My friend down the street has an 87 Turbo 2 Rx-7. And the engine locked up while the last owner was driving the car, and he has not been able to start it sence.
The last owner of the car never "hot rodded" it around.
It has 177,XXX miles on the od.
The rotors will NOT spin.
I think the car is carbon locked, but i have no idea, i just got my own rx7, and its an 85'. i have noticed that there is a big diffrence between the two. If need be ill take a pic of its engine.
IT also has been sitting for a year. The last time it ran (according to the owner of it) was about two years ago. So it has been sitting for quite a while. But like i said before, it just seized up on the owner while he was driving it. Any ideas on what could be wrong with the car ?

EDIT: When he goes to try and start the car, it just clicks, and nothing happens.

 

check your starter first. Make sure the starter isnt bad, and check the wiring on it and the electrical connections. I know you said "it just seized up on the owner while he was driving it," but since it's so easy to crawl under the car and check the starter out, do it first. Then if that doesn't work, go to this step:

Carbon Lock:

http://www.mazspeed.com/atf.htm

You can also use MMO (Marvel Mystery Oil), or Amsoil power foam. Alot of people are starting to say that the Amsoil power foam is the best, but everyone has their opinion.

 

According the rx7 god aaroncake the atf trick messes up more stuff then it fixes

 

If it has 177,000 miles on the original engine, and locked up, and has been sitting for 2 years, now would probably be a good time to start considering a rebuild. :-)

What happens if you try to turn the engine over manually? Put a socket on the power steering pump nut, and try to turn the engine. It's not likely to turn in the "forward" direction, but will it turn backwards?

-=Russ=-

 

Seriously, dont think youre goign to get the car running fine with 170k on the original engine after sitting for so long......... an NA ? MAYBE.. a T2, most likely not. (I'm speaking in general)

 

Put a 19mm socket on the front main pulley bolt (i think its named the eccentric lock bolt) and try to turn it with a ratchet/breaker bar.

 

Ive tryed this, and the "pully bolt" does not spin...and the past owner said that he just put a new starter on the car.

we are going to try the atf trick tommarow, it wont hurt to try it out..and if thats not the problem, then he will just do a swap.

 

the same thing happend to one of my 7s. It is probaly a apex seal that rolled out with that many miles on a turbo that is the most common thing to happen. you would have better luck tring to get a used engine or even a j-spec would be nice. A rebuild probley will be cost alot cause if it did roll a apex seal the rotor and houseing that it rolled on is probly ruined.

 

but the ATF thing wouldent hurt to try it right ?

 

Yeah, at this point, it won't hurt. Just ATF both and let it soak, then get some force behind that bitch and try to turn the pulley back and forth, kind of rocking it if you can even get it to move a hair, eventually you should be able to get it to go free, if you can't free it up, it's more than likely an apex lodged.

 

ok man, thanks....so the plugs are under his cooler right ? cause i went and looked at the engine...and i could not find them, so the last thing i could think of is that they are under the "inter-cooler."

 

not at all if it works more power to you it would be nice also see if you can get to the flywheel and with a small pribar or a large standard screwdriver try to free it up from ther but be careful not to break the bellhousing

 

The way I look at situations like this:

You have something that's broken enough that the only solution is a pain in the rear (pull it apart & rebuild it).

The easier possible solution, ATF, is known to damage seals that would lead to a rebuild. However, it is also known to free up locked engines.

Therefore, if the ATF works & frees the engine, you're ahead. If it works, frees the engine, and toasts the seals, you're right where you were before. If it doesn't work at all, you're right where you were before.

So, really, there's no downside to it (other than the cost of a bit of ATF & some time).


That said, if it seized up while running, I wouldn't put much hope in ATF freeing things up - or even if it did, there's probably some nasty housing damage. But it's certainly worth a shot.

-=Russ=-

 

The plugs are on the drivers side, down low along the side of the engine. Just follow the plug wires and you'll find them. They're kind of hard to see with the A/C and power stering in place.

 

well he was looking into buying a new engine till i mentioned this, and if the things you said happen, then he will just buy a new engine anyways. plus there is an RX-7 Expert in town. he said that he would come out and take a look at it if the ATF thing didnt work.

 

ouch..
if thats the case, wont rocking it destroy the rotor housings? If its got that many miles on it, id probably just pull the engine apart. Cuz you will have to soon anyway.

 

but again, it would'nt hurt to try and free it up.
wont hurt anything.

 

put the car in 5th gear.

push/pull it backwards.

Use a big truck or something if necessary. it WILL unstick the engine.

 

that doesn't sound like thats too healthy for the car ? but have you tried this Terrh ?

 

Hey crackedoutducky, when a person is in the need for a rebuild (i think that someone is you!) and a person who is pretty damn expirences gives you some suggestions, they'll work.




---LOL yep you're probably right, BUT how will it affect how your car runs now? and if your main concern is getting the engine "unstuck" and not so much as running, then it doesn't really matter. a word of advice to you, get a new engine built by Kevin Landers, he's a good guy who's always helped me in answering my questions and i'm probably going to be sending him 2 motors to do up for me. 87-n/a coupe and a 90-n/a vert. yes being 21 with 2 cars and no money sucks.


but sorry about my little babble, good luck in getting this project rollin dude.

Matt

 

thanks man, ill work on it