Fitness Stain

just got my car back from kevin landers on thursday who did an outstanding job rebuilding my engine .. he rebuilt the motor, did a street port, installed my walbro,rewired it, and also installed my safc for me ..

when i went to go pick it up i couldnt believe it ... it started great, sounded SOOO much better, and had a rock solid idle ... i got my money's worth for sure

drive it back, no problems ... the flooding was easily taken care of by the fuel cut switch he installed for me free of charge... never overheated, hesitated or even made me think twice about the condition of the engine....

install my stereo on friday, and it works, ALL IS GOOD!!!

i thought .. finally my car is a reliable car, something ive never had before with my rx-7 ...

sunday comes, and i deciede to wash the bastard... mind you this is 4 days of the car running great........it wont stay started ... rebuild has about 400-450 miles on it tops ...
heres the symptoms

1 - it starts everytime, but just dies if i dont give it gas ...
2- if i keep my foot on the gas it will stay started, and it sounds great ... its not misfiring, backfiring or shaking or anything .. i even let it warm up by keep my foot on the gas at around 2000 rpm ... still wont hold an idle ..
3- tach dies everynow and then
4- little bit of white smoke out the pipes (smells like gas), but not much at all
5- my battery is now dead after 2 days of repeated attempts to start it (it was weak already kevin says)
6-seems that releasing the clutch kills it quicker than letting it die on its own
changed the plugs to some less fouled ones ... no change
tonight i check the afm connection, and its on tight .. i check to see if its in spec per the FSM ... it seems fine .. i change it out with another one ... no change..

if its a vac leak, it would have to be something major to keep it from holding and idle at all, and i havent been boosting enough to blow anything off .. its a fresh rebuild so im babying it, and havent hit more than a pound or two of boost, and only then by accident....
and if it is a vac leak, then it had to have happend AFTER i turned the car off saturday night, as it ran PERFECT the whole night .. no change in idle, nothing ...

while trying to get it started sunday i did notice the tach was dying on me a little...
sometimes while keeping it alive with the gas pedal the tach would stop responding, and fall to 0 ... but the car would stay alive ... if i let it die, and then restarted the tach would be normal

kevin had to adjust the low throttle settings a wee bit to get rid of the richness of the walbro, but he ONLY messed with it on idle, and didnt touch anything else

what all could cause it to just do that?
could the battery being weak cause it (doesnt seem likely)
could ANYTHING on the safc keep it from staying alive .. i have the walbro, so what should i look for on the low throttle setting to make sure its not getting too much fuel (which of course shouldnt even matter, as it hasnt changed since kevin initially touched it)

PLEASE HELP .. ANY suggestions are GREATLY appreciated

i basically need a list of things to check that would cause the car to start up, sound great, but then die if gas isnt applied

ill buy a KEG of beer for WHOEVER can give me the basis for fixing my car!!

DerangedHermit

Give Kevin a call. As far as I know he gives support for all his engines.

WAYNE88N/A

The tach dying is a major clue...Troubleshoot your trailing ignition system (read out the coils, check the timing signals & CAS inputs at the ECU, etc...)

RETed

...or intake leak.


-Ted

BlaCkPlaGUE

Check your TPS settings. Also, check the throttle plate adjustment on the TB, if they're shut completley, it could explain this.. The adjustment for the primary plate I believe is on the throttle cable side of the TB.. can't remember.

Finally, if those things check out, and you have a mm or so of clearence between the primary plates and the TB wall (Im assuming you've done the TB mod) at 0% throttle, maybe its your afm.

I remembered when I unhooked my AFM when the engine was running it stalled immediatly, although I didn't check, and correct me if im wrong, the car might have kept on running if I gave it throttle. Again, maybe your AFM?

post back and tell us whats up.

Parastie

You could try resetting your SAFC. It intercepts the AFM signal before the ECU. If something is wrong with it, or a wire shorted, your car will not run.

RRTEC

iTrader: (13)

Maybe we need to relocate the "nashville get together" to your place this saturday.. I figure with about 8 heads and a whole brain between us all we might get her going again...lol..Unless there's beer ...

