my first fc

iTrader: (1)

ok so i bought this rx7 a couple days ago from this guy that had it sitting in his yard for the past nine months. when i was picking up the car the guys said it will start after i put gas in it. so once i get it home i put some gas in the tank and some down the carb and i got it to start for about 5 seconds and then stalled and i haven't been able to get it to start since and i changed the plugs and cleaned the fuel filter and carb but still no luck.

one thing that i found and im not sure if its a problem but the fuel pump makes a ticking noise and it has an amazingly weak stream of gas coming from the fuel line and when its cranking it puffs out black smoke and every now and then it will stutter likes its about to start but it doesn't, what should i do? and also we pushed the car down a pretty steep and long hill and put it in gear and the rpms shot up to 2000 rpms while it was going down the hill and it was in second and once the car slowed down it back fired hella loud.

Tanjo

Are the plugs wet? You say it runs when you put fuel down the carb? Either the carb is really gunked up, the fuel tank/lines still has old fuel/gunk in it, or you need a new fuel pump. Fuel pumps for carb'd cars are usually pretty cheap, I think I paid 30 bucks for my Carter down at the parts store. Drain the tank, make sure your getting clean fuel out of the line at the carb. If all else fails, rebuild the carb.

*edit*
just saw that you replaced the carb. So rule that one out, as long as it was a known good carb.

my first fc

iTrader: (1)

umm only two of the plugs were wet the other ones just had a bunch of carbon on them wich is kinda weird beacuse the plugs were only about 1 hour old and i used a whole bottle of carb cleaner and sprayed the **** out of the carb. and no it doesnt start when i pour gas down the carb i only did that when i first got the car and that was also the time it worked

Tanjo

K, so when you first got it you poured gas down the carb, it ran for about 5 seconds. It wont do that again? If your getting spark, it should run on the gas you pour down the carb, even if the pump isnt working. Have you checked for spark? I still say fuel pump.

74RX4

iTrader: (10)

How did you clean the fuel filter and the carb.? The stock fuel filter (under the car) can not be cleaned easily. Get one from any auto parts store for $5 or less. You can't really clean the carb without taking it apart. Replacing filter and old gas are the first things I do when a car has been sitting.

my first fc

iTrader: (1)

well only one of the plugs isnt getting a spark but it should still kinda start right? and how much is a fuel pump

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Stock fuel pumps are not cheap. You should do the fuel volume test before just starting to swap parts.

Download the FSM & read up on testing the fuel volume.

It's normal for SA fuel pumps to make a moderate to loud ticking sound when running.

You need spark to the leading side of both rotors to ensure a startup.

Is the car stock, or has it been modified?

Is it a 79 (points) or 80 (electronic) ignition?

Check fuel levels in the float bowls, front and rear - - most common problem with long-sitting cars is stuck needles, which leads to either fuel starvation, or flooding. Fuel level should be in the middle of the sight glass.

my first fc

iTrader: (1)

ok well does anyone have the firing order for for the SA rx7. it has a distributor if that helps because i do not know the year of the car

kcscott11

You said you are getting an incredibly weak stream of gas to the carburetor? Sounds like fuel delivery is the current problem. I just went through all of this.... could turn out to be a nightmare, i just hope you really like the car! I really do like mine, and mine is running great now! I started working on mine from fuel delivery and here is what it lead to.... restoring the gas tank (bad idea), replacing the fuel tank with a fuel cell (good idea.. i hope), replacing fuel line, having the carburetor rebuilt (great idea, long wait... well worth it), replacing fuel filter (twice), replacing spark plugs (twice), cleaning spark plugs and unfouling engine (5 times a day for 5 or 6 months), replaced exhaust (now i get to do it again, because well you gotta get the good stuff for it... or it will pretty much suck)...... ok now that im done with my stuff, what im trying to say is dont cheap out when replacing a part, or you are going to be replacing it again or at least unhappy with the way it works out.... Weak stream of gas means

