88RX7Rag

I have a 1988 RX-7 Conv. 180K on it. It's a manual transmission. I just recently got this car and know next to nothing about this style of engine.

Anyhow, here's what the car has been doing leading to my current problem.

Sometimes when i'd get in the car and try to start it the car would act like it was 100% dead, nothing at all would happen. If i constantly played with the clutch it would eventually turn over and everything would be fine.

Every once in awhile the buzzer goes off saying i have a coolant problem, but the coolant level is fine as well as the temp. and after a few minutes of running the light and alarm would go away.

Drove the car on Friday, moved it across the street on Saturday and this morning it will crank, but not start.

The car has got fuel in it, and i can smell fuel while i try and start it (also had a friend feel the fuel hose while i tried a start).

Is this some sort of an electrical problem from my other symptoms that has now got worse or is this something different?

I noticed today that with the key in the ignition all the alarm light remain on and i get the buzzer sound from the coolant problem, but i can't be sure what exactly the buzzer is from now because all the alarm lights remain lit.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. I have a repair manual for this car i'm just not sure where to start.

wpgrexx

the coolant buzzer and your not starting are most likely 2 different things.

1st, your car is flooded, do a search to find out how to unflood.

2nd. cheeck the coolant level and top up as neccesary, also get it pressure tested for leaks.

cwsttu

ok man i dont know much about the starting problem but the coolant problem is more than likely because you were on an incline of some sort and the fluid was swhishing around in the overflow tank reading a false signal saying it was out...

and what wpgrexx said your car is flooded... its important to remember with these cars you have to let them warm up to operating temperatures before killing them because the ecu's have a fault in them and if you kill them cold the fuel injectors stay open for an additional 5 seconds... and thats a lot of fuel.. good luck man...

here is a link for the unflood procedure

http://www.rx7.com/tech/unflood-fc.html

REMEMBER TO USE OIL INSTEAD OF TRANNY FLUID the tranny fluid will work but will eat your seals away there is a whole thread on it somewhere here

cwsttu

ok man also be a bit more specific when your talking about starting... you say its like its 100% dead right... do you mean no lights or nothing come on as in its like your battery is disconnected or the car just will not start to crank? if the lights and stuff come on (power to the car itself just not the motor turning) if thats the reason it might be the clutch switch under the dashboard, somehow it might have a bad connection on it and is not telling the car the clutch is engaged and it needs to start. hold that switch down manually (MAKE SURE THE CAR IS IN NEUTRAL) and try to crank it and see if thats what it is, if it cranks fine make sure the clutch is hitting it when you engage it... good luck again

Dom_C

Yea your just flooded. second gen rx7 have a nasty flooding problem. If just run the car to move it like you said and it does not get a chance to warm up it will probably flood. when flooded it will just crank endlessly and wont catch. and they don't unflood them selves for m sitting. You have to unflood it your self and then it should start right up.

88turbotime

I have an 88 turbo II that does the same thing. I dont have the buzzer problem, but if i move the car, like to wash it, then cut it off, it wont start. It almost always works to press in the gas all the way and then start it with the gas still all the way down. It doesnt work if you crank it and then press the gas, you must press the gas and start it in that order. I hope that helps, and in the future let it warm up before you shut it off.

88RX7Rag

Thanks alot guys, here's an update:

Yeah it's flooded for sure. I pulled the plugs and i noticed the top 2 were extremely wet, the bottom 2 had minor fuel on them.

I'm going to check out the unflooding procedure right now. I did my best to unflood it without a proper procedure, at one point i actually got it running for about 5 minutes. TONS of white smoke coming out of the rear.....

My buddy who assisted me accidently pulled up on the throttle linkage instead of down and accidently killed it while it was running (UGG). It wasn't enough time running to clear the problem though so tomorrow i will follow the procdures posted to properly unflood it.

The coolant problem was a goof on my part. I thought the level was full from my visual inspection, but it turns out it was just low and needed some more added. (Buzzer sound is now gone).

The 100% dead thing i will try and explain in more detail.
When i say "dead" i mean anything involving the engine turning over. I still have lighting and everything else. It sounds like the clutch switch that was mentioned, i will look into that further once i get the car up and running again.

My wife was the one who moved my car on Saturday across the street. I talked to her when she got home tonight and sure enough she didn't let the car warm up she simply started it, moved it and shut it off. She now understands what to do and not to do. I myself know to warm up ANY car before driving it, i did not however know what this would happen with the RX-7 if it wasn't properly warmed up. (I learn something new everyday!)

Thanks everyone for the replies.

88RX7Rag

Problem fixed!

After reading the proper procedure, i noticed i actually did everything correctly to unflood it except i wasn't putting the gas pedal to the floor while cranking it with the fuse pulled.

I just walked outside and did it the correct way and it started right up.

Thanks everyone.

joeyz87

A thanks for posting the link cwsttu. After repeating the unflood procedure about 6 times, it fianally started.