nathandarby67

I have been having a starting problem with my 87 TII. If you drive it around enough to get it up to normal operating temperature, and then turn it off, it won't crank until the engine has had time to cool for an hour or so, but then it will start up fine. This is not the common flooding problem that happens with turning off a cold engine, as I don't have to unflood the engine to restart it, I just have to let it cool. This is really annoying as it makes the car pretty much usless for trips around town to the bank or to Wal-Mart oe whatever, and it makes getting gas a hassle too. Any help is appreciated!

Cap'nWankel

Could be poor compression. From what i've read and experienced, when the compression starts to drop (w/ rotarys) the warm startability decreases. Give the motor a compression test and see what you find.

ZachSpazz

Mine does it and I've heard that it's leaky injectors (it started happening right when I ran a bunch of 2-Cycle oil in the gas, which I think gunked my injectors up a bit ...). I'm first going to do the ATF trick and get a compression test done. Then if compression is good then I'm going to get my injectors cleaned and blueprinted. If my engine is bad...looks like I'll be doing a rebuild.

At least J-Specs are $900..but let's cross our fingers.

nathandarby67

Is there a way to verify if the problem is leaky injectors or a test to do to rule that in or out as a problem? If the injectors are the problem, what do I need to do to fix them? Just clean them or would I need all new injectors? Thanks again!

StarionX

Don't bother checking the fuel injectors. They are 99% not the problem. I installed NEW injectors, and it did not solve the problem. You will have to install a fuel cut switch. Here's the link for what you need to do.
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...ht=fuel+switch

This should fix your problem, it fixed mine.

nathandarby67

Can you explain exactly how to wire in the switch? I am going to try this cheap, simple fix first before I go looking for bigger dragons to slay!

StarionX

Sure. Let me just say that I have very little mechanical or electronical knowhow... so if I could do it, anyone can!

Basically, when you look under the steering column, you will find the yellow connector. You will find the middle wire on one side of the connecter is black with white striping. Cut this wire (make sure that you have at least an inch of free wire on either side of the 'cut' to work with). Now you can either do the quick and nasty wiring, or use connectors. The quick way is to now connect some wire (light duty electrical wire is fine), to the freshly cut wire ends. On the other end of the wire you've just added, attach a switch. You can get these from Radio shack. There's many types you can get, but the easiest ones to work with, will only have 2 connectors coming out of the back of the switch. Once you've connected the wire to the connectors of the switch, you're ready to go.
Now, when the car engine is warm, make sure the 'switch' is set to OFF. Then turn the ignition. You will find that the car will startup (it might take a few seconds). When it starts, turn the 'switch' to ON (if you don't, the engine will die because it's not getting any fuel). That's it!
Oh, by the way. If one day this doesn't work, what you will need to do is turn the 'switch' ON, then turn the ignition. It should start up fine (this is because the engine has probably cooled down enough, and needs the extra fuel on startup).

Hmmm, I didn't mean to turn this into an epic... hehehe. I guess a picture would have explained it so much better. One day I'll get a digital camera.

nathandarby67

Thanks a lot....I don't have a problem doing the work on the car I just didn't know which wire to splice into. Where did you mount your switch at? And this will turn the power to the fuel pump on and off, correct?Thanks again and hopefully this will work for me!

StarionX

I'm not 100% sure if it's the power wire for the fuel pump, but it does turn on/off the fuel flow.
Best place to mount it would probably be somewhere where you wouldn't accidently hit the switch and turn it off. Also, somewhere on the left side of the steering column, or maybe under the steering column. This way you can turn on the ignition with your right hand, and then quickly turn on the switch with your left.
Depending on how creative you are (at hiding things), this switch will double as a theft deterrent.

ghebert

Nathan, how old is your car and how many miles on the engine? How long has this been happening? The reason it will start when it cools down is the oil settles to the bottom of the rotors and the more oil you have the better seal/compression you have for ignition. The problem is when you keep trying to turn it over your actually adding more fuel to the housing which thins out your oil which you need for compression. Usually this is an indication of engine wear and is very typical in new engines which require a break in period before they seal correctly. If you have carbon build up this will also decrease your compression. One way to reastablish some lost compression is the Automatic Transmission Fluid trick it will clean some of your carbon out improving compression. What the switch does for you is turn your engine over which runs your oil metering pump which adds oil to your rotors without fuel to thin out the oil giving you more compression. All from the comfort of your driving seat. If you need more info let me know. Gary

nathandarby67

Well, the engine has about 120000 miles on it so I am sure it has low compression. I am going to pretty much restore the whole car over the next year or two, and make some nice upgrades in the process. So I should have a pretty nice RX7 in a couple of years. I am in med school right now so I am not exactly flush with cash and most of my free time went bye-bye long ago, so it will take me a while to do it, but I am going to do it and do it right. I have to tackle the most pressing problems first, for exaple the first thing up is the brake master cylinder and calipers since my brakes are about non existant. ( I love it when you stomp the brakes and the pedal just crashes to the floor! ) Then the suspension is next as the shocks are totally shot. then I will rebuild my engine, but it does run for the time being so at least its driveable while I work on the other things, wheras if I spent all my money right now on a new engine I would just have a great engine in a car I can't drive becasue it doesnt have brakes! Anyway, thanks for all the help and keep the ideas coming!

nathandarby67

Oh yeah I forgot to ask...what exactly is the ATF trick? And how much improvement can I expect?

StarionX

Do a search for ATF. It's basically pouring Auto Transmission Fluid into the engine through one of the spark plug holes.