A. your pickup line in the fuel tank is clogged
B. Your fuel line is pinched, clogged or has a hole in it
C. Your Fuel Filter is stopped up.
D. Your fuel pump needs replaced
E. You didnt put enough gas in it :-)

Check that you have enough gas in it
Check that all the rubber lines from the tank to the metal lines are not dripping for pinched. Be sure there isnt gas dripping from underneath the car
You can Do Like i did and pull the rubber hose off the car (just before the fuel pump) and run it into a gas can full of gas, and if you get a solid stream of gas to the carb at this point, the problem is prior the fuel pump (which means its the tank pick up line or one of the random lines between it and the pump)
The odds are if you are having fuel delivery problems (weak stream of gas) after replacing the pump and filter and you are sure its not the lines, that the tank is full of rust and corrosion etc.... and in my opinion you have it boiled and such, but it may be easier to go with a fuel cell, or try and find a new or restored one, and go ahead and pay for it, because you arent going to fix yours too much cheaper.

If you do get the fuel delivery fixed, and there are still problems such as flooding or fuel starvation.... well you have a carb issue.... and if so, i recommend you contact sterling and work out a deal with him on rebuilding your carb.... there are shops here in my hometown in texas who tried charging me 550.00 plus, sterling did mine for a fraction of that, he is simply very professional, and know the carburetors better than i know myself....

Before you go through all of this trouble though, i recommend you do the poor boy compression test on your car, to be sure your seals are in good shape... or at least have a better idea, or you could wind up spending alot of money on a bad motor.

Dont get down about it...!!!! You will probably have better luck than me, im just mad because i bought my car in november or december and am still not even able to legally drive it yet. And still have quite a bit of money to go. (although do keep in mind, mine will almost be a restored rx7 when im finished) the next step is to redo my exhaust and fix my a/c and repaint it, and then ill be driving it, and really, the only thing wrong will be a little crack on the window (like 2 inches long) If you do stick with the project, i promise you, you will fall in love with the car!! They are wonderfully fun to drive, although my neighbors hate me.... And really not very hard to work on, they just have a few nightmares that can happen. You could very well replace your fuel filter and fuel pump and have a great running car.... just wanted to warn you of the nightmares of fuel delivery, and honestly its still not that bad, just takes some time to sort through everything! Let me end my stupid ramble and wish you the best of luck.

GOOD LUCK
K.C. Scott

kcscott11

I dont know the exact firing order but as far as putting the wires on the plugs, the distributor cap is marked t1, t2, l1, l2. T is for trailing, l is for leading. The top plugs are trailing, the bottom are leading. 1 is on the left and 2 is on the right. So T1 is top left plug, T2 is top right plug, L1 is bottom left plug, and L2 is bottom right plug.

grandgarson

You said you didn't know what year it was, so you should look at the speedometer and that should tell you. 79 had a speedometer that went to 120 and 80 only had a speedometer that went to 85 (could be off a bit on that but it was either 80 or 85). That should tell you which it is unless you have an 80 that someone swapped out the speedometer like mine was (mine is still clear that it's an 80 because the speedometer is a different color than the tach cause they swapped a speedometer from an 83).

As for the starting problems it could be several things and I've been through this with mine. Mine ended up being the fuel pump which I replaced with an aftermarket one for about $30 (it's louder than the stock one, but seems to work just fine). The problem I ran into when I changed the fuel pump is that one of the lines got kinked when I put the new one on and it still wouldn't start because I didn't notice the kink in the line at first. So if it's not the stock fuel pump on it you might check to make sure that a line didn't get kinked.

