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help with my 88 gxl

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Old 09-11-08, 03:19 AM
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Unhappy help with my 88 gxl

so i just bought this 88 gxl has no emmisions..
i got it of some dude in l.a today he hade it up on craigslist it was on for 1500
i got him down to 1200..he said the car runs perfect no problems...he said it did smoked a lil at start up and it did but i thought it was bcuz it has no cats and strait pipe (back fire flame) with rb headers..well i drove it home and notice it started to heat up, he said it was normal and said it wont go past half...by the time i got home i found out the radiator is no good. but its ok cuz i have an extra one from my old vert but then i tryed to start it up and nothing and now it will start if u jump it by popping the clucth. then after that it will start but if it sits for more then 30 mins again it wont start.. enyone know whats going on?
(excuse my spelling)
Old 09-11-08, 03:36 AM
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just wondering, does it have good compression.?
Old 09-11-08, 10:43 AM
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i would think its flooding (injectors are leaking) when it wont start can you smell fuel?
Old 09-11-08, 11:10 AM
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yeah check compression, if that checks out then just put a fuel pump switch on till you clean your injectors..so that will keep the flooding down till you get them back
Old 09-11-08, 01:22 PM
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Sounds like classic flooding to me, mine did exacty the same thing before i had my injectors cleaned.
Old 09-12-08, 03:21 AM
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yea it has compression
and yes it does smell like fuel when it dont start
so its my injectors?
how do i get them clean?
Old 09-12-08, 03:49 AM
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Pull the intake and remove them. Box em' up and send em to a place that does it. I've personally used these guys. They run a special for RX7Club members ($12.50 per injector). Heres the thread about it.
Old 09-12-08, 02:19 PM
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thanx will do that....
well i have another porblem now..lol
this **** heats up i replaced the radiator of my vert..i checked the thermo and its good..and as far as i can c there are no leaks..
the only thing is that im running strait water.. u guyz know what it can be?
Old 09-12-08, 03:16 PM
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try flushing the radiator. It can work wonders.

If that doesn't do anything then you might need a new thermostat or water pump.
Old 09-12-08, 03:22 PM
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sounds like it might be time for a rebuild.
Old 09-12-08, 03:35 PM
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yea i aredy check the themostat and its good..
and how do u know if the water pump is bad?
it does not leak...
and i dont think it needs a rebuilt cuz it has good compression
93 n 90
Old 09-12-08, 03:38 PM
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93\90psi compression isn't good but 'okay'. If you don't push the engine too much (either by racing it 24\7 or not maintaining it) it will last a while yet.

Do you know how to de-flood the car for a temp fix? (Pull the EGI fuse in the engine bay, crank and deflood engine, re-insert fuse and hopefully it will start now).
Old 09-12-08, 04:12 PM
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yea im not really trying to race it just trying to drive it dayli...
yea i tryed the deflodding fuse thing...
i even unpluged the fuel pump and sometimes that works...
i just bought da fuel filter and plugs havent installed filter yet...c if that helps..
and it does smoke at start up but i thought it was becuz it has strait pipe with no cats..
Old 09-12-08, 05:20 PM
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i think that smokeing is normal at startup but if it smokes white alot then yell UH OH!
Old 09-12-08, 07:05 PM
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yea i thoight the smoking was normal too..
but i just saw that there is some white **** in my oil cap some i guezzing there is
water in there so it might be a water seal? is that y it can be over heating???
Old 09-13-08, 01:36 PM
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Originally Posted by Syncro
93\90psi compression isn't good but 'okay'. If you don't push the engine too much (either by racing it 24\7 or not maintaining it) it will last a while yet.

Do you know how to de-flood the car for a temp fix? (Pull the EGI fuse in the engine bay, crank and deflood engine, re-insert fuse and hopefully it will start now).
That's good compression, what are you smoking?
Old 09-13-08, 01:40 PM
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Originally Posted by 89rx7vert
yea i thoight the smoking was normal too..
but i just saw that there is some white **** in my oil cap some i guezzing there is
water in there so it might be a water seal? is that y it can be over heating???
It is normal for some mayo to latch itself onto the filler cap. Moisture.

A little smoke on startup is normal for higher mileage rotaries. Personally, I've got 190,000 on one of mine and it doesn't puff smoke on startup unless it's been sitting for 2+ days. What does this smoke look like/smell like? If it's sweet like toasted almonds and white then it's coolant. If it's heavy and darker and smells like bittersweet chocolate then it's oil.

