help car won't start?
 

I just did some maintenance, new oil, oil filter and new spark plugs.

Car doesn't start now, it ran fine before the change. could it just be my ignitor?

sry dont mean to be mondane, but how is the battery and the leads off the starter

battery seems fine, I mean the alternator will run when i try to start it up, and sorry I have close to no knowledge on cars, im learning as i go. leads off the starter?

quick question though, I have this rx7 book, it was revised by someone by hand, it says have the trailing plugs on top and leading on bottom, is that right?
This is an 86 by the way.

That's correct, trailing plugs on top. The front rotor is #1. The trailing coil is marked; the two connectors are labelled T1 and T2.

The lower plugs are the leading ones, and that coil (up by the battery) is a wasted spark system, so it does not matter which output goes to which plug (#1 or #2).

Does the car crank, but not start? Or does it not crank?

A very common cause of 'cranks but does not start' condition is a problem with the crank angle sensor. Get some contact cleaner from an electronic parts store, pull off the CAS connector, spray cleaner in both connectors, and try it again. While you have the connector off, use an ohmmeter and check the resistance values in the two circuits (each should be about 160 ohms, +/- 50)

Another common 'will not start' condition occurs when the connector is off of the water thermo sensor (WTS). It is on the back side of the thermostat housing, below, behind and to the right of the alternator. If the computer sees an open circuit to that sensor, it thinks the temperature is arctic cold, and richens the mixture so much the car will not start.

Also check the connector to the bypass air control (BAC) valve, on the left side of the plenum. Top of the engine, left side, behind and to the left of the alternator.

If both those connectors are clean and secure, go to pulling trouble codes. You can make a code checker for less than $5 with two Radio Shack 12 volt LEDs, some wire, and three male crimp spade lug connectors. See the writeup on teamfc3s.org to see how to hook it up and interpret the flashes to determine the trouble codes. Check for codes *while you are cranking* it.

Yeah it cranks and doesn't start. I'll check and try everything tomorrow.

A little more info on my problem, it seems like I don't get a spark from my plugs. Because after i tried to start the car and failed, I threw the old plugs back on to see if it'd run anyways, But the tips of the plugs i pulled off had fuel on them so it seems like theres no spark. I'm waiting to get my hands on an ohmmeter to check it. This is why i think its the leading ignitor coil.

Would any of those "will not start" situations happen, even if my car ran perfectly fine before?

Thanks

Umm some more info, I'm not sure if this is the cause of it but, when i was changing my plugs, I placed 2 Trailing on one side and 2 leading on the other and tried to start it and Failed. Could that have messed up the Coils?

When you try to start it does the tach blip at all? If it does the trailing coil is at least providing some spark. Have you tried to deflood the car? If not, just pull the EGI INJ fuse from the engine fuse box and then turn the key to start for about 10 seconds if that and then replace the fuse and try to start it up once more.

Did you mess with your air box or filter? If so make sure that you didn't accidentally unplug the MAF sensor. The plug is on the bottom, and if it's unplugged it will not start.

^yes i did mess with that, what does the plug look like... haha
well, I was going to replace my air filter, but found out i didn't need to so i put it back in. Thats all.

Check to see that the connectors are tight / did not get knocked off of the CAS, the BAC, and the WTS.

I'm sorry, I don't know what that is, sorry my knowledge isn't that great on cars..

yeah the connectors are all intact. Everything worked fine up until i switched out the spark plugs, just for reference is the distributor cap and ignitor coil the same thing?

Tach=the tachometer. Does the needle jump a bit upon trying to start the car.

when you moved your car into the place u were going to work on it did u let the engine warm up? you could have flooded it, my friends 87 Na does that all the time, just from moving it out from the street into his driveway/ garage... pull the egi fuse crank it over for 5 seconds pop it back on and crank it again....

^I didn't, but i've done that a few times with no problem, I've tried that a few times already, my car hasn't flooded since I got it, which has only been like a month or so but still hasn't yet haha.

and the Tach doesn't budge when i crank it.

a friend is coming to check it out tomorrow, if we can't find out whats wrong with it, I'll put up a video of what it sounds like, hopefully you guys can help me out, i want my car running again! haha thanks guys.

