My guess is that you probably know allot about rotary engines

I havnt tried everything yet. I poured fresh, 94octane gas into the carb, cranked it, no start. Did MMO treatment to engine, no start. One thing i did find that was bad is the trailing igniter, replaced it, still wont start. Thats why i'm doing a compression test, gotta make sure the apex seals are good.

no, i really dont know too much about them, this is the first one that i've owned, if i did know much then i would have my car running by now :)

WTF does any of this have to do with what's going on? :confused:

I'd plug the fuse back in. Also, when you try to start it, are you holding the throttle down?

I cant do the compression test tonight, noone else here to crank while i do the test. I've tried both ways, gas down and not down, makes a weird noise with the gas down, then starts up, dies after about 10secs. Same thing with the gas not down only without the weird noise while cranking

when you crank the car over does the engine roll over a little bit

it will run for about 10seconds, then it will die, or it will die whenever you touch the gas pedal.

so did you probably wondered if your car was flooded/?

since you had to pour the octane fluid into your carb

It dies when you touch the throttle? That is a problem of too much air (not enough fuel). Possible dead fuel pump, clogged fuel filter, or seriously grungy junk in the carb hardlines.

i poured fresh gas into the carb with the fuel lines disconnected to make sure that the gas in the tank wasnt bad. the car has been sitting for 4 months. the car isnt flooded, i have done the deflooding procedure many times, i'm sure it isnt flooded.

SO your car has new spark plugs/You said that you had a bad trialing igniter

thanks peejay, i plan on replacing the fuel filter anyway, the fuel pump seems fine, if i disconnect the fuel line going into the carb and crank it, gas will pour out of the tube. a gunky carb would make sence, i had to use a lot of that anti-rust crap and carb cleaner to get the choke to move freely and work again.

does your car have brand new spark plugs

yes, the trailing igniter was bad so it got replaced, i put in new plugs, and it didnt help, so i put back in the old ones.

Just because the pump will flow doesn't mean much. It really sounds like there is a lack of fuel problem. The carb might need rebuilt. Argh... if my brakes were workin' good I'd come down there and help ya with it. :)

Good luck!

yea, some help would be nice :) i'm only 16 and trying to learn all i can here, my dad is in a very high position in a machine shop, and also knows some about cars, just knows nothing about rotaries. About how much time would it take to rebuild a carb? or would it be better to just get a new one and save the hassle?

i have a pos datsun sitting next to my rx7, it has 2 carbs and both of them work good :) if only they would fit.....

its a day long project to rebuild the carb, depending on how you do it, its worth it though, dont buy a new carb, the kits are relatively inexpensive and now you get to learn more about your carburetor, fun huh.

Rebuilding the carb is no big deal, though making sure it's set right can be a pain in the ass. Also, while the kits are cheap, all the doo-hickies that are attached to it add up FAST if they're shot (unless you do what I did and just rig it up so you can use domestic parts...damn dashpot was $60...working one from an 85 chrysler was free w/ some welding :) ). Definitely give rebuilding it a shot if that's what you're worried about.

You can get it started but it stalls out after a few seconds? That's what mine did when my cat. converter was plugged. Try unhooking it from the manifold and see if it starts (you'll probably need a replacement gasket though, they tend to shred).

ya my cat is shot, almost stalled the engine cuz it went while the car was running. runs ok now, smokes a bit from the cat, but am planning to pull it and remove it's insides.

Yea, it will start for a few seconds, anywhere inbetween 5-20seconds. The .wav file on the first page will tell you exactly what its doing. I'm going to be doing a compression test tonight or tomorrow to make sure its not the apex seals, i dont really know what the signs of them being bad are, so just want to be sure that its not the problem. it could easily be the carb, i was looking through the recipts of what the previous owner has done to the car, and one shop said that they thought the carb needed adjusted and cleaned(didnt specify what parts) and that he declined repairs to that.

ok, did a comp. test, checked out great. i used a normal compression tester, holding down the release pin, needle jumped to 60 on all 3 sides of each rotor. normal comp testers are low by 30%-40% since they dont have time to react to the all the pressure before it releases, thats what the owner at a rotary specalist shop told me, so i trust it. So now the problem is narrowed down to fuel pump, filter, or carb rebuild. Any other things you can think of to check?

Coldy,
I agree with the above post. Disconnect the cat, if nothing else it eliminates that possibility. If the cat is plugged your car will not stay running.
Also, look for any large hose not hooked up to the carb or manifold. If you have a major air leak, it will be hard to start and won't stay running once started.
hanman