Mason Rx7

Sigh...

Alright to this morning i am running late four work and jump in my awesome Rx-7 and tried to start him up. Well crap... It didnt start. So im thinking great I need a jump (brain not engaged). So back my car up... yada yada... jumper cables.... blah blah... and get my car started. (brain still not engaged)

Later I attempt to leave work... doesnt work out so well... Car won't start... again... I call up my friend to come jump me. He gets there and we try for awhile to get my car started... and we fail... (brain finnally engages!) It smells like smoke and even though its fuel injected I have still heard probs about flooding the rotary engine. So I yank the injector fuse and crank it for about 20 seconds. (nice pretty white smoke coming from exhaust that smells like gas) I put the fuse back in and attempt to start it again. No luck. I yank to fuse again and repeat. Finally it starts. But no tach. So I am thinking "crap crap crap crap" So I turn it off (brain once again dissengaged) and try to start it again... no luck... repeat the fuse yanking... it starts again... This time I notice that the exhaust sounds like its popping... afterburn, great.... hey! i have a tach! Anyways, its running like crap so I decide not to drive it home.

Now I am sitting at my computer looking for someone's expert advice. Thanks.

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

i am having the same exact problems. does your exhaust glow red? i mean the cats, and the miffler? cus i can look at it from the bacl and see it glowing on the inside of the mufflers. o well, ill just drive the damn volvo again.

Mason Rx7

I havnt noticed anything like that... I will check that out. At least i have the stang to fall back on... but its a bitch to drive...

Mason Rx7

Please....

Someones has got to have at least an idea for me...

alwayssideways

glogged cats .. sounds alot like it .. we had a dodge in the shop.. truck has a hard time starting and wasnt running stable. we had just put a new cat on there a week prior. on a hunch the mechanic pulled the y-pipe before the cat. the fired right up and ran like a champ..


this is a general direction to go toward. get the car running .. let it run for 15 minutes .. and try and measure the temp of the cat.. if the inlet of the cat is cooler than the outlet air then the cat is working .. if its hotter by 200 degress or so . the cat is bad. could also be a air pump or something . but i would try testing the cat first

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

heh
good deal. i hope that i didnt blow my engine.

ill ghetta test compression. if it indeed a clogged cat, that good deal. mopre power for me.

i would have done it anyway.

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

i was also wondering i just left it runing will the stock cats simply meklt away? cus i noticed also when i look under that car, there are flames coming from one of the cat flanges.

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

You know flames on the underside of the car are generally reguarded as a bad thing. I've never heard of a cat melting away, but you don't want that much heat next to the body of your car. Besides, wouldn't a straight pipe be so much nicer there?

Mason Rx7

Sweet... My car started up nice and pretty, well not really, it ran like crap but at least it started up! I got it home and shut it off and then tried to start it up again and it didnt... Not so sweet...

I still have afterburn...

It seems to only have problems when it is warm...
Im gonna check the air filter even though im sure its good...
A clogged cat wouldnt cause it to have these symptoms... would it?
I think it might be a coil or pair of spark plugs that arent firing so everytime I shut it off that one rotor fills with gas and so I cant start it...

Help Help Im being repressed!

Haha! I was running late "four" work!

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

well it was coming out from where the gasket on one of the cats was. it was coming out of it. like inbetween the precats and the main cat.

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

heh, i fixed it. it could be that you are really badly flooded as i was. i simply said eff it and red lined it for like 5 minutes and it would gradually get better and better... untill it ran fine. you should do that. just run the snot out of it and after 10 minutes of reving, and it doesnt get better, keep doing it. if after like 1 houre of reving it at 2 grand, it should get better. i mean dont hold a constant rev. just use the whole rpm range. like jujyst floor it, and then when it hits redline, let it off. then when it gets like to 2 grand, redline it again and again and so on and so forth.

fixed my problem.

Mason Rx7

Well now i cant get the damn thing started...

I read what you said at work and when I got home I tried to start it to rev it up and couldnt start it.

I yanked the injector fuse, tried to crank it all out and then put da fuse back in and tried again. It almost started but didnt. I repeated this thinking that it would eventually start but all I did was shorten the life of my starter and kill my battery.

I checked my coils and spark cables and they both came up in specs. Tomorrow I plan to test the spark plugs and see if the fuel filter is clogged.

This is getting frustrating...

Please help me! I really needed the car Tuesday but thats not gonna happen. Crap...