Do a google search for AaronCake and make your way to his site. There's a fantastic amount of information for you there. Also, Kevin Landers has an equally awesome site. RotaryResurrection.com.
Old 09-13-08, 03:22 PM
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yea i thought 93/90 was good compression too..lol
and actualy i started the car up just rite now and no smoke
but it was white when it was smoking yeaterday but i think it was smoking bcuz the guy i got it from hade it sitting like u said Acesanugal...but i did notice inside my oil cap it is white like oil n water maybe?
ewll anywayz thats not the poblem too much no more the problem is that it overheats i change ,radiator,pulled up the t-stat ,checked for leaks,and still overheats =[ but what i do want to know is can the water pump go bad even if its not leaking?
Old 09-13-08, 04:12 PM
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Originally Posted by 89rx7vert
yea i thought 93/90 was good compression too..lol
and actualy i started the car up just rite now and no smoke
but it was white when it was smoking yeaterday but i think it was smoking bcuz the guy i got it from hade it sitting like u said Acesanugal...but i did notice inside my oil cap it is white like oil n water maybe?
ewll anywayz thats not the poblem too much no more the problem is that it overheats i change ,radiator,pulled up the t-stat ,checked for leaks,and still overheats =[ but what i do want to know is can the water pump go bad even if its not leaking?
I once bought an RX-7 that had been sitting for about four months. Upon the first start up in months, it puked oil smoke for about ten minutes. Over the next few days (yes, it persisted) I'd get oil smoke on startup for just a second. But gradually it was less and less until it went away. When the car sits, oil pools and seeps in places and can take a little while to burn off.

I recently just got some cooling issues knocked down on my new car.

Do you have the plastic under tray underneath the motor?
Do you have the plastic fan shroud?
Is your clutch fan worn out? (To test, spin the fan with the motor DEAD COLD. With a good spin, it shouldn't spin more than one and a half times)
Is the T-stat a Mazda unit or comparable with the bypass valve? The bypass valve is a little hole drilled into the mushroom.
Have you flushed the system?
If not, I'd suggest going and picking up a $4 bottle of Prestone Super Flush. Follow the instructions. You must drain the system (By draining the radiator and the block. The block drain is a 14mm bolt on the driver's side motor mount. You will see it.) After it's drained, rinse the system with your hose for a minute or so. Replace both drain plugs, fill the system with water and add the Prestone goods. Run the car with the heater on max. for about 15 minutes. Drain, refill with ONLY WATER, run it again for 15 minutes...drain...refill. Done.

DO NOT forget to bleed the cooling system when you fill it for the last time. You can do this by leaving the cap off of the filler neck (waterpump) and idling the car for several minutes and squeezing random coolant hoses. Once the bubbles have gone, you may put the cap back on. However...if you're getting tiny bubbles or fizz coming up thru the coolant neck then your system is getting pressurized...possibly due to a bad coolant seal inside the motor.
Do not freak out about the white mayo. on the underside of the oil cap. Moisture happens!
Old 09-13-08, 04:50 PM
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blown coolant seals if u got white crap on your oil cap usually
Old 09-13-08, 05:15 PM
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Originally Posted by JunpoweR
blown coolant seals if u got white crap on your oil cap usually
Not always true.
Old 09-13-08, 06:49 PM
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thanx Acesanugal ill try that but i was just about to give in and get a rebuilt...
cuz i did do a halfass flush this morning just stuck the water hose down the radiator filler and pulled of the t-stat neck and let it all drain out from there then did the same but removed the lower radiator hose..and remove the t-stat completely and sat there and sqeezed the hoses trying to get some bubbles out and i let it run for a while and took a liltle longer bfor it started to overheat but it still did. and the reason i was going to give in and try to get the rebuilt is bcuz there is massive pressure in the coolant system can berly sqeeze the hoses..

1.yes i do have the plastic under my motor
2.i have a e fan and it looks to be good its just direct to the igniton

so rebuilt?
Old 09-13-08, 07:58 PM
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Originally Posted by 89rx7vert
thanx Acesanugal ill try that but i was just about to give in and get a rebuilt...
cuz i did do a halfass flush this morning just stuck the water hose down the radiator filler and pulled of the t-stat neck and let it all drain out from there then did the same but removed the lower radiator hose..and remove the t-stat completely and sat there and sqeezed the hoses trying to get some bubbles out and i let it run for a while and took a liltle longer bfor it started to overheat but it still did. and the reason i was going to give in and try to get the rebuilt is bcuz there is massive pressure in the coolant system can berly sqeeze the hoses..

1.yes i do have the plastic under my motor
2.i have a e fan and it looks to be good its just direct to the igniton

so rebuilt?
How good is the shroud on that fan? I'm serious, go get some Prestone Super Flush. Are you POSITIVE you've got the correct thermostat? Stiff hoses don't mean anything...I've got stiff hoses on my 88 but my 87.5 are a different brand and are slightly softer.

My car came with an efan, too. Wired the same as yours. It was a major problem of why my car was nearly overheating. Ditch it. Go get yourself a good ten-blade (S5) clutch fan and the factory fan shroud. Just trust me on this.

Do the flush with the prestone stuff. It'll REALLY clean EVERYTHING out and make sure that at the very least some of the blockages are lessened in their severity.
Old 09-13-08, 09:57 PM
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orite Acesanugal imma trust u on this one imma do that tomorrow morning
cuz i really dont wanna rebuilt dont got the money for it...
whats ( shroud )
yea well ill try that tomorrow i aredy have the s5 fan from my old vert imma put that one i was gonna do it but i dint think it would do no good..
but ill do that ill get back to to you..
Old 09-13-08, 10:08 PM
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what did he just say???


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