Even once you get everything working right it might take a little bit to get it started. I think it took me about 20 minutes to get mine to start even after I replaced the fuel pump and the kink in the line. They can be very stuborn especially once they've gotten flooded at all. There is a trick that may help you a bit if it is flooded. Pop the hood and on the coil closest to the headlight you will see a wire with a blue end on it. Pull that off then get back in and press and hold the gas pedel to the floor while you turn it over. It may still take a little bit, so besure you have another car there and some jumper cables if you run the battery dead. Once you get it started like that it will smoke for a couple of minutes, and once you get it going and can take your foot off the gas without it dying (I have a toggle switch that I had laying around that works nice to stick behind the choke **** to keep it from dying before it warms up) you can get out and reconnect the wire with the blue end.

my first fc

iTrader: (1)

thanks kcscott ill be sure to check those things and yes i love my rx7 alot and one of the reasons is it has been imported from japan and i have the vin to prove it =)

kcscott11

no problem and the best of luck man

my first fc

iTrader: (1)

well just came back from fixing the firing order and i sprayed one spray of staring fluid and she fired right up after being in a yard for nine months but it dies after like 20 seconds and now i know that its the fuel pump so thanks alot man

kcscott11

alright but be sure to check for kinks and such..... if its kinked the pump wont be able to get enough fuel through, no matter if it works good or not.... but it could very well be the pump, i recommend at least replacing the filter when replacing the pump.

my first fc

iTrader: (1)

ok and also do you know if the pump is supposed to tick or what should it sound like???

grandgarson

A ticking sound from the fuel pump is a normal sound. I didn't notice it much when I had the stock fuel pump on my car, but when I replaced it with an aftermarket pump I really started to notice it. I tested the old fuel pump by hooking it directly up to the battery when I was trying to find the problem with mine and when I hooked it up with the pump right in front of me it ticked for a second and then nothing (which is what lead me to think that was the problem). So it really depends on the individual pump how noticable the ticking is from it (also depends on how sound proof the car is too). I think the other reason why I noticed the sound from the aftermarket pump more is the fact that I still haven't really put the inside of my car all back together since I replaced it (behind the seat where I had to get access to the wires). Another thing that probably makes a differance in my case is the fact that to avoid the hose kinking I had to bolt the pump straight to the frame instead of to the sheild that the original was mounted too (still haven't gotten around to getting longer lines so that I can mount this one inside the sheild without it kinking).

my first fc

iTrader: (1)

well the ticking is pretty damn loud so i pulled out the pump and found that i had a cut hoes and i fixed that but now when i pug the pump back in it doesnt even work anymore and also can u send me a pic of your fuel pump because mine doesn't look stock but im not sure

kcscott11

Its supposed to tick pretty damn loud to be honest... my stock one did, and worked fine, and my new one does which is not stock and not even really the same, but the output is in range and it does the trick. Anyhow, you should check your fuses and make sure you didnt blow a fuse when you were messing with the pump.... if thats not it, perhaps its a relay or short somewhere....

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Check out the audio on this restart video; after the key goes on, and before the crank, you can hear what my stock 80 SA fuel pump has sounded like for many years. It works perfectly, but it "p-r-r-r-r--r-r-r--r-r-r-r-"s loud enough to hear it over an idling engine.

my first fc

iTrader: (1)

mine ticks like that, but its a lot slower and sometimes it speeds up and then slows down and i pulled the pump out and it looks nothing like a stock one

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

There's a fuel volume test in the FSM; that's the easy way to tell if it's flowing enough. Pressure test, too, if you havea low-enough reading guage. Stock pump only runs around 3PSI IIRC.

my first fc

iTrader: (1)

well id rather not go through the trouble of testing the pump. anyways its probably a good idea to change it because the car was sitting for 9 months and also when i was under the car (unhooking the guard for the fuel pump) i saw a cut wire hanging down from the pump . but the pump was still working i don't understand how but it was. and i think it was the ground or something.

but anyways does anyone have a fuel pump that will fit my 79 rx7? that they would like to sell for a reasonable price???

kcscott11

i would just go to autozone or oreillys, thats the sort of thing, you should probably go ahead and buy new. Although Im sure you can find a perfectly good used one...

my first fc

iTrader: (1)

thats what im trying to do but no one has one