Hello all! I am looking for the solution to what seems to be a very common problem in 2nd gens. I have an '88 GXL, 170km on the original build, and everytime I start the car in neutral after it has been sitting for a while, the engine revs up to 3000rpm like it is supposed to (although not all the time... maybe 75% of the time), but after I blip the throttle, the idle only settles down to 2000rpm. Then, very slowly, over a period of maybe 5-10 minutes, the idle will creep down as the car warms up until it reaches a solid 750rpm.

I have searched for a solution to this problem on this forum, and have noticed many people with the exact same problem, but no definite solutions. Anyone have any ideas? It seems to me that it would be wasting a lot of gas at start-up if it idles so high, and a high idle when cold cannot be good for the engine. Thanks in advance!!

 

well for me my car wouldn't run if i don't do the warmup. but that's cause of low compression i think, dunno wat would happen to urs

 

ok, this is NOT a problem. The car has an accelerated warm-up procedure. that is what causes this. I assume it's not bad for the engine since Mazda programed it to do it. Mine bounces around till it warms up and I haven't figure out what's wrong but it sounds like nothings wrong with yours. I think if you start it in gear (MANUAL!!!!!) it doesn't do it. I'm not sure exactly how it works.

 

yeah that's wat i read if u start in gear it doesn't do it

 

I know what you guys are referring to. If you start the car in first gear, for example, the 3000rpm warm-up is overridden.

However, regardless of what gear it's in when I start the car, if the car is cold it will ALWAYS settle at 2000rpm and creep down slowly as it warms up. I've owned the car for almost 3 years, and it started doing this about 1 year ago. I am fairly certain it is not normal, but I could be wrong. Before it started doing this, the idle would settle down to 750rpm almost instantly.

I know this is being nitpicky, but I am looking for ways to improve the gas mileage on the car, and it seems this needlessly high warm-up sequence is wasting gas.

 

HAHAAHHahahaha, improve gas mileage, in an RX-7!!?? .......................hmmmm, that would be nice wouldn't it? I'm jealous now, mine sucks.

As for you problem, you're right, it's not normal for it to do it every single time. You'll have to get someone else who knows a little more but I've heard that it could be... the BAC I think. Good luck, let us know how it works out cause mine does basically the same thing.

 

Thanks for the BAC tip. I'll look into that. And I will post something when/if I get it fixed.

As for the gas mileage, I get a solid 18mpg with a combination city/highway driving. My goal is to get a consistent 20mpg with city driving.

 

This is normal. Mine does the same thing. Sometimes it takes a while because now it's getting colder outside.

 

if its cold and it doesn't do this its hard to start right? i heard stories of people having trouble starting thier car in winter

 

i have this same problem in a way. if the engine is not warm when attempting to start, it will not continue running unless i hold my foot on the gas, at about 3-4000rpm, until the temp gauge begins to raise. (bye bye gas mileage) i believe it has to do with the accelarated warm up system, but i do not know much about this. anyone have any ideas? plus, when it's cold outside, on top of the engine being cold, it takes about 5 starts and 3 backfires before i can even get it to keep running after it's started. help please!

 

Let's face it, if your an RX7 owner, you didn't buy it for fuel economy.

Engine damage may occur (extremely minor) when idling at 750 when the whole engine is entirely cold.

Accellerated warm up is to warm it up faster and prevent any potential engine damage associated with running low RPMs on a totally cold engine.

There is a happy healthy medium of idle for a cold engine, and 750 is not it.

 

Its called high idle, Rotaries are nutorious for having idle issues, join the club. My TII has the exact same problem you have, as well 80% of the ppl in here. It happens when you start modifying your car and especially when you start removing emissions related stuff.
Correcting this problem is very difficult becuase there are like 100 diffrent things that can cause it, but hopefully its somthing simple like a vac line.
Do a search on "Idle issues" or "high idle" and read up as much as you can and try the reccomendations.
Goodluck.

 

Thanks guys and gals. I guess the consensus is that I should be happy the car runs at all.