Longshoe

iTrader: (2)

Now I cant say my day is nearly as bad as the guy who had his car broken into, but it did depress me.

Last night, I swap two vaccume hoses (cruise control and thermo wax) and then crank the car. Thinking it will do nothing, it STARTS! It did die quickly and I thought I was crazy so I cranked and it started AGAIN! I didnt get on the gas so it died again. It was pretty late at night and im sure I woke up the neighbors kid (gotta get that straightpipe on) so I quit for the night. I was so ready to party


But alas, my friend wanted to hear. I was sure I flooded the car so I did the unflooding procedure about five times. Cranked the car... nothing. Pulled the plugs, cleaned them off (though on the leading plugs I cant get the carbon off of them) since they were wet, and put em back in. Tried unflooding procedure again and it STILL would not start. I mean both times it didnt even act like it wanted to start. So from this ive concluded two things... Either: A: my car although I can hear three even swooshes from both rotors, has lost compression (could this have happend during detonation? explained later). OR B: im flooded real nasty like.

I know I have injectors and spark since, well I flood and I can see my tach bounce but I guess this is what I want to ask: How do I know if a spark plug isnt sparking as it should? These plugs have been soaked a few times in gas, and the leading plugs are black-- black as in I cant just wipe off the carbon like I can do with the trailing plugs. I mean the tach bounces, and it will start with starting fluid but I just need to get the damn thing to start normally. The plan tomorrow is to do the ATF trick then replace the plugs. If any of you have any other ideas id like to hear them because im out of options.

As for the detonation, that happend when I had accidently put the leading plugs on the front rotor and the trailing plugs on the rear rotor. I heard clanking when trying to start with starter fluid. Now this was long before the car started momentairly on its own. It has also been started with starting fluid a few times after that too. Could have this detonation (it didnt start, it was just cranking while detonating) have hurt something?

Pity, I wanted to hear what my catback sounded like and enjoy my new interior pieces.

swbooking

one way to check your spark is just like the way you do it on a distributor, pull the cable from the coil pack and hold it close to where you pulled it from, no more than an inch but make sure you can see it, and have some one crank the car, if you see a GOOD spark jump from the coil pack to the spark plug cable then you should be getting good spark (youll know a good spark from a bad) you can try that...

AcidAngel7477

iTrader: (16)

and with the flooding thing..try pulling the egi. inj fuse under the hood..by the driver side strut tower..pull that fuse then crank for 10/11 seconds then put the fuse back and try starting with out touching the gas..that might help..should start right up..if not try again after that its something else..

:AA:

Chief

i like to unhook the injector resisitor pack (under the airbox) and crank it until it starts to run and then hook it back up while the car is running. this takes two people. pulling the egi fuse kills the spark too, the reisistor pack only cuts the injectors.

dr0x

Just pull start it and let it burn all the gas out. Never fails.

2slow4stock

iTrader: (18)

So any luck on the car?

Longshoe

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the tip guys, as soon as I get home from work/school today ill see if all this works.

hanman

I would go ahead and get new plugs. I have had many instances where the old plugs just would not start the car, even with all the unflooding techniques.

harley71105

I had this same circumstance on one of my 88 N/A S/4's in 2000. Unfortunately it turns out that my engine was shot and had lost all compression. It happened suddenly. It would not even run right after pull starting. So Mazda here put in a rebuild and its been fine since. I did get lucky and got a really good rebuild. Total of $2658.87.

I hope yours has a simpler remedy.

BlaCkPlaGUE

Its funny I had the exact same problem as you. It seemed that it would start like 1/20 times and when it did I had to gas it and then it would die immediatly.
Getting real ******* confused, I started to check everything.
I noticed that my coolant temp sensor on the back of the water pump housing was disconnected becuase I had just put the housing back on a day earlier!
Leaving it disconnected puts the engine in a sort of safe mode and makes it run extremley rich, thus it not being able to start. Im sure that vacuum leaks were also a source as well when combined with the disconnected sensor.
Point being, I reconnected the sensor and boom it fired right up!

Longshoe

iTrader: (2)

Now I know the male connector that goes to the thermostat housing (at least I think if I remember correctly it plugs into the back of the thermo housing) is not broken, but the plastic cover that surrounds the wires was cracked. I thought that the wires might also be frayed, cut, etc but I believe the ECU will throw a code if it thinks the water thermo sensor is not functioning. My car has no codes, so if the ECU thinks its ok, then I think its ok. Course ill replace it someday, I just dont think it is the problem. Ill get new plugs but I hope it does not end up being compression. Thaaaaat would suck. I really appreciate the input guys, I cant wait to get off work and get outta here.

Longshoe

iTrader: (2)

Now is the 'injector resistor pack' the plug that goes into the AFM? I unplugged that and tried cranking and after a few tried it started for a second. The car acts like it wants to start and im convinced its just all kinds of flooded.

Im so close to getting it running... I can feel it in my soul.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

ok first and foremost, get rid of the old friggin plugs. at least buy a new pair of leadings.... (NGK # BUR7EQ) plugs may look ok but they can trick you.

second, go over all the vacuum lines checking to be sure they are not cracked or disconnected. third go over all the electrical connector plugs paying close attention to the thermosensor(back of the water pump), CAS and MAF plugs. lastly, jumper the fuel pump test connector on the right front strut tower, it is a 2 pin plug just shove a paper clip in it and see what happens and get back to us.

Longshoe

iTrader: (2)

Turns out the car was really REALLY flooded. I cranked a few times times with the inj resistor pack unplugged until it wouldnt act like it wanted to start anymore. Then I pulled the EGI Comp and EGI Inj fuse and cranked it then pulled out the plugs to see if they were wet. I did this over and over until all of the plugs showed no signs of having fuel on them. Then I put in the new plugs, plugged all of the electrical stuff back in, cranked, after about 3 or 4 whines of the starter it sprang to life. I then let warm up a little, killed the engine (it did not die on its own this time ) and I was able to start it up successfully three more times.

Think im going to clean everything up and go cruise in the 7 now

swbooking

Nice... you flooded the hell out of that motha! haha good job with the fix.

driftin8ez

next time when it floods..... It will sooner or later. Just pull the plugs and egi fuse. Hold the pedal to the floor. Crank it for about a minute or two in 10-15 seconds pulses. Clean the plugs shoot some motor oil maybe a tablespoon or two into the bottom plug holes. Bump the starter for like a second repeat with the oil. Bump it again. Replace plugs and suck sqeeze bang the rotary lives again. The oil raises the compression becouse the fuel has washed it all off the housings. Leaving you very little compression regardless of the overall engine health.

Happy rotoring