does it leak at all? someone may have messed with the mixture in your carb. and perhaps the idle screw as well. did you change the fuel filter?