Ok i finally got it together and it is in and completely hooked up. soo here is the backround so that you understand better.

I bought this car 9 months ago from the original owner, he was on his way home on day and an animal jumped in front of him and ripped the oil cooler lines out and then he drove home(30 plus miles) without oil in it.
the motor seized and i bought it from him.

well now the proble...i tried to turn it over to prime it and the starter just clicks, I know the motor is fine, it turns over by hand easily. so do you think itis just a bad starter because the previous owner burned it up by trying to start it? please ehlp i want this friggin thing to work already!

 

i'm sure you'll need one anyways, so go ahead and replace it. hahahahha, but if you hear it turning over and nothing is happening, then it really could be something else. how is the battery? spark? etc.

 

it doesnt turn over it just clicks

 

bad battery, dirty connections to the battery.

try cleaning the terminals and jump starting it.

 

it was being jumped at the time.

 

If the battery in the car is dead DEAD, a jump ain't gonna do it...it sounds like there is not enough juice to even get the solenoid engaged...hence, the clicking

 

if your battery is dead you can jump it like this.....disconnect both terminals from your battery and connect them to the corresponding terminals of the other battery....if it still doesnt turn over it is mostly likely your starter but could be the solenoid as well. i would just replace the whole thing cause its so old.

 

we took out the starter and ran it on the other battery via jumper cables and it worked flawlessly, so we got a new battery gonna put it in in a little bit then rebuild clutch slave cylinder bleed and FINALLY gto for a drive. YAY!!!!!!!!!

 

Another likely culprit is the battery cables themselves... I had an SE with what I thought was a bum starter.. did as you describe, out of the car direct power and it worked fine, in the car only click. Battery cables fixed it for me..

--Danny

 

yeah, save yourself the hassle later on and replace all the main battery cables.

so many of my problems were fixed like that.

 

A good cleaning of the battery cables is alway good as well.

 

crap the timing is off. i think the motor is not at top dead center so it just cranks and that is it, it fires and it gets fuel, it just doesnt quite start

 

Use this to confirm timing, but also realize you prolly flooded it...

TDC from scratch

 

how exactly do u flood a rotary? i read somewhere that if it fires up and then dies/gets turned off too fast it floods. thats happened to me shitloads of times and its never flooded.....

 

hell yes that link is good
i went and tried to start it this morning, and it started!!
i let it idle for 10-15 minutes then killed it. Then i came bacxk to scare my friends with how loud it was then it wouldnt start i cranked it off and on for about 30 minutes then i came back this evening at like one and it started right up. why would this happen would it do this because of bad gasoline or do you think that the timng might just really be that bad?
thx for the help i am almost there!!!!

 

Pull the plugs....either get new ones in or, if you have new plugs already, clean them with Gumout Carb cleaner and a soft brush before sticking them back in.

 

ok i did the timing cleaned the plugs and all that jazz now it starts every time. BUT it wont idle, AT ALL, that is it no idle period. UNLESS i turn on the ac then the idle stabilizes at 1500. if i advance the timing then it raises the idle the if i retard the timing it lowers.
I got it to idle at 1000 for about15 seconds then it died.

so ths is a list of what ive done:

timing,two stroke oil in case OMP didnt work,20w-50 oil coolant, new spark plugs, cap, plug wires

why do you guys think it wont idle?

 

bump

 

Potential vacuum leaks or misrouted hoses to the RE-EGI dynamic chamber can cause this problem with idle as you describe. Recheck vacuum lines to be sure they're routed where they belong.

Also, since you mentioned that it will idle at 1500rpm with A/C switched ON, this likely indicates that your BACV valve is working correctly, i.e., the idle compensator. This is a good sign, and may indicate that you'll only need to clean out throttle body to get it to idle correctly. Also be sure that your cold-start thermo-pellet is cammed correctly and that all arms on the throttle-body will move freely. This is what causes surging on cold start - TB arms not sliding smoothly, causing a feedback loop to develop between engine vacuum and airflow. HTH,

 

I'm just guessing here, but even though it's not carb'd, there has got to be some kind of mechanical means to "tip open" the throttle body butterflies or a TPS that could be adjusted wrong. No idea really, though, since I've never had the privilege of owning or working on an SE...

 

ok i found one vacuum hose off i put it back on and now i can get the car to idle at 1200 without the a/c on.could the fact that my O2 sensor isnt plugged in make it that high of an idle? also the 5th and 6th port sleeves are removed could that do it?

so now lowest posible idle is 1200 w/o a/c on. please help me.

 

Bumpity

 

with the 5, 6 ports open all the time, I think you're best leaving it at 1200, cause you're getting more air than normal... need more fuel, etc...

 

Several ways to adjust idle now that you've found the vacuum pressure leak.

1) the 'idle adjustment screw - located at the top of the throttle body (TB), you'll see a flat-head screw at the bottom of a circular depression that will open/close the primary butterflies to control idle speed. IME, this has the LEAST effect on idle speed, see #2...

2) To the right (front) of the TB, you'll see where the primary and secodary TB butterfly rods extend toward the front of the car. Here, you'll find the vacuum retard for the secondary butterflies, and nestled down in there is a small, brass-colored flat-head screw which can be adjusted to manually open/close secondary butterflies which has the GREATEST impact on idle speed, but also has the most ambiguous effect. In other words, small movements of this screw will result in huge swings in idle speed, and can occasionaly lead to surging and other SE-specific issues...

3) Idle Mixture Rheostat - located at the passenger wheelwell alongside the shock tower, look next to and directly behind the airflow meter, and you'll see this strange looking metal clip holding a plastic (purple) connector. The Idle mix rheostat is actually in a dark brown plastic column which is covered by a thin coat of wax paste that must be ground off to reveal a flat-head screw underneath. This screw can be adjusted to 'fine-tune' the idle mixture, which indirectly affects idle 'quality' - BE ADVISED! this also affects idle emmissions, which can result in your failing a smog test, if required in your locale. This can be used to fine tune the idle after all other adjustments are made, but I've found that you really don't need to mess with this one much at all.

On #3 above, ALL shop manuals will tell you that you only need to adjust this if you have to replace the idle mixture rheostat due to a faulty unit. NONE will tell you to adjust this for standard idle adjustments, but I list it here as 'advanced knowledge' regarding SE idle issues.

Good luck, and start with #2, then #1, and if all else fails, #3. HTH,

 

I knew there had to be a screw!! Happy tuning, dawg!!