Erik

ok, most of you know the deal on my T2...i test drove it, and it was perfect. on the long trip home it started sucking. hesitation and bucking right around 2-3K...i finally got it home...thinking either the TPS took a **** on the way home or the TID has a crack in it...or something electrical. it would still idle perfect...but only have intermittent stints of power. i got it home...parked it in my apt complex, shut it off...

next day, starts right up...but has a bouncy idle (1000-1500) before its warmed up, then hold steady once its warmed up...but high at about 1100

week later...have a friend come over to help me test TPS...again, starts right up...bouncy idle before warm up. test the TPS...appears off...order goes in for a new TPS.

week later...go out to make sure the car still starts. crank it, boom...starts right up. it revs to about 3K like usual, idles down to about 1500...bounces to 1000 once or twice...then dies. i was like **** it.

this week...go out to start it. "crank crank crank crank"...it will do that but not turn over. i tried it yesterday giving it some gas...but no luck...same deal...

so, my question is...between the time it started last week, and this monday...could it have lost compression? it hasn't moved from the parking spot...just been started up. on the way home although it was slow, there would be times when it would get past the hesitation and haul.

please someone tell me there is hope

is there anything anyone can tell me about losing compression besides "do the ATF trick"

Thanks!

supergoat

I doubt your compression could just drop like that in a wekk unless somehow your engine ingested some rocks or bolts or something.

tims

it may have a worn or sticking corner seal or even a worn apex seal or two. check the compression with a guage and make sure the ignition system and fuel system are working correctly.

Flamin' NOS

It probably just flooded when you parked it. Do the atf trick tonite,wait 2 days, and it'll go just fine

Erik

yeah, i might have to try that...but for the 2 weeks after i parked it, it would start just fine. so i guess it wasn't flooded then. only this last week it was being retarted...

SpeedRacer

Maybe the seals were bad before you bought it and the sell put a little ATF in it to reseal it and ran the car for a few minutes until it stopped smoking, so when you test drove it, it had compression still. I dunno..just a wild guess...I hope nobody would pull that ****.

relvinnian

ATF would not "reseal it", it would burn out the carbon. If anything just the opposite happened, he started the car, and a chunk of carbon broke loose somewhere and wedged itself between an apex seal or even broke an apex seals. If the previous owner did the ATF trick, there would be a slim to none chance that enough carbon could buildup in that amount of time, unless he's running pig rich, and having oil problems...... hope you get it resolved...

-Brian

Erik

thanks for the replies yeah, the previous owner told me that he had done the ATF trick before. i'm not sure when exactly (or how many times). he owned the car since 1997, and claimed the past two years when it was mostly in storage he used ATF to clean it out...

so are you guys sure that if i use the ATF i won't screw up the turbo at all?

HAILERS

How about.........when the car flooded it has washed all the oil from around the seals, and now the compression is indeed lower. It needs to be unflooded and started. If I owned that car I'd get me about six foot of wire and a switch from Radio Shack, and make me a fuel cutoff switch and place that switch where the driver can have his finger on it while trying to start the flooded car. Turn fuel off, floor the pedal after a shot of starter fluid is shot in the intake snorkel and crank. When the car starts , immediatley flip the fuel to on. I know of the fuse for the ECU and the relay under the dash that can do the same thing but my personal predjudice says make a switch. Find the fuel pump connector under the rug on the back side of the rear strut tower, find the blue wire, cut the wire, splice one wire for one pole on the switch and splice the other wire for the other pole on the switch. None of this explains the funny running car on the way home though. Before you set your tps make sure the fast idle cam is off the roller and the car is fully warmed up. Do you know about the fast idle cam and the thermowax and its relationship to the tps? By the way, that fuel cut sw does not have to look purrty. It can just lay across the rear rug and lead to the driver. Someday soon you will have fixed the funny problem and can do away with the switch or make it look pretty. Right now you need to start the car. Screw purrty.

