As if the subject header weren't enough to tip you off, I have a problem. I just bought a '79 RX-7 and it runs great, starts good and has fanastic power. it also drinks more gas than a 440 6-pack . What do you guys suggest for troubleshooting? I don't think it's spark or timing related as the car is damn quick and runs like it's new. The only thing amiss is that it has to idle at about 1200 rpm. Lower than that, the car stalls out.

I looked at the points and the distributor rotor and while they are obviously worn, they are not in need of replacement at this time. That brings me to my second gripe about this car: points. I have never worked with them before, so I'm at a loss as to what they require. Do they need periodic adjustment?

despite this, my '79 is a beaut! While the paint is pretty shoddy, there is virtually no rust on the car and it has never seen bondo in its long life. (Actually the car is older than me by almost three years ). The suspension is great and the steering must be felt to be believed. There is not a millimeter of play in the steering box and all the requiste steering components; the idler arms, tie rods etc are in excellent shape. The springs and struts/shocks are in good shape as well.

The odometer has 100,460 miles on the clock, which is nothing at all; my 'old' '82 GS had 150,000 three years ago when I bought it. The exhaust is stock and believe it or not, new a year ago. I'm not talking new muffler, I'm talking new exhaust manifold back! The mag wheels on this car are unique as well. They are the stock mags, but they are different from the standard faux mesh or 'snowflake' rims usually found on SA's. I was told by the previous owner (who owned the car since 1985) that these rims in particular were only in production for three months. The engine bay is in complete stock order, even including the two emissions solenoids on the so-called 'Rat's Nest'

Inside the car is done up in black vinyl with only a few cracks/tears in the doors and the drivers seat. This car even has some kind of wierd black leather/vinyl cargo cover in the 'trunk' that would attach to the glass hatch and lift up when the hatch did. I was surprised that the '79 had a full sized spare tire, but it does. It's even a mag spare, matching the set on the car.

I can get a carb rebuild kit from the local PartSource guys for $40 Cdn if it comes to that, but I hope it doesn't have to. I had the carb apart on my '82 once. I still wake up screaming.

So there it is, my car in a nutshell. Any help regarding the excessive gas consumption or any comments in general are appreciated, though help on the fuel situation would be very appreciated, as I cannot afford to drive the car around at this point.

Thanks in advance

Matthew McGeary
1979 SA22C GS
"No rotor, no motor."

 

Once I converted to 5 speed, my car guzzled alot of gas, but im not sure if you should be getting 9 miles to the gallon...since im not a vet of imperial mesurements it doesnt seem completely right....but your car should be horrible on gas Try new spark plugs, wires the usual tune up stuff and see how it goes. The next step should be header and exhaust, and to get rid of that there "rats nest"

What rims are you talking about? Are they black in the center? Got any pics????

Glad to hear another satisfied 7 customer!!!!

 

My 82 GSL isn't all the friendly to gas, either. heh

 

i have a 79 s and i drove it with a very heavey foot and ended up getting 13 mpg most of the time. you should convert the points to a 81-85 electronic system, it will save you allot of trouble, and it is supposed to be pretty easy. my car has rims i dont think i have seen on any other rx, they look like rims you would put hubcaps on, but they are painted the same color as the car. i guess its cause its an S. oh yeah, mine has a four spd manual tranny, so that is one reason for the shitty gas mileage, 4k rpm @ 70mph .

 

High idle is causing the gas guzzling. A vacuum leak somewhere is more than likely causing your high idle....time for some carb cleaner and systematic spraying around the carb looking for the cause...

 

here is a pic of my rims, little bit of brake dust up front but you get the idea.

 

I have those rims! They came with my car

 

Can you please post several pictures of this?

 

Do you really think that the high idle is the culprit? If that is so, it'd make my day. As for the STEEL WHEELS that the picture features: no, my rims are not like that. I don't have access to a digital camera at this point, but mayhaps tomorrow I will. Why are you so interested in my odd cargo cover Directfreak? If I get that camera, I'll post pics of the wheels and the cargo thing. Thanks for the input and keep those responses coming.

Matt McGeary
1979 SA22C GS
"No rotor, no motor."

 

I've seen those rims in person! I think those were the early Mazda steel wheels that came standard on the S and GS.

 

Yea, those are the older steel wheels. The ones that came before ours.

 

I miss my SA.

 

Man, that is one sweet lil SA....excellent color choice...

 

yeah i love the color. that is original paint by the way, been there since 3/78.

 

Update:

Well after a $100 donation to Mazda Canada, my car idles well. It also backfires on every shift and looks like it's still getting bad mileage. It's too soon to say for certain, but the gas gauge is still dropping awfully fast. The backfire problem is new, before the 'service' at Mazda, it only backfired when cold or very rarely if I was accelerating onto the freeway. Now it always backfires unless I get completely off the gas and then shift. I'm at a loss

 

9 MPG?!?! That carb must be all screwed up.

 

damn, and i thought my 15-20mpg was terrible!!

 

Hmph!

I've got a 79 5-speed, and mine is kind of.. a gas eater. Pain in the damn ***.

Try checking hoses to the carb.. that was one of the problems when we were getting AWFUL mileage, now it's not as bad. There was a leak in the hose.

 

mine used to backfire all the time too, it went away when i got the header/ pre-silencer. my dad had a friend that had a 79 in 79 and his backfired back then.