ok, so some guy who's owned this '86 fc for about a year is selling his car super cheap. Extremely low miles, but it won't start. He says it turns but doesn't start. I'm thinking the guy flooded the engine and doesn't know how to start it once that happens. If so, then I'm really stoked, but if not what else should I be looking for?

 

check fer spark. make sure the fuel pump is going? and yeah. unflood it

 

Compression test

 

ok, here are the issues with the car: There is very little compression because there is very very low oil in the car. He said that how the car broke down was he was on the freeway, the rpm started to go up and down and the car died and hasn't started since. He was EXTREMELY unknowledgeable about cars and the fact that RX7's lose oil.

Car has 84k miles on it and he's selling for $500. I'm thinking about putting some oil in it. Any other things I should do to fire it up? I have my worries about the engine being blown.

 

Any ideas what's wrong?

 

if its from oil starvation, then you need another motor. If I was you, I would get another fc for about 1k or a lil more, and youll have a newer car.

 

ok, so I did a few more tests. Spark plugs making sparks. There is compression, but the car seems sluggish. There was low oil, but I don't feel it was enough. I think the fuel injector may be broken which could explain why the car was revving up and down when the car died and why putting in the gas seems to have no effect on how it turns now.

My next step is to get a compression test done and see the numbers. Still hunting for advice though.

Like I said-- it legitamately has 84k miles on it and only $500.

 

oh yeah, and there is a buzzer that will not stop, but no idiot lights are coming on. Coolant level is fine. oil in the car. Anything?

 

sluggish, as in turning over?

 

right. Turns, but feels sluggish when it turns. Won't fire, obviously.

 

It will fire,

* check for spark by putting an inductive timing light on the plug wires one by one
* check the plugs get new ones if the tips are getting rounded
* Remove the EGI fuse and turn it over with the plugs out and pedal depressed
* Put the battery charger on it - your going to need it. A motor making compression is way
harder to turn
* Leave the lower plugs out and inject 1 oz of Marvel Mystery Oil in both the front and rear
lower plug holes, replace plugs and EGI fuse.

turn it over, tell us how it worked

 

Well, thanks, dr, but that didn't quite work out. The mysterious oil remains a mystery. I tried removing the fuse and such, but realized it was useless when I did a compression test and it read out at about 25-30 psi so I chalked it up to a blown engine (had nearly zero oil when I first saw it) and left it.

 

If it really had zero oil, and the engine was stiff to turn, then he may have spun a bearing. This almost coincides with his description of the RPMs going nuts before it happened. Definitely new engine territory, but it may be worth pulling the oil filter, cutting it open and examining for metal shavings.

 

Well, I don't think it had zero. But if you were only reading the dipstick you'd say so. Only the remnants of oil's past.

At this point I have to say the engine is blown. Their is fuel, there is spark, and no compression.