VorticistsSuite

I have an 85 S model. I recently removed the rats nest, rebuild/stripped the carb, and rebuilt the omp. The car ran amazing afterward and all of my strange idle and fuel system issues disappeared.

After about a week of enjoying the increased performance, the engine started sounding as if it was missing or not getting enough fuel. I checked the engine and found that the battery had come loose and flew back and hit the dizzy

The engine shakes and clicks like something electrical and lacks almost all power. I replaced the cap and rotor, checked all plugs for spark, and checked timing. The problem still exists.

What does the community recommend next? I thought it would be best to ask the pros before I start swapping out expensive parts.

wankelnewbie

iTrader: (2)

I'm not an expert, but let's get a little more detail so the experts can make heads/tails of things. If you happened to snap a picture of the aftermath of the battery relocating itself (I crack myself up LOL), that would be great so we could spot something out of place that you might have missed. Failing that, give us a real detailed description of how it runs, idle, WOT, and cruising if at all possible.

My gut instinct says check that the leading and trailing plug wires aren't reversed. The top plug should be firing before (meaning with more advance) than the bottom one. Simplest solution first. Also check that the front rotor wires aren't connected to the rear plugs, etc. I've come in behind guys who replaced plug wires on piston engines who got a couple reversed and yeah it ran, but made no power and sounded like a disaster.

Maybe get it running and pull one plug wire at a time, if you pull one and it doesn't affect anything, you know its not working right.

And go back over all the electrical work you did. It's entirely possible the battery knocked a wire loose from one of the coils, maybe something is making a good enough connection to register on your timing light but not enough to fire over one of the rotors?

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

i would run a compression test at this point.

VorticistsSuite

I checked all the wires and they are all in the right spots but if I pull one out, it has no effect. The only one that has any effect is the rear leading. I looked closely at the distributor cap and found about a dozen notches in one spot where the battery must have hit after I took off from a stop. It must have been hitting the dizzy for a few days like this.

I checked the float levels on the carb and found that the level was past the window on both sides! I took off the air horn and adjusted the floats to the correct position but it had no effect on the engine. I'm baffled guys.

I would like to run a compression test but don't have access to the equipment.

Kentetsu

Pull the spark plugs and check for spark.

Also, Wanklenewbie had this backwards "The top plug should be firing before (meaning with more advance) than the bottom one."

The top plugs are the trailing, and they fire after the leading (hence the names).

You stated that you replaced the cap and rotor. Do you mean that you put them back on, or that you bought new ones and installed them? The cap can very easily be misaligned when installed, or if bumped, and then the rotor will chew up the contacts inside the cap. Then the car will run like crap.

You should not have adjusted the floats. Floats don't adjust themselves, so if they were right at one time then they still should've been right. If the bowls were overfilled, then there was a cause for it which you will still need to find. Do some research at www.sterlingmetalworks.com for carb information.

.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

me too. start with the basics

VorticistsSuite

I really appreciate you guys taking the time to help me out with this. The 1st gen RX7 has been my dream car since I was a child and my dad had a 79. I finally got this one about six months ago and its been a dream come true until now.

To clarify, the cap and rotor were both replaced with new as the contacts in the cap were all chewed up and the rotor contacts ground down.

The floats were adjusted to the specs in the haynes manual (16mm) when I rebuilt it and when I checked last night they were at 2cm. Very bizarre. I will read up some more at sterling to figure out what is going on with it.

I'm going to pick up a set of NGKs for good measure and check the spark tonight. I'll keep you guys posted with what I find.

The problem with having the compression test done is getting the car someplace to do so. It lacks almost all power and geting up to 35mph takes quite a while. I'm also afraid of doing damage by driving it.

wankelnewbie

iTrader: (2)

If nothing changes when you disconnect one, would that not mean it isn't working? I'm still leaning towards something not getting spark, since the distributor was the only thing really changed in the equation.

LOL that's why they call me newbie round these parts. Thanks for the clarification.

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

you don't need to drive it anywhere. just pull the plugs and thread in a compression checker. it'll give you the highest reading overall but it will not be accurate as the rotary has to be measured on each rotor "face" (side) and you take an average of those three numbers. but at least you will get an idea if your compression is close to spec. minimum spec for compression is 85psi.

VorticistsSuite

Thanks again for the input.

The compression test revealed 0 psi on the front rotor.

Where's a good place to get the necessary parts for a rebuild?

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

rebuild parts can be had at your local dealer but you can try:

www.racingbeat.com

www.mazdatrix.com

www.atkinsrotary.com

www.pineappleracing.com

it may be eaiser and more cost effective to purchase a known good running 12A from a forum member and swap that in. this will keep initial cost low and get your car back on the road. once your car is back up and running, you can rebuild the engine yourself or order an engine thats already been rebuilt.

wankelnewbie

iTrader: (2)

Wow really? And it ran OK before the distributor got knocked around? I mean absolutely no disrespect here but that seems like a big jump. Especially if you're using a piston-type compression tester, that would mean that all 3 faces are totally shot. I mean if one single face had any compression, it would have showed up on the tester. Even if it was 10 pounds or something crazy low, at least then you would know it was hooked up right.

I'm honestly thinking maybe you left one of the plugs out (like take leading and trailing out, then thread the tester in one, and all the compression goes out the empty plug hole), or maybe the tester wasn't working right. I mean the testers do vary a little, but they all have to have a check valve that lets air into the gauge but not out (so it holds the highest pressure), that could have conceivably got some trash in it causing the valve to stick open, and the pressure drop off before you see the reading? I'm just saying check it with another tester and/or have someone else come out and test it before you write off the internals.

I just hate to tell you that you're car's toast without really understanding what's going on. And I've been down this road myself, replacing expensive and complicated stuff while chasing around a problem caused by something simple.

And to boot, if the front rotor truly is bad, you've got to correct whatever else went wrong to cause it to go bad. Otherwise you'll spend a fortune in time and money just to have the new keg do the same thing because you might not have corrected the underlying problem.

And you did say that you disconnected one of the plug wires and it didn't affect the running, but never said whether you chased that down to see if that plug was getting fire or timed right. Again really not flaming, just really hate for you to go down that road and have it turn out that it was a wrong turn.

Kentetsu

Keep in mind that if the motor is currently flooded, it will test as though it has no compression.

Typical scenario: Owner unkowingly floods motor. Tries like hell to get it to start, but it won't. Off to the garage. Garage runs compression test and gets minimal results. Calls owner and quotes $5,000.00 for engine replacement. Car goes off to junkyard.


.

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

If you or other members have doubts the engine is toast, indulge us. Pull the T1 plug, and shoot a short vid of it while cranking the engine. Repeat for the T2 plug. Post the vid and we should be able to tell if there's really zero compression i n the front rotor. Video doesn't have to be good but the sound does. This is commonly known as a ghetto compression test. Pour a capful or 2 of oil down each primary barrel before the test. That will address the flooding Kentesu mentioned.

VorticistsSuite

The bad gauge theory is very possible because it was borrowed from oreillys and could have been abused so I purchased a new one and tried it out.

Same results. The needle did not budge. Rear rotor showed 60psi; nothing to brag about but proves the gauge is functioning. I did the ghetto compression test and got the typical whoosh...whoosh...whoosh form the rear, nothing on the front.

The engine is not flooded and starts right up and idles ok besides misfiring every 5 seconds or so. It is even driveable but lacks nearly all power and backfires like crazy.