Scott 89t2

The side seals can stick if they sit for a little while. my friend's turbo sat for a week and had no compression when he tried to start it a week later. Can't rembember how he fixed it. but it runs fine now.

either that or it's flooded.

Six Rotors

iTrader: (17)

I'm not trying to rain on the parade,but you can lose compression in a nano-second,on the very last revolution a rotor turned.But right now you appear to be working without a systematic approach.This is an internal combustion engine--it needs air,fuel,compression a spark in the right place etc.Start checking what could be preventing it from starting one thing at a time.Pullimg the trailing plugs will tell you alot of what you need to know and you can do a crude compression test at the same time.

Suparslinc

alright, these posts are getting out of hand.
but the last one was right.
you need fuel , compression, and spark to start the motor.
first, hav eyou covered the basics?

fuel, oil, air filters?

oil change, coolant change, new spark plugs and wires?

This is crazy but does it have a turbo timer? Maybe the timer is F'ed up.

get a jumper cable so you have some juice, some good fuel (so drain the old fuel out and put fresh stuff in) and crank it over with the plugs removed to de-flood the engine.

Put the fresh plugs in, double check everything not overlooking the obvious, and crank it.

be patient. it will take some finessing off the throttle to coax it into starting. if the plugs foul, remove them and dry them out with a lighter, then unflood the car again (remove the EGI fuse).

Your car is most likely flooded.
If you think a seal is bad, do this test:
remove spark plugs.
use a small mirror to peer into the combustion chamber, and a flashlight to light your way.
turn the engine over by hand with a pulley.
you should see 3 shiney apex seals in each chamber. if not, your fucked.

crank the engine wiht the plugs out and listen for a whoosh-whoosh-whoosh sound. It should come on fast. .IF you hear a dead spot or no whooshes from a chamber, your fucked.

but I think it sjust flooded. I doubt you have a blown seal, although AE Turbo had a similar problem a few weeks back.

Joe

Erik

thanks again guys...i really appreciate the input. i've been meaning to test a lot of the **** everyone mentioned, but classes have been outta hand lately. and by the time i get home, its dark...

here is another possibility...the other day i called up Ito and JR rotary and explained the situation. not about the start problem...but my bucking and hesitation before. he suggested that the oil metering pump had gone bad and would cause a similar scenario.........................an hour ago i was looking thru the shop manual and it ALSO said that if the oil metering pump is bad it CAN cause starting problems. could that be?

mazdaspeed7

When the OPMP goes bad on an 89-91 engien with the electric OMP, it sends codes constantly to the ECU. You WILL find codes if the OMP has the most minor problem. If it sends the comp a single wrong signal, you will get a check engine light and a code stored in the ECU.

ZachSpazz

What if the OMP went bad, but the ECU didn't know it as it thought the OMP was still running correctly?

The Haynes manual has a test for the OMP. You could also run some nice 2-Cycle oil in the fuel.

mazdaspeed7

It doesnt happen that way. The ECU constantly sends test signals to the OMP, and if even one of the signals doesnt come back correctly, a code is stored in the ECU and the car goes into "limp-home" mode. I have had 2 electric OMP's fail on me, and it was the same both times. As soon as it fails, the ECU goes into limp-home mode with the check engine light on.

Greys 10th

erik:

anything is possible it very well could have lost compression BUT,

I think when you said u went out there that day and started it and it did its normal thing and it ended up shutting off; and you said **** it..that is when it flooded.

Do you know how to unflood it? It is very easy to unflood(well depending on how bad it is flooded). If you dont know reply back here or post a new topic...i dont want to go through all the explanation if you already know how to unflood it or have gotten the problem fixxed.

I could be wrong but I am certain it is just flooded because what you did that day, if I understand you right, will make them flood in a heart beat.
later

peejay

you mean you shut it off before it was warmed up?

geez no wonder it's flooded.

Erik

well, if you read the top you'd know that it shut off by itself before being warmed up