So i'm pretty sure my motor is blown. Ideas for other things to check
 

My car was recently brought from Ohio to California where I am currently in tech school for the Air Force. It was tuned very conservatively at defined for 93 because I didn't know much about the motor's history. All they have where I am in Cali is 91 octane, so even though Logan told me it wasnt super dangerous due to the conservative tune I was trying to be kinda easy on it until i found time and a place to get it retuned for 91.

What happened? I was getting on the highway at maybe 4500 rpm in 3rd gear, at about 0.6 bar. It backfired and suddenly ran like garbage. It was vibrating terribly and it wouldn't idle at first.

So i had to pay a foolish amount of money to get the car towed back to Monterey.
Things I've already checked:
Turbo coldside is fine, no in and out play or side to side,
map sensor is fine,
TPS is fine,
coolant is good
Oil is fine ( I run premix omp blocked off)

things i'm checking this today or this week:
Compression
Coils
plugs
hotside of turbo if i can get my hands on a jack (i dont have hardly any tools out here as i have no garage)
TPS voltages


Mods on the car
3rd gen power FC with banzai adapter
Koyo rad
FD UIM
1680 secondaries 720 primaries
to4-3b turbo
fmic
3bar map sensor
tuned to 13lbs
walboro 255
and im sure a lot of stuff i cant think of off the top of my head

Any ideas or tips will be very much appreciated as i don't know many people out here, if someone is in the area and can maybe come look at it with me that would be awesome also
Thanks

once you have a problem, check compression.
Even if you use your ears instead of a gauge and hear 3 even swooshes that sound like they are strong you could be equally weak across all 3 faces- I have personally seen this twice already so your ears are not a good indicator of compression.

If the people had just compression checked it from the start at least they know if they are wasting thier time or not.

if you pm me your addy or get in contact with me maybe i can stop by and take alook with ya im pretty close to monterey

Sounds like it did blow though, if your gonna rebuild it yourself let me know too I'd be down to help, I never have done a rebuild but I'd like to be around one I'm gonna need to rebuild my baby myself soon it feels like

Its blown. Thanks for any ideas. Was an optimistic thread. Car just got here a week ago and I'm gonna have to ship it back home because I don't have time or a place to do a swap

if you have a datalogit, post your timing map. I bet it had too much advance for 91.

Probably but I don't have one. It's just gonna get shipped back to Ohio when I find a good shipping company

for what transport back and forth is going to cost why not find someone local to give you a hand?

yeah dude why not just take it to a local shop, theres tons around here

its not that i couldn't do it myself, its that i don't really have a place to do this or the tools I need for it. Transporting it back home will probably cost around 1000$ doing the work here and getting a rebuild would be a nightmare. And while i can afford to put a new motor in myself, I cannot afford whatever ridiculousness a shop would charge me.

And as for finding someone local I haven't been able to find anyone into rx7s locally yet and I've been here for going on 4 months now.

I don't have tools or a place to do this so I can't see that working.

Plenty of Shops down here in L.A. that could get the job done and get you retuned with an appropriate Ca. 91 octane map.

I can make a referral

Or

If you need a good auto transport company, I have that too..

LA is 6 hours south and paying someone for a rebuild and a swap that far away is not likely happening. But as for that vehichle transpo I will probably be intrested in that

I have a lot going on right now so I haven't made any final decisions

ok with some more thought, i could consider having a rebuild done in the LA area if transportation wasn't such an issue, if you have any ideas on that and know about some pricing I might be able to do that

im saying to try to pull the motor local and park the car.

Then at least you can transport the engine easily to someone to rebuild, and reinstall at your location.

I agree with Rob on that one Teddy. Find a parking lot spend a weekend and rip that shortblock out. Leaving it there could be a problem with local authorities though. Are there no storage facilities there? That could be a feasible option if you can afford it.

I personally wouldn't ship the car back, you never know what might happen, you might make friends with a guy in a bar that has a two-post lift in his garage. But if you do decide to ship it back I wouldn't be against ripping into it with your dad. Good luck on either, sorry to hear it went out on you man. Better out there than with me in the desert of Arizona. :lol:

Shameless plug of car in question. Stickers where for road trip laughs.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3653/...cdfd63b6d7.jpg

Yeah I fully understand all these ideas but my situation is hard to explain. I can't quite just tear my short block out without a hoist or a truck to carry a hoist and then just leave my car in the parking lot in Monterey.
Eamon i don't know if you remember but i don't even have a jack out here, and my car is parked on the side of the road in an area where people are probably super not ok with it.
I spend 9 hours in Russian class a day and have 2 hours of homework on average.
Also the Air force feels like people on this base need to be treated like children so all people who are in school here have a 10pm call to quarters.
If i had a garage to keep it in indefinitely i would be all for it.
The list of things i need is somewhat ridiculous and hoping to find someone with the above who will let me store my car IN their garage right after meeting me is shamefully unlikely

Right now i'm just looking around for rebuild prices.

^ Yeah I seem to forget your utter lack of resources.

Honest, put it in storage or ship it back. I rebuilt my Turbo II in a storage space, 10x30, when I had an apartment. I wouldn't have been able to do it any other way. If you have no time or money - right now - I'd advise parking it. But don't get rid of it!! You'll regret it.

Uh I wasn't even considering it in really not sure where that idea from. I'm pretty dedicated to my rx7s

Well considering you checked everything but the compression, I figured you might be new to rotaries... and so your dedication might not be that deep. I mean alot of kids watch Initial D or something and think an RX7 would be cool to have. That's all.

^ He hasn't had much time to find a proper compression tester and the car certainly won't get to a shop. Don't worry this isn't his first rodeo. ;)

I did check the compression on sunday, when i said the motor was for sure blown, i blew a seal in the rear

yep its getting shipped home, because if i leave it parked in any one spot for 3 days it will get towed, Monterey is an awful place.