I know you should "warm up the 7" before you put it into gear, but the phrase "warm up" doesn't tell much. My rotary mechanic told me to let it run for 30 seconds before going, but my little automatic doesn't do so well when starting cold.

I pull out the choke, then pump the gas pedal 2x, then crank the key... it will start usually in about 1/2 to 1 second. Then I adjust the choke **** to about 2000 rpm's and watch the temperature of the engine. It takes a good 5 minutes from start up to get past the 2nd notch on the temp read out. And I have to rev kinda high in the rpm to keep the car from stalling in 1st gear or reverse (mind you this is an automatic tranny, yea, i know... don't give me any **** about it...). Reverse is 10x worse than 1st gear when initially trying to get moving...

Any ideas? Tips? Tricks? Yadda yadda yadda....

 

get a manual? (ducks and runs)

 

I don't even have a choke on my 50DCO weber, I have to feather the throttle for a minute then go

 

Keep the choke all the way out in the deep winter. I only adjust the choke to a lower RPM in warm weather.

Also, perhaps your carburetor adjustments are a bit off.

 

OK, so i have the choke ALL the way out... do i just slam it into gear? it's an automatic....

 

I somewhat follow what the manual says: pull the choke all the way out, start it up (don't step on the gas), let it rev up and have it's little 'tornado time' (fan) for 15 secs, then push in the choke so the rpms drop to about 1700. When I first start it in the morning, I just let it sit and warm up and by the time I get out, the choke has already pulled in and it's just humming along.

 

Yea, but takes a GOOD 5 minutes to happen in my case. AND, I have to rev the engine to 1500 rpm and slam it into reverse otherwise it dies...

 

the best thing i do (in michigan winters), is to pull the choke, tap the gas once(if needed), let that run for a couple seconds, than push in the choke to about 2000 RPMs. than just drive away.

 

Automatic RX7s? Never heard of one... Just messin with ya =P

Definately check your carb adjustments or maybe some kind of vacuum that comes with an automatic--dunno, but there is probably be a special valve or vacuum for an automatic that corrects your problem...

 

oh i feel your pain,

mine is with the stock nikki though,

and it takes more then a minute,

think michigan in the winter

hold @ 3,000 for 5 minutes then brake with left while holding gas with right at every stop sign and light until about 3 miles down the road

 

V8kilr Fabricate a choke and that'll solve your problem... Regarding the auto tranny... does it have A/C? Rig that solenoid to kick out not only when the A/C activates, but also when... 1) your choke is activated at the same time that you... 2) put it in gear...you'll need two relays to pull it off but it shouldn't be that hard to slap together...whenever your choke disengages after the engine has warmed up, no power will go to the relay 1 so relay 2 won't have power to engage solenoid and your back to whatever your warm engine idle should be. Set warm idle speed in gear, BTW, in case you haven't figured that out yet....

 

Maybe this is far fetched but...... I wonder if your cooling system is not working correctly. Maybe the thermostat is stuck open?! Do you know if it's been removed? If I recall correctly, it's supposed to stay closed until the coolant and engine get's up to operating temperature. There's a coolant temperature sensor that triggers the choke to retract when the temp is right. Just a thought. Good luck!

 

Is yer choke popping in by itself at all? Yank off the air cleaner, and see if it's all together under there.

BTW-What shape is yer air filter in? Is it clean enough that you could breathe through it?
Look at yer plugs. Being as it's an auto, I don't think it's allowed to rev very high, and so any soot on the plugs might not get the opportunity to be blown off. See if they're black. It's tell-tale that yer runnin way rich, which would be some of the explaination (perhaps) of why it takes so damn long to warm up.
If that is the case, I would take a close look at all the emissions **** on there to figure out what's not working before diving into adjusting the carb...Especially if the air/fuel mixture screw still has the tamper-resistant cap in place. (Means it did'nt just turn by itself, right, so something else is wrong.)

 

Well, the engine was rebuilt recently by someone who is very reputable by boards standards.

I can only run the AC when my RPM's are high, that is only when I am at 30+ MPH. I can probably run it at lower speeds, but I would have to shut it off when I come to a stop sign, light, etc.

I am aware of an idle increaser on the carb when the A/C's on, but I havn't checked into that yet. I want to get the car 100% without the A/C before I try and rig that up.

As for my choke... it works 100% (or so I can tell). When it's fully out, it's at 4K RPM, and I can adjust it all the way down to 1300 RPM.

One notable thing about my car is... when it's fully warm (after a 30 minute drive) the idle is perfect 750. But my idle sometimes stay around the 1100 mark. And by the way, all the symptoms are not 100% reproducable. Sometimes they are true, sometimes the little beast runs perfect.

My next move is to remove the rats nest to simplify the whole engine and perhaps find that it was a vacuum leak. I don't know if its a good idea to remove the rats nest with an automatic or not.

Also, I should ONLY put my car into gear with the RPM's lower than 1000 RPM right? And my car shouldn't stall when taking turns and accelerating, or taking off from a stop? I have to hold the choke out for my car not to stall (sometimes, I'd say 75% of the time).

 

my ac used to do the same thing till I had my engine rebuilt. The guys adjusted my mine on my card so that my car always idles at 1k when the ac is on. runs great, they told me before I got my engine running that since the ac controller is off a vacume line and the engine was low compression was why my car would not idle when I came to a stop.

 

I feel your pain, I also am one of the unlucky ones with an automatic. I am having cold starting problems, but mine are a little differant. If I have the choke out or my foot on the gas at all and the car has sat for more than half a day, it will not start. I have to try to start it cold and let it sit awhile and slowly give it gas. It is a pain in the butt and I have absolutely no idea what is wrong with it

 

99.9999999999% of all problems are coming from 20 year old carbs that have never been rebuilt.

 

I you have an automatic you can change it to a standard. Ill post some pics if u want them.
It actually wasnt that hard.

 

I'm paranoid and give my beast 10 minutes to warm up before even moving (in cold weather)