hi, im new to the club. i just purchased a 1986 rx7 for 400 bucks for a project car this summer. the engine turns over but won't start. i took out one of the spark plugs and oil came out of where the spark plug was. the other spark plugs are pretty much stuck in there, but i think it is the case with all of them. does this mean it has a cracked seal? what is the best plan of action? remember i would like to do most of the work myself. thanks

 

Welcome to the club. I got mine for $300. Im rebuilding mine for the experience.
The spark plugs: Mine were oily to with a little bit of gunk on them. Ive heard these cars burn oil. The rotor housings, each have a oil "injector" that threads into the top.
Might be y there oily.
What I didnt do is get a compression tester. You might have to get a special comp. tester because this is a Rotary engine were talking about. If it has no comp., that=Rebuild=replace seals. If it has comp. thats great, you dont have to rebuild the engine, and something else is the problem.
So thats one thing you can check for now.
Hope your project goes well for you.

 

sorry, forgot to put this in there:

 

No, if theres no comp then your doing it wrong. If the car has under 60-75 compression then you do need a rebuild. No to diss on you or anything, but its just that the engine probably has flooded or some oil for injected in there some how. I mean I have had oil on my spark plugs, just replaced them and there fine. But if constance oil keeps gettin on there with new spark plugs then yes definatly rebuild the engine. But if the engine is flooded change spark plugs and get a oil change asap. theres my .02 cents

 

i changed the spark plugs and it turns over but wont start. i feel like an idiot, but how do i check the compression? thanks.

 

If you can bring the car to mazda then they can give you a compression test that is accurate, if not then just buy some cheap compression test from the store, unplug one of the leading plugs and put in the compression test thing of a bobber and have someone crank the car. Well have you checked for spark?? if not then thats your problem, But a rotary engine needs spark, air, and fuel. I would check the AFM to see if any connections are broken. if that doesnt do it then repost.

 

i checked for spark tonight and yes i have spark. when i got the car there was oil all over the place and im sure it came from behind the spark plugs. the AFM connections look fine. now i need to check for fuel which i don't know how to do. thanks

 

next is fuel, then compression. pull the fuel line off and put it into a plastic or glass bottle and be sure you are getting fuel to the fuel rail. if yes, then do a compression check, you can do this with a regular automotive compression tester with the schrader valve removed, the compression is the highest peak number from each bounce on the guage while cranking, it should be even not sporadic, if you have a spot where there is no bounce then you either have a stuck apex seal or it has gone mia.

 

If worse comes to worse just rebuild the babie.

 

alright i'll ckeck it out tomorrow. thanks guys.