well, this is my 3rd rotary. this ones a lot more worked up than my other two. i bought an 84 GSL-SE. it came with a weber 45 dcoe, ported and polished intake manifold, racing beat header and presilencer, straight pipe into some random muffler, optima red top battery, some random coils, all emissions removed, power steering removed, rats nest removed... (ill have pics as soon as i get home to us my digital camera....its still original paint thats VERY shiny )

anyways, i was racing a civic. my friends swear up and down i could beat this guy. hes got a 99 civic si with a b16 in it. well, we were cruisin the other night and jus messin around and me and him were neck and neck. as soon as i shifted to 4th and floored it, it sputtered real bad. like it wasnt getting fuel. could this be my problem? or should i check other things? it really ticked me off, cause i know i can get this guy. then again, im still running the stock clutch and it slips like hell.

 

When was it last tuned, plugs, wires etc, change the fuel filter just because its an FB. What ignition is it running?

Is the carb tuned correctly, sounds like it could have delivered too much fuel or not enough spark.....it also could have leaned out.

 

thats what i was thinking happened, cause it jus lost power temporarily. when i took my foot off the gas and put it back on half throttle, it was fine.

 

fuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filterfuel filter


anytime this happens to me (losing to a civic) i check the fuel filter.

it sounds like you dried out the float bowls somewhat, which usually happens while racing on a stock setup with a bad filter.

...however, because you have a modified setup with a much hotter carb, you may have other fuel delivery issues. the stock pump MAY not be able to feed the weber with enough fuel to keep it happy through four gears of full throttle, high RPM load. this is of course conjecture, as i dont have a weber, but it makes sense.

try the fuel filter first.

 

That can happen from too much gas also, if the mix is rich or the spark isnt strong the ignition cycle may not be very strong and it can stumble. Check you have spark at all plugs. Do a tune up...

Oh and fuel filter............

 

well, im a college student.. so im broke. itll be some time before i do it, but how much am i lookin at spending and what all do i replace when i tune up? how can i check if i have spark at all my plugs?

 

ahh.. i remember the first time i bought new plugs..

i shat my pants. they were 15$ a plug retail at napa (cdn$), but the guy cut me a deal for dealer price (13$) cause he knew that with an rx-7, i was gonna be spending alot of money there.

the fuel filter is 3 bucks or so..

 

I only use Nippon Denso, other recommend NGK do not use anything but one of these, I get them for about $4 @ at Autozone. Filter is really cheap at $3 and it is a good idea to keep a spare.

As for wires, eBay or in here under Parts for sale, get new ones and better than average, spark is very important.

Do a search for 2GCDFIS and derivatives, easy cheap ignition upgrade, I love mine.

 

The fuel filter for an SE is not the same as a fuel filter for a carb'ed car, so I would take a close look at your SE and see if the PO set it up with a fuel pressure regulator (FPR) at the feed, or if he swapped the whole system over to a standard (low pressure) pump. If the former is correct, you may be dealing with too much fuel pressure causing a problem with your acceleration.

The Webers were designed for 12a carb'ed cars with low pressure 1-7 psi pumps. I have READ (I don't own a Weber system) that you will want an FPR to keep this at 3-5 psi depending on jetting, altitude, etc., and your car may be starving out for fuel if it's below that. Conversely, it may be flooding during accelerator pump action if there's too much pressure.

Best to find out what's under there before you make any adjustments, or you'll be chasing a dragon's tail to figure out what's really happening.

BTW; not to harp on you, but street racing causes accidents and deaths - a mark of maturity is driving safely and not falling victim to the local Hon-Duh crowd...

 

so what kinda fuel filter should i ask for? how can i tell how this guy had it setup, cause he never mentioned anything about it and the jkid before me purchased it like this.

i do know one thing...most cars i have owned, when you turn the key to the on position, the make a whirring sound from the fuel pump. this one makes a clicking sound instead. if that means anything...

 

From your description, it sounds like he replaced the fuel pump with a standard 'carb' pump, which is actually better for your installation. The filter may or may not be the same, however, so you'll want to crawl under the back of the car; right behind the driver's side bin in front of the rear axle and fuel tank, there will be a fuel filter of 1 type or another.

If it looks like this, it's for an SE, and should be replaced with same, or swapped out to the other type (below):

SE Filter (EFI high-pressure, 45-55psi):


Carb fuel filter:

 

alright longduck...so what if i wanted to swap the whole system over to the "low pressure" thing. with the FPR and new pump and stuff...what would that do for me and stuff?

 

To give you a clue as to what fuel pump you may have, look at the fuel pump itself. A low pressure pump in general looks quite different than a high pressure pump.



A low pressure pump will look somewhat like this.



A high pressure pump will look somewhat like this (externally mounted). I actually have this exact pump and it is VERY similar to an -SE pump, and yes, I am using it on a carb. You just have to have a bypass style FPR and you can regulate that 75psi pump down to 7 psi.

Hopefully that gives you an idea of what to look for. The kind of fuel filter may not tell you what pump you have as the filter could be the wrong filter for the kind of pump you have.

 

Sounds like you ran out of fuel. Its either the pump can't deliver enough flow at that load and rpms or its restricted by the fuel filter(s). I say filters because there's at least two involved here. The one back by the tank and in the carb inlet theres another filter screen usually. The best way to diagnose it is to use fuel pressure gauge tapped in right before the carb inlet and watch the pressure as you drive it and see if its low. For a weber type carb it should be around 3-5 psi ideally. 3 psi is probably too weak if you have a ported motor. PO probably just didn't set it up right or its got clogged filters. The tank may have crap in it and that keeps clogging the filters, something to check anyway.