Got a question... Got my 87 Rx-7 FC in '02 in California as a gift from my uncle. Drove it back up to Portland, OR where I live, and it has rarely been driven since, but I do start it up and let the engine run when ever I can. Lots of reasons why I was never able to drive it, but I wont get into that.

Recently I was wanted to get it registered with new tags and all, but when I took it to DEQ, it failed horribly...

Results of DEQ test:

THC 21.57 g/mi Standard is 2.00 g/mi

Nox .28 g/mi (passed) Standard is 3.70 g/mi

CO 232.7 g/mi Standard is 32.0 g/mi

The Carbon Monoxide (CO) was incredibly high, as well as the Hydrocarbons (THC).
Any ideas on why it failed so horribly?? And the test also estimated that the car was getting 8.53 MPG. Why so bad?
I need to take it into the shop to get that fixed, but I want to know whats causing it before the mechanic tells me whats wrong with it, just to make sure I dont get ripped off or anything.


Also I've been having a flooding problem since I've had it. The engine starts fine when it is cold, but once it is warm, I wont start. It'll crank over but wont start. When I first got it in Cali, I took it to PRmotorsports to get it fixed orginally. When they gave it to me, they said it had trouble starting when the engine was warm, and told me I had to Pinch off the Fuel line and then start it.
My uncle said an easier way to start it was to do a "WOT" wide open throttle. This is how he explained it:

"Pop open the hood, and look at the Fuse Box near the battery area. The plastic cover should list what each fuse does. Look for the one that says, "EGI" and pull that one. There should be two fuses labled with "EGI" something. Just to make sure, pull them both out.

Put the gas pedal to the floor (also known as WOT for WIDE OPEN THROTTLE) along with the clutch, and crank the engine over for no more than 10sec.

Put the fuses back in, and then crank the engine over normally."

I have a feeling that the flooding problem is related to the DEQ issues...


One last thing, couple months ago when I was running the engine, the Blow off Valve seemed to not fully release. I remember it used to sound much louder, and now sometimes it doesn't even release, or when it does sounds like it's not releasing completely. Any ideas on what's causing that?

Thanks

David

 

As for the emissions, check to be certain all factory emissions equipment is still on the car, eg catalytic converter(s), and air pump funtioning properly. As far as the flooding and hard hot start conditions, I'd have a compression test done to be certain of the engine condition. If you search, extreme hard starting under hot conditions can, not always, be caused by a weak engine. If engine proves to be decent, you must start with the basic checks, plugs, wires, air filter etc.
This is a start.

 

I'll look into that, thanks