Well heres the whole story, from start to finish. I figure the more info I give the more help I can get.


Bought the car in August of this year in indiana. Black 88 T2 with 114k on chassis, 400 miles on engine.

Put 400 more miles on it just driving it to and from places, basically a daily driver. Never shifting above 3k-4k. I think I redlined the thing once, but that was just because I had put new tranny fluid in and was seeing if my 2nd gear grind had gone away completly. (it has)

Then, one day as I'm going through the park, I'm at like 4000 rpms in second, then I lose power, the rpms drop off to idle (1k) but my foot is still on the gas. If i let my foot off the gas (im still rolling to a stop here) it would sputter but if i floored it it would barley bring the car out of vacuum but not go anywhere.

So I rolled to the side of the road and it wouldnt restart, so I got it towed home.

After about a month of troubleshooting, my mom had the car towed to a dealer, much to my dismay. I knew they wouldn't be able to fix it, and I was right. 2 months later and they didnt fix a damn thing.

So anyways heres the problem as of now, with the AFM unplugged and the fuel pump connector jumped, the car WILL start and idle... barley. The mechanic was able to drive it out of the yard with it like that, but he used a much better jumper than a paperclip. With the AFM plugged in and the connector unjumped/jumped (doesnt make a difference) the car spins up, revs to like 1k then dies back to cranking.

With just the afm unplugged and the connector not jumped it will start but if you tap the gas it dies, and if you let it sit for about 5 seconds it dies.

The dealer says they tried a new ecu (one i had to obtain for them) and a new fuel pump resistor relay. (i also provided) As far as I know those parts made no difference.

The car has good compression, no catostraphic failure there, and all 4 injectors ohm out correct etc.

I still remember after I took my UIM off and I saw two unplugged injectors I thought I found my problem, but I think they were my secondaries and thats why the car would sputter under hard acceleration at 3500rpm.

Anyways, any help to why my car won't stay running is greatly appreciated, anything metioned I will try, and as far as I know i have good fuel pressure (according to the dealer) but they are stupid so who knows.

 

Question, is the ECU throwing any error codes? Did the dealer do a comp test, if so what are the #'s? Just a couple questions to kick this brain storm off.

- Dana

 

I asumed you checked for any intake leaks, vacuum hoses off, clamps broken, hoses split, as you seem to have had it apart. How about the TPS. Check out ok? Bac valve not leaking any air?

 

Before I took the car in the ecu was throwin no codes, and yeah I looked for all that stuff along those lines.

Never checked the tps though, but I wasnt sure if that would cause a no-run condition or anything.

 

have you tried changing the AFM?

 

dont have access to another one, i checked my out according to my haynes and its within spec. =/

 

yeah i just got back from my dads, the wierd thing is with the afm unplugged and that fuel pump connector jumped, it starts and idles so smooth at 1k, but if you so much as tap the throttle it dies

 

Did you use a new gasket after you took off your UIM?

 

yeah, got a new one from mazda trix, along with a new fuel filter.

 

^

 

Ouch man, that's awful. Are there any rotary specialists in your area? I'd take it to them before taking it to a DEALER.

 

Are the wires that lead from the ECU to the AFM checking out OK?

 

According to the dealer they are, but they are stupid heh.


Which pin outs should I be checking on the ecu/afm?

And n4 yeah wasnt my idea. =/

 

^

 

Have you checked for any enormous vacuum leaks? Broken TID? Intercooler piping?


Next, swap the AFM, even if it is within spec. And check the wiring between the ECU and AFM.

 

Checked for vacuum leaks, tid is fine (new) and intercooler piping is on tight.

I guess I'll look for a new AFM, and how would I check the wiring between the ecu and afm (which wires?)

 

i have a similar problem. i was almost home, going about 40 in 4th, and the damn thing just died like it ran out of gas. coasted home and it won't restart. oh, i have plenty of gas in the tank. i have a bunch of things to check tho before i jump to conclusions.

 

yeah thats basically what happened to me. hope your car isnt down for 3 months like mine has been though

 

.

 

^

 

Have you checked the TPS and the AFM yet?

 

I hope the stealership didn't charge you up too badly if at all. & I hope your mom learned a lesson

Maybe it is a bad ground. (yes this just up & happens). Clean & tighten the ground wire on the top of the engine behind the intake manifold. More importantly, resolder the ground splice about 4" from the ecu connector.

The "grounding dilemma" with fc's is very well documented & sometimes causes sypmtoms similar to yours. I have fixed probably 4 or 5 fc's with some grounding mods & i'm hardly considered an rx7 specialist, just a compotent mechanic.

Find a good import mechanic who isn't intimidated by rx7's.

j.p.

 

Well I checked the AFM again and it checks out ok, I think I'm going to replace it anyways just to see what happens.

I checked the fuel pressure today, and it's all within spec. So yeah I'm still stumped.

 

Are you checking the fuel pressure at idle? If it idles then die's when you give it gas, you have no fuel or no air. Or the grounding thing but that would cause a lot of other problems. Start with the AMF, then check out the fuel pump, and all its relays. Other than that you should look for a Rotory shop. No smoke?

 

I'm checking with the car off and the key in the on position with the yellow fuel pump connector thing jumpered as specified in the FSM.