Ok I have the chance to buy a 89 Na that seems to be in pretty decent shape, for $700 Only problem is the owner says that if you drive it easy itll run fine all day long but if you nail it, it dies. Any ideas? I didnt get to see it run but Monday i'll be going back to run it a nd drive it, and possibly buy it. He seems to think its got a short somewhere that kills it when u try and accelerate hard? Is ths just fuel starving from a clogged filter or lazy pump? Or have you guys heard of a wiring problem causing this? Any input you can give me would be much appreciated.

 

No inputs or even an idea on where to look? I'm hoping its just a fuel problem but inpput from the guys who know rotarys would be great.

 

could be electrical? alternator? i dont think a fuel pump would cause it to die completely, maybe hesitate... same with the clogged fuel filter.

 

Sounds quite a bit like a fuel delivery problem, more so than a sensor problem. I'd start with fuel pressure and volume tests, if a weakness is found, perform voltage and ground checks at the pump, followed by fuel filter replacement, then a pump screen (sock) check, then suspect the pump if there still isn't enough pressure/ volume.

 

does it die when you free rev the car? If it does you can purge intake cleaner or propan in the intake to see if the engine stay running and if it would rev higher assuming that it dies free reving. If condition improves try looking in the mechanical side of your fuel system first. (pump pressure and flow)

 

I don't know if it will die if i run it up free rev havnt got to see that yet. I'll be going out tommorow to do some more in depth incestigation, he was swamped and didnt have the time to go grab a jump starter yesterday. If it revs high out of gear what could i possibly be looking at? Seems still might be chance of fuel starvation since you'd need more fuel under load. But I'm assuming shed still stumble a bit free revving right? I cant think of any sensor thatd only kill it when u jump on her except a tps or possibly MAP/MAF sensor.....any other ideas?

 

i assume it only does it when under load. some of these systems dont even activate until the car is moving or at certain speeds. similar to the 3800 RPM hesitation i guess.

 

Update: went out and fiddled with it she started right up and ran some what decent considering the age of the gas but when i ran it up, as soon as she hit 5k (parked in neutral) bam just completely died and absolutely refuses to start back up. Its not fuel cuz i popped the line of and shes got plenty of fuel flow, but she ain't getting any spark...a friend said it might be control module? What your input on this. The owner is fed up with the car and about to the point to just throw it out in the junk yard. Any advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

 

only similar case i ran into was where the owner had installed a cone filter and laid it on the main relay by the RF headlight, the mesh on the filter dug into the wiring harness and it would short out intermittently and the engine would stall but start back up most of the time, unless it blew the EGI fuse which also randomly happened.

 

My thoughts was the intake, is the air filter clogged? Thats what I would think it would be...... Not getting enough air to the engine......

 

The realy wiring sounds plausible but why would it do it on 5k everytim on the dot? I dont think it the air filter cause with hose unhooked shed start up but wouldnt run for more than a few seconds cause no MAF reading but she ran fine with hose attached. Just after hitting 5k shed died and wouldnt start no matter what. I even tried taking neg batery lead off to wipe computer memory but still no start. Its seems like somthing computer related to me since it dies at exactly 5k, anyhting under and shes driveable..........I dont know, id really like it to work out and i be able to get it but if i cant figure out the odds on it being fixed reasonably cheap then im gonna have to pass on her. Keep throwin ideas though anything you can give me to check out will be a big help.