My 1990 Rx7 convertible has stopped running. I last drove it about 11 miles so i know it went into the correct range to prevent flooding. I have checked coils, fuel pump, relays, and fuses. I have replaced the battery twice, the plugs and wires, and the alternator. I have tried deflooding it and it still wont start. It has spark and seems to have plenty of compression but the tester i have would not hold any readings at all even though it spiked above 40. There was no smoke from the tail pipes or otherwise, and i never had any other symptoms of anything going wrong. Originally i smelled fuel when trying to crank it over but now i dont smell any. I replaced the fuel filter and there was fuel inside it. It is also important to note it will turn over but it will not crank.

 

Sometimes it needs to be deflooded more than once when it is beyond just your run of the mill flooding. You can disable the fuel pump and spray 1 to 2 seconds at most of starter fluid into the intake and try to start the car. The car should start briefly and burn off the excess fuel in the process. Then w/everything plugged in start the car in a normal fashion.

 

If it "turns over" it IS cranking..(Turning over and cranking are the same thing!)
it just is not starting.
If you smell fuel it is Flooded.Take the plugs out.Check the plugs to see if they are Wet.
if they are it is Flooded.Clean the plugs off.Roll engine over with NO EGI Fuse in/plugs out, for 20 seconds.Put plugs and fuse back in.start.
All else fails,Look up Deflooding!..as Satch says..sometimes it take multiple attempts at a Deflood to get the engine going again.

 

^ thanks styx. Was gonna clarify that to the OP.

Why did you replace the battery twice and the alternator? Was the engine turning over slowly? BTW, as long as the engine turns over fast enough, it should start, if everything else is ok.

Specifically, how did you check for spark?

 

if the tester showed no/low compression, that could be because of flooding as well. as all have mentioned, deflood completely! haha

 

...and if severely flooded, after removing all the fuel in the chamber (EGI fuse out and cranking), and drying out the spark plugs (or getting new ones), add a teaspoon of oil into each chamber through the bottom spark plug hole before putting back the plugs.

Edit: It's an S5, so holding the gas all the way in disables the fuel.

 

My 88 'vert had just been sitting out in the cold for a few months, and it took me 30+ minutes to get it going. The key (besides deflooding: 4x 10 second cranks), is having a fresh battery, and getting someone to jump you too. Get the largest jumper cables you can get, and as much juice to the starter as possible. When you've got it all set-up, push the gas pedal to the floor and DON'T let go. It can take a bit to start turning over, and eventually it should come to life.

I'm pretty sure I shot a fireball out the rear last time when I got mine going, and the amount of smoke... I would liken it to waking up a dragon.

 

Make sure that you MAF sensor is plugged up.

 

^ He means AFM.

(Not trying to be a smart ***, just for the sake of accuracy. An airflow meter and mass air flow sensor work differently in terms of telling the engine how much air it's getting.)