86 Oil Pressure problem?
 

Hey guys, I just recently became a rotor head by buying an 86 RX7, I just love the thing. I bought the car from a friend for a very decent price. Being that the car is not quite in mint condition, the 13B is in very good shape.

The one problem I have though, is the oil pressure gauge doesn't move and I doub't the car is running with 0 lbs of oil pressure. This leads me to believe that there is just an electical issue and not a mechanical one because it it never moves; however when I pull the dipstick after driving it is smoking as if there is buring oil (white smoke). Is this normal? Or do I have a real oil pressure problem? What things should I look at to fix this type of problem?


As well, one of the exhaust tips broke off and I need to get the car into the emissions tester in Illinois, doesn anyone know if I would need to replace the exhaust?

Thanks for all the help

Regardless, I would be very carefull with the car until you've determined if it's a real or imagined problem. If you must drive it I'd recommend using 2-stroke premix in the gas to be safe. (many rotary owners actually run thier cars full time on premix) The most common cause of such problems is the oil pressure sender. You could try replacing it with a known working unit. I had a problem and it was the actual dash gauge.

with 0 PSI, my guess is that when someone was changing the spark plugs, they knocked the wire off the oil sending unit. If I had a dollar for everytime i have done that, I would have, well, about 10 dollars.. But anyways.

The sender is down under the oil filter, round canister looking thing. And the wire that goes on it should be on the end of it.. Thats where I would start.

Rat

I did check, but I believe that the wires were connected. However, I am unsure by your definition, the wires that I saw were next to the oil filter and were white plugs that snap together. They seemed snug, although the wires were bend and that could be the problem.

Is there a website for a step by step process on changing the sender unit? I do have the Haynes manual but of course I don't see a section devoted to this tebacle.

"smoking as if there is buring oil (white smoke)" dude, burning oil is blue smoke. if you see white, you have problems. aka collant seal blown. shit, no wonder it's not running right....

This smoke is only when I pull the dipstick out and it is smoking from the dipstick, not while the engine is running normally.

Coolant is very low, thanks