mdlmker

hio,

I have an '82 RX-7 basket case. I recently went to get the vehicle smogged, and it failed the mechanical inspection. The guy told me that the timing showed 180 deg off! I told him that the car wouldn't run oherwise. A mechanic told me that probably what happened is that someone put the pulley back on 180 deg off.

So, when I go to fix this little probelm, do I rotate the engine until the rotor is pointing at the "Leading" post of the distributor, then pull the pulley off the essectic,(sp?) and put it back on with the "Leading" timing mark on the pulley pointing at the indicator on the block? Or what?
Frankly, the or what part worries me. This is my only form of transportation, and I have to get her smogged before I can be issued the registration sticker.

Any help, will,....well, help. Thanks!

ToyotaryatGR

have you done any mods to the exhaust?
if you have thats one of your problems when Florida had emissions testing what I personally used to do is take my header off and installed the stock manifold back in it which had a full size catalist welded to it. That worked for me. The other thing is that your mechanic is wrong about rotaries. 12a do run properly if your distribuitor is 180 off since it always sparks anyways. You may take your cap off and look at where the rotor is pointing then you can simply turn it 180 degress.
if you for get where it was put the two dots between the needle and make the rotor arrow point directly towards the front of the car

BadAssRX-7

ok #! and VERY VERY important have the clutch pressed in and on the floor when you remove the main pully... if not the trust bearings can fall and then the **** hits the fan.... so to speak. what i would do #1 remove the fan and air filter asmb. then aline the timing mark by hand. then pop off the dist. cap and see if the arm with the arrow is aimed @L1 then to make sure the pully is "true" remove the "inspection" plate on the pass side of the tranny and motor there is a mark on the flywheel that will line up to a mark on the rear plate.
Saying the pully isnt in right to set it to TDC remove the pully and the "keyway" should be @9 oclock( aimed at the pass side fender... on usa cars) if its not then its not @TDC... then look at the pully unit its self... some years had a nub that wouldnt alow you to put the sleves on the mainhub wrong...and some years dont so you can install the sleves 90,180 or 270 deg off.
hope this helps and makes sence

mdlmker

Hey ToyotaryatGR, thanks for replying so fast.

No, she's as bone stock as can be. It passed the emissions, with flying colors, (probably better than most other types of cars!), but the "mechanical" aspect is what it got dingged on.

"You may take your cap off and look at where the rotor is pointing then you can simply turn it 180 degress."

You mean the pulley, right not the distributor....right?

So is it the "Leading" mark on the cap that I want the rotor to point to? Then look to see where the marks on the pulley are? If they are MIA, then pull the 4 bolts that holds the pulley on, rotate it to where the "Leading" mark is on the pulley, put the bolts back in and off we go eh?

It seems pretty simple. I've read through the Haynes manual, but it basically said sorta what I wrote. I just want to make sure I don't screw this up.

Lemme know if Ima headed in the right direction.

Wankelguy

I did not know that. That should make finding TDC a breeze.

mdlmker

Well, after tinkerin' 'round for a few hours yesterday, this is what I discovered:

When I hand cranked the engine such that the "Leading" mark on the pulley was inline with the needle on the block, I pulled the dist. cap off and took a look. The rotor was pointing to "T1".
I thought, "Ah, now all I have to do is rotate the pulley around 180 deg." Then my brain screamed STOP! The rotor has to be pointing at the "Leading" post on the cap. So I then rotated the engine around until the rotor pointed to "Leading" on the cap. I then looked at the pulley, and sure enough the "leading" mark on the pulley was MIA. So I undid the bolts, rotated the pulley around until the "Leading" mark was aligned with the needle on the block.

Unfortunately, I ran out of daylight, and so I have yet to check the "Flywheel mark" that BadAssRX-7 suggested. I will be doing that now. I'll try to post my progress later.

Thanks for all your help folks. It is appreciated.

mar3

iTrader: (8)

This might help, too...

TDC from Scratch

REVHED

Doesn't make any difference if the pulley's 180* out. Just means you have to set the timing on the rear rotor.

It's also possible the mechanic simply hooked the timing light up to the wrong plug wires.

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

I'd say it's mechanic error. They don't know how to work on rotaries anyway.

Oh, and you don't need to worry about pushing the clutch in while removing the pulley. (Sterling was right) The pulley HUB is what you need to push the clutch in for, to remove.

karism

The easiest way i know to find TDC is : Remove the Eccentric Shaft pulley.Turn the engine clockwise ,untill the key in the Eccentric Shaft is HORIZONTAL with the oil pan.The first Rotor is now at TDC.Put pulley back on,so that the mark for TDC is at the pointer.

Please refer to the pic,if the writing isnt clear enough
Thats it!

Hope it helps?
Karis

Wankelguy

The engine is at TDC when the key in the e-shaft is at 9 o'clock, not 3 o'clock as shown.

karism

Sorry!
Its been a while since i last used the way i described here.

Karis

mdlmker

Ok, well, thanks guys for all of your help. I am trying to get ready for a major convention coming in December, and I just didn't have the time to play with it....so I broke down and had a mechanic do it. Luckily, though he has, and works on RX-7's. As a matter of fact, I think his is like either the same year as mine or a year or two later. He knew what the deal was, and was able to fix her up. Runs real good now.

Now my only concern is finding a test only station that doesn't have a booger eating moron working it, and can figure out which plug is which! Oi!

hhilljr

What did your mech determine was the problem???

mdlmker

As he had thought, the eccentric pulley was not on the mark. Since it doesn't have a "keyway" to prevent it from being 270 deg or 180 deg out, anyone who was not paying attention could have put it back on wrong. I am a firm believer in MARK EVEYTHING! Hoses, wires, belts, bolts, everything. I had a 74 AMX Javelin, that I rebuilt the engine almost on a tri-monthly basis. (Due to trying either a new cam, or lifters or torque convert.),I always marked everything even though I just tore it down not more than a few months before.

Anyway, yeah, the pulley was the problem. He timed it and it runs good. He had to play with it a bit, because the starter is not healthy. But other than that, ta da!

Now I just need to get it to pass the Test Only station. Please don't let there be a booger eating moron working there.

rhinor61

Here it the way if all is lost for TDC on a rotary.

Here is the procedure I used:
Remove both rear rotor spark plugs.
Rotate the crank until you can see an apex seal (tip of the rotor) in the trailing spark hole. The trailing plug hole is restricted, making the seal somewhat difficult to see. Use a flexible light and a mirror. When the seal is seen, mark the crank.
Rotate the crank until you see the same apex seal in the leading spark plug hole. This plug hole is not restricted, which makes it easy to see the seal. Mark the crank.
Halfway between your two marks is TDC for the front rotor (#1) rotor.

mdlmker

Kool! I'll print that and the other suggestions out for when I go and do a rebuild. Which won't be for a while. Parts are kinda 'spensive and I don't have lotsa time.....I'll probably get another car and make this my project car. Life can get difficult at best when you're trying to fix up the car you have to drive. Can't do any real major repairs/mods unless you have:

A. Another car. To get to work, parts, food!

B. Someone to drive you around.

C. Nowhere to go anyway.

D. Lotsa time on hand.

All four points, are not me.

Anyway, thanks rhinor61 for your instructions.