I just bought a '90 N/A (GXL I Believe). I have two problems that need to be addressed.
#1.
It was majorly flooded when I got it and wouldn't start. I changed the oil (which was FULL of Gas and very dirty), changed the plugs, and added some fresh 93 Octane gasoline along with about half a can of Berryman's Octane stuff. I then charged the battery up and turned it over until I apperently Un-Flooded it. Now, it smokes. I haven't had the chance to run it for too long (no longer than 5 mins) because of the neighbors. It will start right up, but still smokes like the dickens and it won't idle very well without a slight amount of gas pedal assistance. Could it just be that I need to let it run all of the old dirty crap out of the engine? Could it possibly be the Octane crap I put in? Or ultimately, could it be something a little more unsettling (ex. blown Apex seals or other seals)? Any Pointers/Suggestions/Ideas?

#2.
Half of the fuses in the box behind the kick-panel are missing... along with the fuse panel cover containing the Fuse Diagram. Lots of stuff isn't working (main instrument panel, power seatbelts, etc.). I need to get a picture, or diagram, or something so that I know what fuses to put where and get this baby going again, or at least electricly. If you have a scanner, or a digi-cam or anything, please help a poor soul out and send a little light my way.

Well, that's all of my troubles for now, so if you can help me with anything, please feel free to do so. Thanks in advance.

 

here area few tips, number one: you don't need to put in that high of octane gasoline. I just recomment you put in some fuel with some additive like techron from Chevron. I actually use the lowest octane possible. With 87 octane I seem to get the best power from the car. But to clean it out, buy yourself a bottle of Chevron techron mix inside the gas station and pour that in because you need a more concentrated mix of the techron stuff to clean all the gunk out of your car. Depending on the color of the smoke coming out of your car it could mean a whole bunch of things from broken seals *god forbid* to gunk in the exhaust *lot better*. I'd also do the ATF *Automatic Transmission Fluid* trick. I won't go into it in detail here because I know there's a few posts out there that describe how to do it. Just search for atf trick or something like that on the forum and you'll get mucho posts. It's not too difficult to do, just takes a little knowhow. Anyways, good luck on your car, and as for the fuse panel, i'd purchase a shop manual or something for that. Or better yet, since you're missing the panel, go to a junkyard and find one.

Peace,
AJ ^_^

 

The smoke is thick, and white. Now should I run all of the current gas (with the Berryman's) out before adding the Techron, or just slap a bottle of it in there? I have heard something about unplugging the fuel-pump under the driver's side utility-bin behind the seat, then firing it up until the engine is free of fuel before performing the ATF trick. Would this be practicle/possible? Oh, and I would go to the junkyard to purchase a new fuse panel, but I have no means of transportation to get there (Seeming as the nearest yard w/ imports is about 15 miles away and I have yet to get the rex running smoothly.)

 

The smoke is probably from the flooding...it should take 5-10 minutes to burn out. I have a digicam at home, if nobody else posts a diagram or pic of the fuse panel cover thingy, then tonight after work, I will take a pic and upload it for ya.

 

If you could get me a pic, you would be my savior. I will wait until late tonight, and let the dookie burn out of my engine for awhile. Thanks!

 

Ok, I tried running it for a few minutes, but I had to kill it a few times to let the smoke clear off of my street so the neighbors could breath again. I 'd say I ran it for about 6-8 minutes total with no let-up on the smoke. And HARK, I noted that there was a small puddle of oil on the ground under the engine. Now this could be a problem (or part of the problem I already had.) I also noticed that the oil was JET-black and I just changed the oil and the filter a week ago or so. It hasn't been running at all since I changed the oil save for a few seconds. Does this shed more light on what the problem could be, or do I need to figure out where the oil is leaking, fix it, and continure burning nappy-nes out of the engine and fuel-tank? :o

 

definitly find out where the oil is leakin from.

if u find out that the oil leak is not critical, and that its possible to drive the car around the block or so w/o being in danger, then do it. cuz, ur car just might be coughing and hacking, and would just need to clear its throat.

assuming ur oil press guage is workin, make sure u got pressure, and while ur car is running, rev it up to redline several times, get those spark plugs hot, and see if uc ant burn off the crud and deposits. and if ur oil leak isnt bad, take it out on the road, and run it hard. clear the crud out of the engine. run it hard, up to redline, dont ***** foot it around.

