Well I bought a second gen the other day 88 SE for $500. The car didn't run so I had to get it towed home, but the body and interior were in pretty good shape so I decided not to pass it up. Well I went to turn the motor over by hand and I am not hearing any pulses like you do when you have a fresh rebuild. the car has 140k on it. However when i put my hand down by the spark plug hole i can feel three pulses of air on both the front and rear rotor. I have not turned over a good running motor by hand with that many miles so I don't know if this is normal or I should actually be hearing the pulses. When we tried to crank the car it spins over and you can hear the pulses, however we didn't disable the fuel at this point yet and we didn't get the smell of gas like we were expecting. So next I guess I am going to check to see if the motor is actually getting any gas.

So do you guys think the motor sounds normal or is it blown or really really weak.

 

Well, it'd be unusual to lose 2 apex seals on both rotors, so I'm guessing it's either got very little oil for compression (how long has it been sitting?) or there's something else wrong, stick a little oil in the chambers and crank it over a bit, try to build up some oil pressure in it and see if you can get it sounding better.

 

Mine did the same thing. Nothing a tow start couldnt fix!

 

it has been sitting for at least a few months. I will put some oil in it tomorrow and see if that makes a difference.

 

i just did the almost same exact thing
but the car was supposably running ( before crashed) with 84 k miles and does the same exact thing as yours OPEC
id like to know what you do
might be same exact thing
yours might be flooded most likely.......

 

Yeah.. I am thinking it is just hella flooded, well hoping. I will definetly let you know what i find out.

 

yeah i think the exact same thing for mine

 

do as jrat said, push or pull start it, that's the best way to get em started if they're bein picky.

 

the thing is........
the extra car that i bought is an automatic!!!

 

compression check! stop guessing!! it is so EASY!!! takes 15 minues tops!!!!

 

tell me how to do a compression check and i will do itttt

 

my car sat for almost a year, then we atf'd it, then it started, then it ran for months.

 

Did one, but i think the guage is messed up or something. it didn't do anything, the needle just sat there.

 

can you guys tell me how to do the compression test?? and what do i need?

 

You can do a poor mans test, where you just remove the leading spark plug, get someone to turn the car over and listen for 3 even whooshes, then replace, and remove the next rotor's plug. Or you can do it properly, and warm up the engine, take it for a quickie drive (if it's out of the car that's no good obviously, or if it doesn't run that's ok too), stick the compression tester in the leading spark plug spot, get someone to turn the car over and watch the pulses, should pulse to about 105-110psi 3 times