rx7ryan

yeah, new orleans is getting pretty sh**ty. ok this is the deal:

I have a 91 t2. I changed my fuel filter the day before yesterday. after i changed it, i tried to start the car and i couldn't get it started. so i tried to prime the system and then start it but all it did was flood. i then tried the whole EGI fuse unflooding deal and it didn't work. i pulled the spark plugs and it looked like all 4 were covered in gas and the 2 lower ones had carbon caked on the top of them. i scraped them off pretty good and wiped off all of them and put them back with the correct plug wires. this didn't work. after all of the starting, i eventually drained my battery. soon after that (the next day) i got someone to jump me while i try the whole gas pedal to the floor unflooding trick. IT WORKED! so i ran it for about 15 minutes with 10 idling and a 5 minute drive. afterward i tried to start it and i couldn't crank it over. i had to get my brother to jump me and it was kind of hard to start it still. the battery would drain quickly. after i got it started, i drove it about 45 minutes in stop 'n go traffic along with moderate and high speeds from where i live in pearl river, la to st. bernard, la...where i work (army). it ran fine and it felt great with no problems. i tried to start it and jump start it at lunch and neither worked. so i went to lunch with someone else and when we got back (someone was jumping it for about an hour while i was gone) i tried again and it wouldn't work. that's when we push started and it worked. when i went to leave work and go home i had to push start it too. as soon as it warmed up, i hit the gas to boost and as soon as i did that, i lost power (didn't die) and it sounded like air was going back through the filter(outward). i pulled over after trying a few more times. i looked at all the vacuum hoses around the bov and TID and everywhere else and didn't see anything. i also had replaced the fuel hoses and clamped them very well when i changed the filter. after i didn't find anything...i drove about 20-25 minutes and decided to pull over and try to check everything a little more thoroughly. i did this because i was about to go over a bridge and i didn't think i'd be able to make it. after i didn't find anything again, i tried to go up the 5 degree slope to get out of the gas station parking lot and i couldn't get up it without it dying. so i sat there waiting for the tow truck to take me home. the only things i can think of are:
1. maybe the spark plugs are just fouled

2. maybe some cells in the battery are dead causing ign. system not to keep up @ high rpm's

3. somehow i may be losing compression.

I really don't know what to do next. please help.

KingCobraV9

iTrader: (2)

i say try chaingin the battery. how old is it? and wipe down the plucs and blast them w/ some good old carb cleaner then shove them back in

Pinfield357

clifs notes?

adrock3217

If you couldn't get up a hill, then "keeping up in the high RPM's" does not apply here.

Anyways, get an Optima, new spark plugs, and CHECK YOU'RE GROUNDS!!

I stress this point again, as it is the start of all electrical/power/cranking issues! GROUNDING!

red87tll

iTrader: (4)

(see above)

im with him. grounding is very important and make quite a difference and there are quite a few threads that cover the proper way to do it.

as for the optima...keep the recipt. i must have gotten a bad one but i can't take it back without a recipt. kinda sucks..but other than that i have heard good things about them.

--James

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (8)

Number one, check compression. www.rotaryresurrection.com ---> tech ---> compression check.

Number 2, change plugs to brand new ones. Stockers foul EASILY in the presence of raw gas and oil.

3, get a new battery...the biggest amperage version that you can find to fit in the car, which should be around 750 amp. Go on ahead with new battery terminals while you are at it for another 5 bucks.

4. Once you get it running halfway, use a couple cans of starter fluid to search for vacuum/intake leaks. Be careful of the hot exhaust when doing so.

rx7ryan

my battery is brand new, i don't think i have any grounding problems, i have ngk plugs, i believe the battery i have is 750 amp because i asked for the highest amperage one they had, i also got brand new terminals and hold down, and i looked for vacuum leaks and didn't find anything.

I DO have an idea though. I think maybe it's the alternator and i could have possibly killed cells in the battery.

alternator- i couldn't start it after a 45 min. drive's worth of charging the battery and if the alternator wasn't putting out enough juice, maybe it was giving a weaker spark therefore less efficient burning of the mixture hence no power.

battery-to justify failed attempts to jump start it, maybe i had previously killed cells in the battery causing it to not hold a charge.

what do you think? if all of this is possible, i'm going to go outside and test the alternator and hopefully that's the problem. thanks.

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (8)

Doesnt matter. If it is dead, it's useless. Once you drain a battery substantially it never fully recovers.

I know what kind you have, the same kind everyone has. I didnt ask that. I said that plugs foul very easily on these engines and you stated earlier that they were caked in carbon and covered in gas. Neither is a good thing, even if you did try to clean them up. I suggested that you pop in a new set.

I just mentioned that because I assumed you would be buying or exchanging for a new one, and as a reminder to get the best one available instead of those little suck *** 425 cranking amp setups they try to sell these days.


Duuurrr.

Haha, seriously, yes, that was my thinking too, among other possibilities. You wont know until you get a known good battery on there. Which is why that was my first suggestion.


