hellspcangel911

Hey Guys

Is it possible for a rx7 with 143k that had compression within range two years ago to have no compression now?
I had the car tested two years ago, then i parked it, where it sat for two years, and now i cant start it.. i put a squirt of ATF in...
is i worth the rebuild or junk it?

thanks

SureShot

Desperation trick, before you pull & dismantle it, try PB Blaster.
Squirt some in, crank it, repeat a few times.
Then let it soak an hour & recheck the compression.

hellspcangel911

il give that a shot.. but ive been cranking and cranking and no luck

is this typical?

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

Yes, it's very possible. I'd even go as far as to say typical. To maintain a reasonable compression requires some lubricant. You can inject some straight oil, or use a light-weight oil like Marvel Mystery Oil to try to build some. A lot of people who have recovered abandoned 7s find that they have to pull-start them before they'll get enough compression to turn over...

Also, get some new spark plugs.

hellspcangel911

thats what i was afriad of.

I changed the plugs, sprayed some WD-40 and atf in there.. no luck.
how can you create pressure with the pull-start (do you mean pull start or push start and popping the clutch in)
<the rest of the car is in running order, i have a stron spark, new fule pump, checked the entire fuel system...etc... and no, its not that im a newbie flooding the engine>

thanks for all your help

hellspcangel911

why would pull/push starting change anyhting instead of jsut cranking and puring WD-40 in there?

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

sorry about not responding earlier.. I lost track of the thread

To answer the question: pull starting will allow you to turn the engine over much faster than the starter will. Even if you put your battery charger on "start" mode, and crank your starter, you're going to get at best 400 RPM out of it, and you can't use your starter for more than 10 seconds at a time (you WILL overheat and destroy the starter if you run it too long!). Whereas pull starting it using a 10-20 MPH run and putting it in 2nd gear will allow you to spin at nearly 2000 RPM, under load, when the computer is telling the engine to inject the proper amount of fuel.

Remember that the "cranking" setting is different for the ECU than the regular run mode.

Also, I would think that WD-40 would be too light of an oil to help in this case. I'd go with some straight 10-W30 or MMO, something with some meat to it to really help build up the compression.

Search around for some of the threads about restoring a car that's been sitting a while, many people have only gotten them to run using the pull/push start method. Once you have it running, be sure to allow it to warm up slowly, while you check for leaks/problems, then baby it up to higher RPMs, once it reaches operating temperature. If it's mechanically sound, drive it around a little bit on light throttle to make sure everything is functional, before you try to blow the carbon out of it..

Just for note: I've now subscribed to this thread, so I'll see any posts to it, and not take 5 days to respond next time

Good luck!

hellspcangel911

thanks a bunch for all your help!
I have sprayed in some WD-40 into the plug holes, cranked, repeated, ...etc then did it with
ATF.

Im going to do some searching tonight and see what other have tried... the biggest problem I have is that once i do push the car down my street/hill... if it doest start im screwed...lol but I will put in some oil tomorrow and crank it a bit before work and let it sit till i get back int he evening.
ive got all my fingers crossed!
thanks!!!!

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

Many people have found that roll starting it wasn't enough, it actually had to be towed behind something to get it spinning. YMMV, of course..

Mazda99Nikon

To ask a really noob questoon, what happens next? I mean lets say you get it started. You are coasting along at 2000 RPM and the engine turns over and starts. If you run it until it is warmed up, will it restart when you turn it off. Or is this generally a one time shot where you have half a chance of figuring our the problem while it's still running?

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

No worries.. once you get it started, and give it some gas to get the idle to sort itself out, yuo should be fine. You may have longer-than-usual cranking times for the next week or so, as everything reseats/lubes, but you won't have any long term starting affects from it (assuming that nothing actually got damaged while it sits!) The real problem is getting it to run under its own power, the engine will take care of the rest once it's running.


edit: If you want, you can just IM me, i'm in AIM under "greatleper".

hellspcangel911

after searching and researching for hours last night i have found taht what you have to do, if you are fortunate enough for it to start up is to low throttle it until it warms up, then gradually take the RPMS higher, and when cooling it down make sure that you cut the fuel and inject a bit of ATF o two stroke oil...

My car today: i put in ATF.. a total of 4 ounces per rotor and freqnetly let it crank (i installed a mometary switch to the starter so i can crank while starring at what might end up as a 2 rotor boat anchor..)
anywyas as it cranked it was puffing out the ATF puf puf puf puf puf. when i put my finger over the lower plug holes it felt like there was sucction... is that correct?

anways, i was excited that the car no longer sounded like sewing machine and i guess the fact that its spitting out the ATF is a goof sign (yes?)

thanks, il let you know when i tow it behind my friends 4.0L wrangler this weekend

btw: this car is a one owner, had a great compression reading 2 or so years ago, then it sat, now it wont start- 144k miles

hellspcangel911

Today's update:

I repeated the process of adding oil (a total of 2 ounces per rotor) and cranking a few seconds at a time through out the day.
Now in the evening I checked th compression in the top plug holes (one rotor at a time with, TB full open). the front rotor with a max of 44psi, and then two other peaks of about 22 and 34.
The rear rotor had 55psi and two other peaks of about 33 and mid 40s.

well its definetly a start from having 0 and i do mean 0 psi 'compression'. is it worth continuing... what are my chances of it tow starting? what else should i do before this sunday?

ps. i noticed the ATF made it all the way to the catylitic (small hole and its dripping blood red ATF )

thanks
gtm

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

Your chances are a lot better than if you had 0 PSI compression. . Stop worrying, just go out there with the wrangler and Do it!

91verty

I have encountered this before. If it was running when you parked it, it will run again. You are gonna have to put some MMO or ATF in it andf just let it sit for at least ''24'' hrs. But pull starting it will be your best chance of ''unsticking'' the seals. But please let the oil sit for at least 24 hrs. YOu will be surprised how effective that is.

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

yeah, he's been putting lots of oil and turning it a few times a day.. He's just panicking over nothing

hellspcangel911

i hope it is nothing..

fingers crossed


thanks for all your help thus far

JWteknix

iTrader: (2)

listen man its all because u left it sit for too long ur rotor froze up i simply put a jumper pack on my battery for a little extra cranking amps and went through deflooding stage pull injector relay under hood crank for about 10 seconds to clear fuel put relay back in and try to start if it starts only one of the rotor will probly start spining just let engine get warm enough for some expansion and should be perfect

hellspcangel911

well today was the day, towed her for about 10-15 minutes, she started up, at first i wasnt sure she was running, so i gave her a little gas and saw the tow rope slacken.... the smoke was insane, worse than some of my two stroke constructed monstronsities. But she ran!
I couldnt have her out for long because of a leaky hose and the oil gauge was reading Opsi...
also, shes doesnt idle, i mean, if i hold my foot on the gas she will stay at 500rpms (slight rocky motion in the car- as if the engine mounts are shot on my 454 chevy and i rev her)
but who cares, she runs!!!!...NOW THE TWEAKING!

Thank you sooo much everyone, especially you Wonko!

drunkclever

try to decabonize it. There should be several articles around. I know there are some in the first gen forums.

g/l

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

You're welcome. It's awesome that you got it running! Before you leap to conclusions about oil pressure, check the oil sender, and make sure that's connected. For the idle and all related problems (like leaks, etc), you're going to pretty much have to do a a FULL tuneup, with complete vacuum hose replacement, I'd also replace all rubber hoses on the car (don't forget the brake hoses!).

Either way, I'm sure you'll get it up to speed. Congrats!