Hey guys, I've got a major problem here. My 83 GX just won't start. I've tried everything. I have air, fuel, and spark but still no go! I'm very frustrated and don't know what to do as this is my only car and i travel quite a bit. Please help me out guys! Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

is it turning over?

 

It turns over and sounds like it wants to go but no matter what it just wont fire

 

umm may be you need new spark plugs. is there fuel going in the motor?

 

Obviously it ran before, correct?

What have you done since then?

Have you preformed a ghetto compression test?

 

Sounds like its flooded. Take out the fuel pump fuse and remove your spark plugs. Turn motor over for about 10 seconds. Dry your existing plugs off and put them back in. Try to start it now.

 

yes there is fuel going in. even poured some gas in through the top of the carb. plugs are fine. pulled them all and all are in good shape. but i beleive they are the spitfire plugs with 4 prongs instead of 1. are all rx7 plugs this way? should i switch to the 1 prong plug?

 

the car ran before and it is not flooded. it just died out yesterday. where i am it gets cold it was about -10 to - 15 the night before and i went to start it in the morning and it started but sounded like it was only running on 1 rotor... it chugged away for about 10 to 15 seconds and then died and hasnt started since.

 

you have fuel and spark. how about the compression. maybe a litttle bit of oil down the carb to help with compression. good luck.

 

maybe you need a tuneup? plugs, wires, cap and rotor?

 

plugs, wires, cap, and rotor are in decent shape. In the cap and on the rotor there isnt much signs of corrosion. I believe everything was changed out just before I bought the car (or so I was told) but to me it all looks like it has been changed out.

 

i'd check compression next. then try alittle oil down the carb and see if it'll fire up. Going to smoke abit though.

 

Yeap, try the oil down the carb trick. If no luck do compression test.

And what's a GX? that's new to me.

 

I'm not sure either. But on both sides of the car it has GX badges. Perhaps not factory badges? They sure do look pretty old though.

 

OK you ask for help and your not wiling to take it? Do teh compression check. If the compression is got just do a tuneup. Its stuipid you dont know when it was done you never done 1 just do it to get that out of the way.

Sorry if I sound like an ***. Post some pics to of your car and of the engine. Maybe someone will see something wrong.

 

If you don't know how to check for compression: take out a spark plug on the front rotor, and turn it over. listen... psh psh psh

psh psh psh

repeat for the rear rotor, aight?

 

I would do the compression check but my cars at the shop and i have no way of getting down there till tomorrow. Once I do the compression check I will inform you guys. By the way, what does oil down the carb do??? After doing the compression test tomorrow if everything goes well I'll order the parts. No place around here stocks them.

 

How much compression should read on the gauge? I'm new to the rotary, sorry guys.

 

the oil just helps the engine build up some compression

 

Sorry but i only have 1 photo of the car and that is of the outside. I'll post it anyway. I'll take more pics under the hood tomorrow. Sorry it doesnt have the GX badge on it. The picture was taken by the previous owner but none of the decals are on it. Perhaps he put on the GX decal for looks.

 

Ideally, should read over 100 psi. Beware that an unmodded normal compression tester will not capture figures for all three combustion chambers of the rotors, but only the highest.

 

UPDATE!!! : Compression test turned out bad Front Rotor = 70 Rear Rotor = 60. But 1 of my spark plugs is burnt out. Would that cause the car not to run??? I took the plugs out, engine was flooded. Burnt all the fuel off the plugs, took the fuel pump fuse out, turned the engine over till the chambers were clean, put the plugs back in and tried it again and it flooded again. Did not put oil down the carb. Will do that when my plug comes in tomorrow. How much oil should i be putting down the carb? Thanks for all your help guys.

 

Like a teaspoon in each rotor is enough oil. A bad plug can cause rough running. Was it a leading or a trailing? Your engine might have low compression from just being carboned up. You can try the decarbonization trick. Details are located in the FAQ thread. Dont give up and think that your engine is toast. Many times doing the decarbonizing gets the compression back up.

 

^^^^^ good point. Just try it and see. Good luck.

 

Ok I read up about the decarbonizing, and it seems to me that the engine has to be running in order for that trick to work Sadly my car doesnt run. But I'm wondering why it keeps flooding itself? There is spark, and there is air... but why isnt the fuel burning? I do not pump the gas or anything, I just pull the choke out, and crank her. My car needs the choke on until it warms up or else it would just die. But I am in colder conditions, -20 Celcius last nite. The car has been inside the shop now for the past two days so it has nothing to do with being cold. I am very frustrated and sorry to say but about ready to scrap her.