That part of it I would disagree with. You pretty much have enough spark or no spark, so it would either run or not. I guess I could see around 10-10.5vdc losing enough energy to make it misfire, but it would quickly just die altogether. I have driven cars with dead alternators/batteries before.

rx7ryan

i thought you meant "stock" plugs. i will be getting a new set though.
how would i find out if i needed an alternator by getting a new battery? if it dies quickly?
"alternator- i couldn't start it after a 45 min. drive's worth of charging the battery"-do you think that would indicate a bad alternator? or just the battery can't hold the charge?

i'm trying to bank on the alternator being the problem...do you think that's possible?

kontakt

Is it possible that it has both spark and no spark (running on one rotor)? Does the engine sound different than it used to when running? I know you mentioned the vacuum leak sound.

Also... did you mean to say starter fluid RotaryResurection? I generally see people say carb cleaner, and I just don't wanna see this guy blow himself up.

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (8)

The alternator may perform poorly when trying to recharge a dead battery or one with a dead cell, but if you put a new one in and then run your tests, any odd readings you know are the result of a bad battery. I would monitor the situation from day one, if I installed a new one.

Likewise, if it charges and performs fine, then you can leave your alternator alone. The bad cell in the battery could have been the cause all along. Either way, the battery needs replaced, so that is the first step.

No. the L coil does most of the work, and fires both rotors at once...so it either works or not.

Yes, starter fluid works best, but carb cleaner would work too. This is why I said to use caution around the hot exhaust.

kontakt

This I know, I've run on 3 spark plug wires before (the cop said "move this car now"... I moved my car). I was asking about plugs. You were talking about his plugs being fouled, and that causing the no-spark situation. I was wondering if his front/rear could be fouled worse than the other. Now I'm asking if that's a situation that even could occur.

Edit: Also thanks for clearing up the starter fluid thing. I've heard people say not to use it, but noone competent. I could see how it could be more dangerous though, and figured that was the reason people suggest carb cleaner. I'm pretty sure I've used starter fluid before myself, but that would have been helpin my dad work on his nova at like age 4 or something. I didn't remember too well.

BuujinBejiita

iTrader: (4)

New plugs - 20 bucks Cheap battery 30 bucks, 50 bucks and its driveable, if you keep driving it and it keeps dieng id stop driving it for 1, your alternator might be bad if itll start and then the battery will be dead, if you get it running disconnect the negative battery cable and if it dies you got a bad alternator. 750 isnt even close to the biggest you can get, my optima is a 1150ca and like 980cca, optima is the way to go but they arent cheap.

X-JaVeN-X

all this happened right after you changed the fuel filter? I've heard you can put the filter in backwards and that has a bad effect...maybe you did this?

BklynRX7

Where do you get NGK plugs for 20 bucks? It costs me $60 for all 4.

rx74evers

iTrader: (6)

RotaryResurrection OH SHUT WILL YA!!! stop BS

rx7ryan

1. I know for a fact that i didn't put it in backwards.
2. it would have been acting like this on the way TO st. bernard also.


alright, well i'll be getting my battery replaced (just bought it less than 2 wks. ago) and i'll check the alternator. also, can i get those special plugs at an autoparts store? or do i have to order them? probably order them.

rx7ryan

what are you talking about? if you're going to add...elaborate please.

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (8)

Advance sells non plats for $5-6 each last I checked.

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (8)

He's mad because he started some **** with me and I have since totally owned him, and he is posting in all my recent threads out of jealousy.

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showthread.php?t=483872

rx7ryan

okay, i went to pep boys and had them put my battery on the machine and this was the results:
My Battery:
ca 640
cca 880

Test Results:
rated cca: 550
volts prior to test: 12.74
volts under load: 11.31
Recovery Volts: 12.53
Test Number: 157
BATTERY GOOD

I also got spark plugs @ $5.99/ea + tax

when i got home I put the battery in and tried to start it but it wouldn't do anything more than click once. so i looked under the dash and took all the homemade wiring apart. the major ignition wires were spliced but were still twisted together(dead end wire spliced). then i jacked up the car and put the pos and neg sides of some jumper cables on the battery, then the other neg on the lower control arm and the positive on:

1. pos connector blade-there was a spark

2. left stud and nut on solenoid-spark and click(like when key turned) then after a few times, just a spark

3. right stud and nut on solenoid-nothing

i don't know what to do but the guy at the store said that i may have burnt up the armature on the starter or something. i don't want to put the new plugs in until i crank it over a few times with no lead plugs to clean it out but i can't do that if the starter isn't working.

BuujinBejiita

iTrader: (4)

checker autoparts are like 6.99 a pop or so.

Speculum

Hit it with a hammer.

rx7ryan

the solenoid or the motor?

Speculum

I'd say try the side of the motor ... have a friend try to crank it while u are hitting it (better than going up and down a buncha times) ... if it works then yup rebuild it or get a new one.