Hey, so Im new here and fairley new to the rx-7's.. ive been into cars for awhile now and just sold my 240sx, but my friend is looking into buying a 1986 rx-7, we started it up last night it had a dead battery so we jumped it. it started up right away and it hadnt been ran for about 2 weeks we where told, we let it run for awhile and test drove it, we shut the car off and the battery was dead wich to me means alternator... (we where driving it for awhile and where letting it run, should have had enough to charge the battery) but alternator is no big deal, but i noticed it was smoking a fair bit to, now it was probably close to minus 20 last night so that may have been all it was, but then i also know if the rotory engines take more then about 10 seconds to start there may be some problems with the apexi seals. well it took us a good 15 minutes to get it started by boosting it with another car, and the only way we got it started was pulling out a fuse on the drivers side.( not sure exactly what fuse it was, the owner asked me to pull it) so we pulled the fuse, turned it over, put the fuse back in and it fired up,wich kind of leads me to maybe fuel pump? the car itself has 275 000 kms on it, and there asking 2000$, so if anyone can help me out here, or better yet my friend, it would be much appreciated, thanks alot!

 

well for one its more than likely going to be the batterie thats junk because if it stayed on after boosting it and didnt wanna start after a drive that means the batterie isnt holding a charge...thats about all i can help u with there

 

yeah i guess that makes sence, never really thought of that..now i just have to look around for places that can rebuild these engines.

 

it wouldn't have continued to run if the alternator was bad, charge the battery and test it, i bet that is your problem not the alt.

 

ok, we will try that first, does anyone know if this sounds like apexi seals? or fuel pump?.. oh, and the fuse we pulled was out of the fuse box on the drivers side in the engine bay, on the strut tower,it was the fuse closest to the engine bay.. I just dont get why that fuse made a difference.

 

Apex seals not Apexi seals. Apexi does not make seals for our engines. Was it the EGI fuse you pulled? I think the Series 4(86-88) had a problem with flooding and pulling the EGI fuse and cranking the engine helped clear it. It might just need to have the injectors cleaned.

 

hard to say, since the battery was obviously bad it could have been cranking slow and caused it to flood out. pulling the fuse helps clear flooding out of the engine by starving it of fuel while cranking, it could also indicate either worn seals meaning low compression or a bad coolant seal which means water is getting into the motor. start by replacing the faulty battery and then do a compression test after it is warmed up.

 

oops didnt know if they where apex or apexi,.. but thats what we will try to do today.again, Thanks alot!

 

exchange rate website says that this guy wants $1,743.80 US for a car probably on its last legs. That's too much, unless the body, interior, and electrical are all in good shape.

 

the body is in very good shape, no rust or dents. the interior has seen better days but its not bad, electrical seems good but again, he has to try getting a new battery.The owner has also said he replaced the headlight or wiper switch, and new exhaust. with "800$ of new suspension" but he hasnt shown any receipts so none of that means anything. i figured 275 000 kms is quite a bit to, and dont know how much longer it will last. but it's not my money so.

 

if the car is driveable for a while then the price doesn't seem all too unfair but if it needs a motor then i would tell him to half that price.

 

ok so we bought a battery , everything seems good,alternator seems to keep it charging, now i was the one that drove this car home and we where at highway speeds. first time ive ever drove a rotary powered car and i must admit, the sounds the feel, is amazing. i have a feeling this engine was rebuilt at some point.but i dont know if this is a rotary thing or not, but it feels like theres no compression. yet the car still goes alright.

 

y do you say it feels like there is no compression? How did the car start after you put the new battery on? And was it smoking still while you were driving it?

 

the car didnt seem to smoke to bad, and it started up fine, every time we turned it over, within like 2 seconds, i think its just the whole rotary thing, and getting used to it.because there is definetly a difference when driving it, compared to youre normal piston style car.

 

it feels like it has less compression because you are driving a 1300cc 2 stroke.

 

haha,i think that might be it, but rotarys definetly have my attention now

 

good to have another rotary lover. But i would be wise and do a compression test, to indicate if it needs a rebuild, because if you go too long without one you could blow an apex seal and ruin a rotor and a rotor housing.

that happened to the previous owner of my FC, he didnt really consider a rebuild cuz it only had 110000 miles on it, but then one day he lost one of the rear apex seals. Now i bought it off him for $900 CND planning to do a rebuild.

 

yeah i think we will have to do a compression check, what should it be with these cars? still around the 160psi mark?

 

85 and up good below 85 bad

 

anywhere from 85psi (old) to a 120psi mark like when new or rebuilt.

 

how is it 2 stroke?

 

If the owner told you to pull a fuse, it sounds like the car was probably flooded, which is kinda common on these cars if you dont let them warm up before you shut them off. Like someone said, pulling the EGI fuse and cranking will help to unflood the car.

 

Definitely get a compression check before you buy it, and try to knock the price down a bit. If compression is anywhere near 85 psi, I wouldn't pay more than $1000 for it.