hi guys, im brand new to the rotary world. i have a 1979 rx7 that i am in the process of restoring. i have been workin on it for quite a while trying to get it to crank. any suggestions are welcome. here's the situation: the engine in it now was a great engine but it was in an ugly car, so they took it out and put it in the car it is in now(the one i working on). i cant get it to crank. it has 4 new spark plugs, gets great spark, timing is set right, fuel is getting to the carbourator, only to it though, i do not think it is gettin into the engine. but when i pour gas into it and spin it over it does not give any signs of cranking. i know it is not locked up and it spins fine. its getting gas (as far as i know) and its getting spark. all engines i have dealt with, when u pour in gas and ur gettin spark there should be some sign of it cranking, but this motor just keeps spinning. any suggestions yall might have would be great, thanks

 

Well I can't help you but I can kind of help clarify your post.

You have a 12A car, and the engine, while good, but has been out of the car. It has new spark plugs and gets spark. The timing is set right and the carb is geting fuel. The engine will crank over all day, but won't light off.

You have tried pouring gas in there, and spinning the engine by hand, but it still will not start.

My not-too-smart response would be to try an oil change. Oil helps the rotary seal, and flooding the engine with gas makes it harder for the rotor to make compression. Another thing you can try is pre-mix. I'm not sure how it works so you will have to search about it.

Often times, rotaries will flood. That is, too much gasoline is in the chamber. This quick link will help you diagnose and solve that problem.
RX7.com guide to un-flooding

Anyways, sorry for the long post, and I hope this is of some help to you. Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

 

I think u might have a bad Module. The little black boxes on the distributer. Ghange them around and try it.

 

im not sure what u mean exactly by "crank over" but what it does is just spin, just the starter pinning the flywheel, there is ZERO sign of it wanting to start. also i am pretty sure that i flooded it. sounds like oil change and unflooding is a good place to start.

 

bad module? im not sure what u mean by that. is that something that would be under the cap? do i just move it or buy another one or what? sry for my lack of knowledge...

 

if the engine is a 79 you won't have moduals, the first year has the point system. 80 or newer you will have electronic ignition. first thing i would do is double check the spark at the plugs, all 4 of them. if your still good you shouldn't have to worry about moduals. then i would 180 the timing and try again. if still not workin check the compression. or check the comp. befor 180. if good comp. should kick. good luck.

by the way. welcome to the forum. glad your askin questions. thats how you learn. and when you get runnin, drive fast and have fun.

 

yeah what he said



have fun

https://www.rx7club.com/search.php?s...der=descending

 

im positive that the spark is good in all four, and i didnt remember seein a "black box". i just read the whole article on unflooding and it sounds like that would be my problem, rotary flooding isnt like piston flooding. do yall think old oil (low compression) and flooding would be my problem? i tired a compression check with my compression gauge but i hear they are no good for rotary engines, but i did take the two bottoms plugs out and listen for a consistent pop, it did consistantly pop and i could smell and see gas coming out the holes...

 

when you removed the engine, did you take out or loosen the distributor? and is it a 79 engine? if its not a 79 engine goin into a 79 body........... yeah your gonna have some problems.

 

i did not do the engine swap, the people i bought it from did. the engine ran great but when they put it in the new car they could not get it to crank, it acted like it wanted to crank but it would never catch. as for the distributor, it is in there right and tight. its pretty unclear about the ages. the engine is out of a 78, but 79 is the oldest these things are, so they have to be the same car.

 

Have you tried starting fluid while having someone crank the car? If the car is badly flooded sometimes this will work... I remember one time I was pulling my hair out with an ingnition problem tried everything it kept cranking and no start than im like wait... maybe its flooded took out the spark plugs cranked it a few times to clear the chambers... put plugs back in and had a buddy try to start the car once he started crankin i sprayed some starting fluid down the primarys and it sputtered a few times than it started up! ... just an idea

 

no i havent tried starting fluid. i heard the auto trans fluid to a rotary engine is like starting fluid to a piston engine, is there truth to that? it sounds like im flooded, and i think i am really flooded. if it is flooded would it just sit there and spin and spin like that? or could there be another problem?

 

Eagle, there's a great set of thread links in the FAQ sticky. In it is this thread - see if you find anything helpful in it:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...hreadid=162062

 

try pouring some oil down the carb. I've had to do that before to get one started. Had pretty much the same symptoms that you are describing. don't worry it won't hurt the engine since it design to burn oil anyway. Also, if it starts make sure its in a well ventilated area because its gonna blow some serous smoke out the back until it burns off the excess oil.

 

A method i like to use when trying to unflood a rotary is take the leading plugs out. Take a plumbers tourch and heat up the electrodes, it acts to dry, and heat them up. put them back in, and crank er. Remember that you shouldn't use the choke when its flooded. but its cool to tap the gas a bit. If that doesn't work, and you've checked your ignition, and fuel suply bases. I'd try push starting, it has saved me a few times.

 

hey. if you start a thread, you need to finish it. i'm sittin here in stumper waitin to hear if you got it started. check the dist and see if it has points , hopefully it does or the wiring won't be right for the 79. did you try anything yet? let us know

 

Yeah!!! Did it start or what?

 

hey guys, sorry to keep you in suspense, but i go to college out of town from where i live, so i only get to work on the car on the weekends and today (saturday) is the first day i will touch it since i started the thread. im going to take all of yalls ideas and try them out and see what happens, hopefully shell crank, but i will definatly let yall know what happens, thanks again