It sounds a heck of a lot like an ignition problem on the trailing side.. Or as stated earlyer the afm crapping out.. Try spraying some contact cleaner in the connector and see if it gets any better...

good luck

Fitness Stain

yeah i HIGHLY doubt its an intake leak

the afm checked out per the FSM

the throttle plates seem highly unlikely to be suspect, as its been babyed, and saturday night right before i parked her, she was running fine

maybe the safc??
what kinda settings should i have for my low throttle map considering i have a rewired walbro fuel pump

RETed

If there isn't any ignition problems, this tells me it's an intake leak...


-Ted

jon88se

Sounds right to me...check the TID for cracks and/or make sure it's clamped tightly together. Mine had a nice big crack, the car wouldn't idle cold because the ECU was just dumping fuel...

Fitness Stain

it doesn appear to be an intake leak, but i checked the TID, and it was tight as hell .. i mean landers put all this back together, and it was rock solid ... and it was responding PERFECT saturday night ...

so between the time i turned the car off saturday night, till i tried to start it sunday morning ... something went wrong ... it seems as though if it was an intake leak it would have happend while i was driving, and not while the car was sitting still ... like i said, i pulled into my driveway and let it idle a tad bit before using the fuel cut switch to kill it, and the whole time it was perfect ...

if its an intake leak it would have had to come loose after i turned the car off which just seems wierd ... and correct me if im wrong, it would have to be mighty big to keep it from idleing at all? so it would have to be either the TID, the intercooler couplings or maybe the brake booster line correct??

what does the dying tach prelude to?? dying trailing coil? and if it is dying wouldnt the motor sound wierd as it only sparking one rotor??

i just need to keep eliminating things ..
and does anyone have any low throttle maps for comparisoin?

Parastie

I vote you go over the SAFC and check wires.

Fitness Stain

couldnt i just unplug it?

Fitness Stain

bump ... god i want my car back

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

If the trailing coil is dying then you would be running on both rotors since your leading ones are still working, you just wouldnt be burning the fuel completely.

Fitness Stain

damn your right ... so it very could possibly be my trailing coil going dead??
im gonna make a engine checker thing from one of the links i found after searching ...
im gonna test my trailing coil, and use the checker thing ..
also going to double check my low throttle settings on the safc

is there anything else you guys think i should check ..?
keep in mind ive already tested the afm per the FSM and its in spec ...
and i checked all the major hoses/couplings that could cause an intake leak big enough to keep it from ideling, and they were all tight ...

one last thing ... could the battery being weak keep it from staying alive .. this seems very unlikely to me, but i read a thread that says if the starter isnt getting enough juice it may still start , but the ECU would see it as being off, and cut fuel ?? has anyone else ever heard of that?

Fitness Stain

wouldnt the engine sound different though?

and wouldnt it run like poo?

cause the car still sounds great when you start it , and if i keep it alive with my foot, it will sound just like it did when i picked it up ... which sounded GOOD

Parastie

Pull the wires off the trailing plugs and start the car. See if it's any different.

RRTEC

iTrader: (13)

I have a code reader....If you want it.

Fitness Stain

i might ... im going to radio shack tonight after work to build one of the simple led ones .. if that doesnt work im gonna hit you up ..


lol ..
maybe i should host the rx7 get together at my house .. lol .. we can play .. fix dustins car and win a keg of beer

rxseven07

ill put money that its ur ignitor, i have a first gen gsl-se so i dont know if 2nd gens have ignitors?? but when i pressure washed my engine bay water got inside my leading ignitor and i had no tach signal... that told me that my ignitor sucked

13b_drifter

I am having the exact same problem, except my engine is completely stock and has never been rebuilt.

I had a rev/afterburn problem. I corrected the high rev prob by adjust the TPS (resistance method) and the car ran fine. After driving it for a several miles and parking it, it exhibited similar symptoms as you described when I started her up again. I checked the Haynes and FSM and from what I gather, there is a vac leak somewhere in the intake system. A likely culprit (which I'll look into as soon as I pick up a silicon hose) is the hose beneath the BAC. Since this hose sits right above the turbo, it can become brittle (cracking) or may need hose clamps to "batten down the hatches".

I suggest you check that out, too, if you haven't already.

Fitness Stain

i dont have emissions, i think total i have like 3-5 vac lines

jon88se

You can't check the TID when its on the car...take it out and inspect for cracks.

Johny zoom

iTrader: (5)

I had similar problems, Check the Safc settings, not high or low but the car settings, It should be 4 cyl Arrow up and to the right and flap. Mine somehow was on hotwire and ran ligh sh*t