Engine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqu_L5rRjh0
Dash:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y3ZGvywot8

So I got 2 views for you guys, I'm not sure if it helps, but maybe if you heard how it sounded you guys can figure something out? And I guess the tach moves a little when attempting to start it.

Get some starter fluid and spray for a few second at most into the intake duct and try to start the car.

Also, what type of plugs did you get? Did they match the previous set. Are the plug wires firmly on the plugs themselves and did you make absolutely certain the plug wires made their way back on to the engine the way they came off?

EDIT: If you try the starter fluid trick you might want to disconnect/disable the fuel pump.

It does not sound like you are getting any spark.

Check for spark by using a timming light hooked up to the wires. Or you can use one of you old plugs and pull one of the wires off the engine and put the plug into the end. Then ground the the body of the sparkplug on a bolt. Have some crank the engine you should see a white to blue spark.

If you don't check the coil with a ohm meter between the primary terminals of the coil.

Theres a lot of information here, and it can be a little overwhelming if you don't know rotaries. I think the only problem you are having is that you got your plug wires mixed up and flooded the engine.

1. Remove all plugs. Clean them with some brake cleaner and a rag.
2. Using a little baby squirt bulb, or a piece of hose, or something, squirt a little oil in the lower plug holes.
2. Reinstall the plugs properly. The plugs marked with a T go in the top plug holes. The plugs marked with an L go in the bottom.


Look at your coil packs. Each spark plug connectors will be marked T1, T2, L1, and L2. L1 goes to L1 on the engine, L2 to L2 and so on.

Remove the EGI fuse located in the fuse box near the drivers side shock tower. Get in the car and crank the car for about 30 seconds. It will not start, so don't get your hopes up yet. What you are doing is working the oil around the engine and rebuilding compression.

Replace the EGI fuse and crank the car over. Do not hold or pump the gas pedal. It should start up. If it doesn't, I don't know what I'm talking about and you can move on to the next suggestion. A massive amount of white smoke is normal, believe it or not.

pull the fuse for the injectors and inspect it.
https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/frequently-asked-questions-2nd-generation-rx-7-faq-fc-494667/

pull the egi fuse, crank a few times

yea didnt see the guy above me post about egi fuse, but alot of info in the faq here

when you say spark plug connectors, you mean the wires right? Because I don't see a label of T1 or T2 and so on, on the wires. Would putting oil in the plug holes make a big difference?

I got NGK plugs, and new spark plug wires too, Unless each wire is supposed to be in exact spots, the wiring should be connected fine.

Um. The wires are not labeled. By connectors, I meant where they plug into on the coils. They are indeed marked. This is a bad pic but its the only one I could find.


You can just barely see it in this pic. I circled them for clarity, Examine yours and I guarantee you will find the markings.

The oil in the holes will mean the difference between no compression and sufficient compression to start the engine. So yes. It will make all the difference.

So... again.

The L1 lead on the above coil would go to the bottom spark plug, closest to the front of the engine.
The L2 lead would go to the bottom plug, closest to the firewall.
The T1 lead would go the the upper plug, closest the the front
T2 lead, upper right, furthest away.

Sounds complicated, but it's not once you do it a couple times and get the terminology down pat.

The plugs on the leading coil can be mixed and still be okay because they fire at the same time anyway. The trailing are different but the trailing coil is not necessary to start the car. With respect to the trailing coil, if your looking at the trailing coil from the drivers side fender then the plug wire on the left goes to the front rotor (closest to the radiator) at the top position and the plug wire on the right goes to the rear rotor (closest to the fire wall) at the top position. And verify the leading coil is receiving battery voltage with the key to on on the Black/Yellow wire which is found in a two wire connector that is White in color. Disconnect plug and use the multimeter to check for voltage, again with the key to on.

whered the black/yellow wire part come from?
and Hazard the plugs are all in the right place and so are the wires... :[

My car didn't start for a little while today. Could it be because it's cold out? It's 55 degrees here. It didn't do this to me before.

most older model cars will hesitate to start at cold temps, make sure to put heat in your gas tank at each fill up