rx7ryan

First off...i had a horrible day today so please don't tell me to search. i don't have the patience. i messed up my car, cut myself with a boxcutter at work and got 3 stitches, got fired from work, and lost my cell phone.

anyway, i'll get to the story. for the last 2 weekends i replaced my transmission and front diff mount. it ran fine after the first weekend (replaced tranny) but i didn't keep driving it...just a test drive. the next weekend (last weekend) i welded my diff mount and replaced my starter solenoid. finished up last night with the solenoid. i didn't see any oil when i changed that so my rear main seal wasn't leaking. i left to go to my girlfriend's house last night and when i was on the interstate for a few minutes i look at my gauges and my oil pressure needle is buried. i pull over and see that there's about an 8th of an inch of oil up the dipstick. it was dark so you never know, but i drive to exxon and got a non-synth oil ( i use synthetic) to hold it over till i got down the road to a cheaper place and got mobil 1 synth. (my usual). i put 3 quarts in and checked it and it was full. again, it was dark. i drove to the girlfriend's, hung out, and went home. when i got home the oil level was still full. still no pressure. i should also note that i lost the oil cap on the interstate (forgot to put it back) but i replaced that when i got home with one from another rx7. still no pressure. i woke up the next morning still with no pressure but a full mark of oil. i figured my gauge stopped working because i was messing with wiring under the dash. i started to drive to work and about 10 miles down the interstate i sped up to pass someone and the accelerator stopped accelerating. the motor died and i pulled off the side of the road. tried to crank it and it starts up but dies immediately. same thing when i checked it a few mins ago. (after being towed to my home) the oil is still full. actually it could be over filled. i see now that the oil level is about an inch above the F. i don't see how that happened but that's what's going on.

I don't know why i lost oil pressure (if i did) and i don't know why my motor doesn't run for more than a second. i hope i don't have to rebuild it, but if i do...i guess that's a learning experience i'll be forced to deal with. thanks for any help.

BlaCkPlaGUE

When it does run, does it sputter and die, shake, or anything like that?
Check your coolant temp sensor on the back of the coolant housing, and make sure that its connected. Finally check your afm harness, and make sure that it is secured. You didn't mention if the stock gauge was in fact broken. You can check the wire for the sending unit, clean up the contacts as well.

Syonyk

Can you turn the engine over by hand (with a socket, the power steering pulley nut is a nice place)? Taking out the spark plugs will make it a LOT easier. Listen/feel for any grinding or other metal on metal noises, or the engine trying to bind up.

If it was indeed not making any oil pressure (or very low), the bearings are probably totally gone, which would explain the engine not running (and losing power).

-=Russ=-

VietFC

if it starts up fine, and just abruptly dies without any warning, sounds like a case of your AFM as BlaCkPlaGUE said.

rx7ryan

UPDATE: i went out to the car w/ my brother and he pushed on the plunger in the afm while i started the car and held the gas. eventually we got it to stay running but it was very rough. and whenever i let off the gas it died. what exactly does that mean.

Syonyk

Huge vacuum leak?

-=Russ=-

rx7ryan

but does that explain the non-existant oil pressure? i'll be checking it all friday or saturday.

BlaCkPlaGUE

rx7ryan, try this guys advice before you speculate any further as to whats wrong.

Syonyk

Another very easy test: Drain some oil into a pan. You don't need to drain everything, just loosen the drain plug, let some drip out into an oil pan and down your arm. Curse as you turn the bolt the wrong way dropping the oil plug and draining the rest of the oil onto the driveway where you neglected to put the oil pan because you were just draining a little.

Or, pull the oil filter off and drain a bit of it into a pan.

If the oil has a metallic iridescent sheen to it, it's rebuild time. If indeed the oil pressure was very low, the bearings will be torn up. Bearing material in the oil gives it a metallic sheen from all the small bits of bearing in the oil. If you see this, you've found your problem. If the oil is clean, the bearings are *probably* (but not for certain) OK.

-=Russ=-

fc3sfreek

iTrader: (6)

yea thats kinna what happened with my car when i blew an apex seal. it happened when i went to turn on the car. it turned and made a horrible noise like grinding. then i cranked it again and the car started but it ran very roughly and would turn off if i let off the gas. do a compression test to see if u blew a seal. or just take out the plugs and listen for 3 even gusts of air.