but again, make sure that ur oiling system is intact, if its not, dont drive it hard, or at all. cuz if ur apex seals arent broken, they WILL be if u drive it w/ a bad oiling system. so just be careful.

also, Non-turbo/non-blown RX7s run best w/ the LOWEST octane fuel u can find. 93 octane w/ an additive is probably not the best for it. 87 or even 86 octane from sunoco is just fine for it. but, that Techron sounds like good stuff, i never thot of it. try that out.

and the unplugging the thing under/behind the utility bin, sounds like the harness for the fuel pump. thats on the driverside struttower, in the rear of the car. thats only necessary to depressurize the fuel line if u plan on opening it up, like to change the fuel filter or something.

to de-flood, u can unplug the "EGI" fuse from the fuse box under the hood, on the driverside struttower, next to the battery, and then try to start it. this dis-arms the fuel injectors. anywho, good luck

chris

 

Well, upon further investigation, I found that the oil leak only happens when the engine is running. Then I noticed that it was coming from the oil filter. It was hard for me to tel before because I have to keep my foot on the gas to keep it running, and my leg isn't long enought to press the pedel from the front of the car under the hood. I was also very surprised to see the dip-stick shoot out like a rocket when my dad revved the engine a bit. I am under the impression that it has quite a bit of pressure in it. I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. I would love to take it for a spin, but I'll need that fuse diagram before I can do anything, as the main instrument panel is completely dead. My dad took of the oil-cap while it was running and smoke came out. It also came out of the tailpipe less with the oil-cap off. Does this mean anything in particular? If anyone can at least give me a rough idea of the fuse panel layout, I could really use the help.

 

that doesnt sound good at all. it sounds like you have a LOT of blow by in ur engine. it sounds like ur engine seals are letting combustion pressure blow by into the crank case. it pressurizes the area like in the oil pan. and when it blows into the oil pan, itll blow smoke up thru the oil fill tube when u take off the cap. just like if u blow a coolant seal, combustion pressure will blow by into the cooling system, pressurizing IT. and if u took the radiator cap off a car w/ that problem, you would see bubbles gurgling out of the coolant, or worst case senario; it would be BLOWING coolant out of the fill hole.

not good. ur engine might be in need of a rebuild. do a compressoin check. you need equal PSI #'s on all 3 faces of the rotor and the sides. everyone speaks about the apex seals letting go. but theres also side seals, that seal between the sides of the rotors and the rotors them selves. right now, i thikn ur fuse panel is less of a problem than the oil and smoke.

what u can do, is have ur dad with you when u run the car. you can start it and get it going, and feather the throttle to keep it alive. and then have DAD go under the hood, and work the throttle by hand keepin the engine alive. then u can crawl around and see for sure where this oil comes out. if u think its the oil filter, then, go on to Napa and git yoself a new oil filter. that should take care of that leak. soo..anywho

good luck
chris

 

Yeah, I agree with Chris.
Dipstick shooting out is a bad sign. I hate to speculate too much but I can't think of another cause besides blow-by and a compression breach.
This supports the white smoke problem. Your seals are blown allowing gasses to escape into the oil pan and water to leak into the engine.
I think you need a rebuild. But I'd have somebody look at it before you decide on that.
Sorry man I hope you did not pay alot for it.

 

Well, it's not leaking from the filter, but I think it's somewhere nearby. Now when I start it, it will idle on it's own (without my foot on the gas) for about 30 seconds, and it sounds pretty good, but then it will just bog-down and die. It does this everytime I start it now. I am well aware that I will more than likely have to tear her down and do a rebuild, but I figured I'd try everything I could before I gave up. I guess I got a good deal. I payed $800.00 and the paint job is flawless. No dent, no scratches, needs a little interior work, but it has a $1300 set of Enkies on it, so it was well worth the $800. I got a fuse layout from SpeedRacer (thank buddie), but I think it's no good for my 7. I have a GXL I believe. I know that it's the 1990 N/A model that has all of the little goodies.

 

Hey guy,

Give me an e-mail address, I can send you an .tif file containing the fuse panel wiring diagrams from the '88 shop manual. It should be just about the same as a '90. Maybe it will help. Good luck!

Irv, Keith's dad

 

macabre75007@netzero.net

or

macabre@redtailboa.net