driving around town yesterday, my motor basically just cut out and had hardly any throttle response. it idles really low, around 200 and almost stalls out, and i have to rev it up quit a bit before i can slip the clutch to get enough power to the wheels. i dont know hardly anything about rotary motors, so could someone please help?!

 

is it a turbo rx7? basically, you need to check the compression of the engine using a standard compression gauge with the retention spring withdrawn, as well as check for basic vacuum leaks. you can check for vac leaks quickly with blowing some starter fluid around certain parts of the engine bay. if you cant find any vac leaks and the engine compression is good, then i would start to look at the fuel pump, dirty/faulty injectors, fuel filters, clogged cats (if you have a catalytic converter), just basic problems. if its not that, then it could be ignition problems (which i seriously doubt). but, sounds like you blew a vac line.

 

its a non-turbo 87. i checked compression of both chambers about a month ago, and they were both about 120 (which is good), and i replaced the fuel filter about a month ago as well. my motor also has the famous '3800 rpm' hesitation, and i havent been able to figure out why, i dont know if that would tie into this or not...i looked at all the vacuum lines i could see yesterday, and nothing seemed out of place.

 

Start with making sure you have compression, then make sure you're getting enough air and fuel.

 

if the compression is good, and you are n/a (which makes things a hell of alot easier) then you should probably start looking at some sensors (maybe bac, tps, afm) make SURE you have no vacuum leaks. also, the 3800rpm hesistation is closely related to subpar grounding, so you may want to check that out. are there any mods that you have done to the car within the past month that may spark this? how about any oil changes or maintanence at all? some times if you do things like that, you may forget some thing little and it can result in some thing larger. just a thought...

 

what are the 'bac' and 'afm' sensors? my friend thinks it might be the tps...what are the voltage or resistance specs for those sensors, as i could test them w/ my dvom. i did an oil change probably about 600 miles ago, i do one every 3000 miles as your supposed to...also, whats the best way to check for vacuum leaks?