Help please! Idle problem...
 

Okay well I have a 1985 automatic RX7 and she won't Idle, she starts fine, drives fine, but when I let my foot off the gas, she just dies. I can't seem to find anyone who knows how to work on Rotary engines or someone to just tell me what I need fixed. But she's my only car right now and driving like it is right now, is not doing her any good. HELP PLEASE!!!

Welcome to the forum, and the Darkside. You will find that most mechanics run and hide when we mention rotary engine. The sad part is, it's just a car and it's built like most other cars. The only real differences are the engine internals, everything else works the same as a piston powered vehicle, including the carb.

In my sig line is a link to the online FSMs and the factory carb manual. Start your trouble shooting there. If you don't find the problem, post back with more details on what is happening. There are some good writeups by Sterling in the FAQs on trouble shooting carbs.

i'd check the choke stuff to see if its closing all the way. get a can of carb cleaner and start looking for vacum leaks in the rats nest. all those 20+ year old hoses will start to leak eventually especally when it turns colder.

Well like Im just lost on this car... lol but yeah to get it to start and keep it running in the morning I pull out the choke and it stays out until the engine warms up.. So I think the choke is fine, last time I looked at the engine I found a leak in the air filter on the pass. side but couldnt pin point it. But I'll check at that website above and see if I can find something if not =/ hope someone can help...

Hey Lele, I have the EXACT same problem, but after checking the shutter valve (this is what some people pointed to, but it ended up being fine) I've decided now to check the fuel pump - making sure power is getting to it, what the flow is like, and if the relay is okay, etc. I'm at a loss as well and I've gone though the FAQs, but maybe you'll be able to find something.

That choke issue is interesting. You pull it when it's cold and the car will idle, but as soon as you push the choke in, the car dies. I would Love to see if someone can diagnose this. :wallbash:

This may not have anything to do with the problem, but when I was checking the carb I noticed that the accelerator pump diapragm is leaking so I'm replacing that this week. Good luck, and if I figure anything out I'll let you know.

bump

Sounds like a yanked vac hose or a busted plastic valve.

mine used 2 do that when the dash pot wasnt close enough......

Hey Rolfs,
What do you mean by that, not close enough? See I'm stumped, but it sure does sound like a vacuum leak when I start it. I just can't seem to find a loose hose or a missing cap, nothing. It's driving me crazy! So what's the deal with the dash pot? I'd love it if that was the problem.

Hey Lele, I changed the fuel filter, but it didn't change anything so now I'm going to start searching the archives for vacuum leak info. Again, I'll let you know if I find anything.

Thanks guys!! =]
Im still checkin up on it, nothing is leakin or anything, I just changed the brakes and pretty much everything is pretty good on my car except the damn idle, oh and I cant take really sharp turns for some reason, cause when I do it makes this grinding sound its horrible =[
well hopefully someone can help me because I love this car but everyone I know or brought it to is completely empty headed when it comes to a rotary engine.

but thanks again guys! keep me posted =]
~lele

Hey Lele, good news on this end! After all this time, the only problem was that the Air Control Valve hose had been blown off during an induction backfire. I just happened to find a post about it on another site and checked it out. A minute later it was running like it always had! So that vac leak you hear just might be the ACV hose that's popped off. Hopefully that's all it is.

If you are getting a bad grinding sound, but only when turning, go back and check the brakes, the wheel bearings, lug nuts and see if there are any clearence issues. Try to narrow down which wheel the noise is coming from, start with the front. Jack it up and check for play in each, wheel along with looking for any wear marks. If you get the caliper mounting bolts turned around, they are different lengths, they will cut grooves in the rotor.

I took it into my old garage and put it on the lift and rotated the rotors and changed the brakes.. but I really dont think the grinding noise is the brakes, when it does grind, its right underneith the center counsol. There is so much wrong with this car my head is spinning.. so I think I might just put it up for sale. =/

Garrett1985Rx7 do you know what ur dashpot does?? if not it slows down the butter flys in the throttle body so the dont close so fast die. its an odd little guy if you dont know what im talkin about just say somthin or som1 can post a pic.

o yeah and lele dont put it up 4 sale man cmon!

Hey Rolfs, yeah I researched it after I asked. Thankfully I found the problem (the ACV Hose had blown off during induction backfire) so now the ride is fine. Thanks!

good deal. glad u got it.

No clue what it is...I really dont wanna put it up for sale but I have no idea what to do to get it fixed...Everywhere Ive taken the car the shops no nothing about it... I prolly wont sell it but I need a good runnin car cause I drive all over the place. =/

You have to decide whether you want to take up auto mechanics as a hobby or not. It comes hand in hand with owning an FB. Very few among us know a professional mechanic that can work on rotaries, and most of us wouldn't trust anyone else but ourselves to touch our cars anyway.
-It may not be your taste.