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

How old are you spark plugs? I was having one HELL Of a time getting my rebuild to start on old plugs, I went to advance, plopped down 20 bucks on for new NGK (I highly recommend sticking with NGKs), got two leading and two trailings, and it made all the difference in the world for starting, idling and running.

Mason Rx7

hmmm....

Im not sure how old they are...

I have only had the car for a couple of months and havent replaced any ignition components...

I can try to contact the last owner and talk to him. He's been the only other owner and loved this car to death so he prolly kept up to date on replacing parts but I will contact him.

If I do replace the plugs should I go ahead and replace the cables too?

I have heard alota good stuff about NGK and was planning on replacing mine with them sometime anyways...

vvhitewabbit

If you wanna make sure it is not the cat just unbolt the front part of the cat from the exhaust and see if it starts with the cat unbolted. If it does prob with the cat- if no start prob with something else.
You said first rotor fills with gas check fuel pressure and maybe your injector-but im going with alwayssiedways on this-check the cats

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

If you havent replaced the plugs yet, just go out and get some new NGK's. They're cheap and fairly easy to replace(for me at least). In case you weren't aware, flooding is common among rotaries, especailly older ones with leaking fuel injectors. If you shut the car off shortly after you start it before it warms up, they sometimes flood. Also, the glowing red cats is a bad thing. It indicates a fairly major problem somewhere. It is probably clogged cats. It also be a faulty split air valve, or whatever the valve on the split air tube is called. Since rotaries have such hot exhaust, they had to route fresh air into the cats with the air pump to avoid over heating them. Theres also a possiblity the car is running lean, but I don't think that would heat up the exhaust that much at idle.

Mason Rx7

Well...

Spark plugs are covered in a dark substance that smells like oil and there are carbon deposits on them. I cleaned them up and they look like they should work just fine. I am getting spark at the spark plugs so cables and coils are fine.

I know you all are saying that the cats are clogged but it more sounds like the engine just won't fire like it has an ignition problem.

Well...

I am going to try to disconnect the cats and try again. Anyone else have something to throw in?

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

My plugs looked alright too. I set all four of them on the block, and turned the CAS.. All 4 had decent spark. they still didn't start the car. .

Although I do have to agree with the others that the cat is a likely candidate, I'd still replace the plugs and wires.

Kornate1

I've got the same problem, but mine will eventually crank, but sounds like a dieing lawnmower when its running. Mine sounds like it has the same problem, gonna try out the cat prob tommorow

oh ya btw
87 GXL NA

$100T2

iTrader: (1)

A) Your car is a "her" or a "she". Never a "him".
B) Your exhaust is clogged. Ever see Beverly Hills Cop?

Oh yeah, C) DON'T BOTHER CALLING THE LAST OWNER. Never trust any previous owner to know when/if the plugs etc were changed. Just do it. Four new plugs. Get new wires while you're at it. New air filter. New fuel filter. It will run a LOT better.

Mason Rx7

Well since I'm kinda related to the previous owner I dont think he will lie to me.

I went ahead and replaced the cables and spark plugs and it still doesn't run.

Yeah... While I had the spark plugs out I yanked the injector fuse and cranked it over and got a bunch of junk out of it. I cleaned it up as much as possible then put the new plugs and cables in and guess what!!!

It still didnt run...

I need a jack and jack stand so I get the cats out cuz they are stuck on with junk. I need to get a breaker bar under there so I can get that bolts out.

Anyways... I was went out to the local import mechanic and was asking him about what it could be and he was saying that the apex seals are prolly gone and he would check the compression and other stuff for $70. I think he may just be trying to get money out of me.

Anyone got an opinion on this?

If it does need rebuilt I might just buy a TII and use the NA to tinker on. I will rebuild it sometime if I need to so where can I find the best rebuild kit? I know that MazdaTrix is a good place, any others?\

Thanks

chanmannyhc

I think its your throttle position sensor.

Mason Rx7

I dont think it is that. It cranks fine but doesnt start so im thinking its not the TPS. Might be the crank sensor and so its not firing at the right time but if it was that then it would at least run like crap.

Do 2nd gens even have a TPS? Im thinking its prolly just fun off a cable...

Mason Rx7

Im thinking its just *run* off a cable.

Anyways... Please tell me that my apex seals arent broken! Unless someone tells me other wise I am going to take it in the have a compression test later this week. I'm really scared for my car... *tear

Hollywood56

Check your coils.Your tach not working is indication that the trailing coil may be bad.