Help, dies on startup
 

Alright this is the deal, it seems in the last 2 weeks i've had a problem where in the morning i'll go to start my car and it will start up normal and then die immediatley. At that point i can not start it back up, it acts as if its flooded. And it is impossible to unflood it unless its pull started. As i type this message i'm supposed to be at work and i'm not b/c i cant get the damn thing to start. Any idea what could be the problem other than leaky injectors. It doesnt seem thats the problem b/c like i had said it does start. This is extrmemly frustrating, so any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I had the same prolbem at one time I beleive. Im not sure and dont quote me on this but I think it was a faulty water temp sensor.

I probably hammer this point to death, but A good place to start is to scan your ecu codes

http://home.rmci.net/panther/86_88ecu.htm

mine usually wants to die right after starting, but i always give it a little blip of gas and she does fine.

Could be a lot of things, but it sounds like a classic RX-7 1-2 knockout.
1) You might have a bad vacuum leak, or faulty TPS, which is causing the engine to die.
2) Since the engine dies immediately after you turn it on, the engine gets flooded because it is cold. You'll need to find out why it's dying (see 1 above), fix that, and that should prevent number 2 from happening.
What you could do in the meantime, is try giving it some gas as soon as you start it up, in the hopes that at least you can warm it up, preventing it from dying. You don't mention what model you have. Have you tried the usual 'unflooding' method - pulling the EGI fuse in the engine bay and cranking? You might want think about installing a fuel cut switch.
As J-Rat said, pull the engine codes, that may give you a clearer picture of the problem.

:)

To clear up a few things, I have an 88 Gxl, Its only flooding b/c it is dying. If that makes sense. Most of the time i can give it gas to get it going and it will run totally normal. But there are a few occasions when it will die no matter what i do. It starts, but dies within a second. I'll check for any vaccum leaks in a second here and it could most definatly be the tps. I have had my doubts about it working correctly for a while. Thanks

Hmm...
 

I have seen that in RX-7's that have bad intake leaks somewhere, I would take 15-20 minutes to inspect the entire intake and ensure all hoses are ok.

I know my car is getting bad too...when the idle drops after warming up, it drops REALLY low to about 400-500 RPM and then back up to 750 RPM, I believe that is caused by a dirty BAC though and am in the process of cleaning it out.

it sounds to me like you have a leak somewhere. my car would die unless it was fullly warmed up... I had popped a vac cap off.

I dont know if its a vacuum leak, b/c it runs normal even when cold, its just a startup issue. It definatly has gotten worse in the cold. The only time it will start and die is when its very cold and it has to have been sitting for a good 5+hours.

the reason I suggested the code checker, is because I had the same problems with my 87. One day it just started dying on start-up. Once it was warmed up and running, everything was alright.

I scanned the codes, and the water thermo-sensor was being flagged. Upon inspection of the sensor, I discovered that the connector had come loose.

my .02

Rat

i'm interested in finding out more about the water thermo sensor. But i cant use the search function. Anyone else have the same issue?

Oh yea, a related question. When i have to crank for a long time it seems that my coolant system pressurizes and will actulally come out of the overflow. Any ideas why this would happen.

That could very well be a related issue. You need to do a check.

Fill up the water in the car, when cold. Leave the cap off and crank the motor. Look for ALOT of water coming out of the filler. If its only a little, you are okay.

Reason why I ask, is if one of your coolant seals is bad, its going to over-pressurize your cooling system AND introduce air into the system. The air will float to the top, and cause your water-thermo sensor not to function correctly.

Have you accidentally overheated your car lately?

*edit* does your low coolant buzzer work? Since another symptom of the coolant seal problem is the low coolant buzzer going off, unless the RPMs are brought up. Dont ask me why...

Here's where this is going to get tricky and a bit confusing. I HAD a bad coolant seal. It is not an issue anymore. I bought the car not running and that turned out to be the initial problem. Its been running over a month and a half with out any coolant seal problems. I did the paul yaw bandaid and have had no problems since then. I have no bubbles in the system and no gushing when it is started with the cap off. The low coolant buzzer does work as well. Its really wierd about the overpressurization of the system only when its "flooded".

ive been having a similar problem for the past two weeks. my car finally stalled on startup this evening, after ive been driving it for awhile. ive heard everything from dirty injectors, faulty tps, or vacuum leak. i have a 1990 gtu with a mazda rebuilt engine with about 15k on it. wish i knew what was wrong....... this water temp sensor has my attention tho.