So today while I was running around for work the car was running perfectly fine until I turned the car off and went inside for about an hour and when I came to start the car again it was struggling to start and when I got it started, it was running on one rotor and would die on idle. This is my first rotary and I'm struggling to find the answer to what it could be caused by. I also don't have access to a garage and live in Alaska so she lives outside and is my daily right now. Any ideas on what could be causing this so suddenly? I'm currently thinking about trying to run Seafoam to see if it frees it, but would like suggestions first.

 

Could be fouled spark plugs but most likely a blocked jet in carby

 

Also check the plug wires.

 

In addition, swap the ignitors to see if that changes the rotor that it is running on. I like to check everything I can before spending money on parts.

 

1979 are points.

 

Sorry about that, I should have seen that in the title!

 

A little update,
I am able to manually crank the engine forward and backward so I want to rule out an apex seal being gone (unless of course, it flew out my exhaust). I looked at the plug wires and they look fine to me, and I'm going to get some really good carb cleaner from AutoZone on the weekend and possibly some spark plugs once I have the chance to pull them to look at them. Thank you all for the answers and if it is the carb then a rebuild kit with jets is about 50 dollars so that won't be a huge deal.

 

Nothing lost in metering some SeaFoam thru the carb mouth as the engine is running, to burn off carbon build up. Be ware the result can be epic smoke production! Don't **** off the neighbors
Also, I make sure to run a can of Seafoam thru the fuel tank at least once a year to keep things healthy, too.
When was the FUEL FILTER last changed? Should be yearly also-
Stu A
80GS
Ex Alaskan, now AZ

 

I live on post so I **** off the neighbors every morning lol, but I was also considering running SeaFoam through it before doing anything and I honestly dont know when the fuel filter has been changed since I've only owned the car for about 4 months.

 

So how would I use seafoam on the motor since it won't hold an idle and dies?

 

Great Point!
There is def some benefit to just adding, say 50cc into each primary throat to get seafoam just to circulate into the combustion chambers then manually crank the motor to circulate further, and let sit for a few days. I do this for storage every winter (or did, in Alaska). But true-that! the BEST benefits you need require the engine to be running to do this!!

Stu A
80GS
AZ