I'm very good mechanically and and have read these posts through and through. Now my 90 GTU NA suddenly seems to have lost compression in the front rotor.
The beginning - I changed the plugs, then got in and drove to get oil. Changed the oil and filter. 3 hours later went to start it and it sounded like the cooling fan was hitting the hood . Shut it off, raised the hood and started again but now it was running terrible- backfiring into the exhaust and intake with lots of raw gas smell. No fan hitting hood sound anymore.
Pulled the front wires off, no change when started, put them back and pulled the rear - no start - nothing.
Put the old plugs back in, tested the ignitors and put on new wires. no change - no whoosh whoosh in the front rotor, ok in the back. squirted 3 tablespoons of oil in the front rotor - still no whoosh whoosh and with plug no change.
Took off the injector for the front rotor and ran for 2 minutes at 3K to 6K RPM - glowing red exhaust pipe just before the catalytic.
Prior to this it has been awesome - blew away a 2002 Mitsubishi RS (v-6 piece of garbage) easily foot by foot off the line the night before.
No improvements on the engine, oil every 2k miles and trimmed weight. That means the hatch and rear is gone with aluminum sheeting and a 2x4 plexiglass rear window, the roof is cut and a roll cage in place - of course the rear seats and everything - including a AAA card and cell phone instead of a spare tire.
Gas mileage has been terrible, ~10 m/gallon at best but no complaints when you 0-90 in 12 secs...
How can this happen so suddenly - what could it be and how much does the cheapest rebuild cost if I do it myself for parts.
In two days I'll do a compression test, in the meantime what could have caused the hitting sound at that moment. If it were a piston engine I would suspect timing like jumped a tooth sort of thing because of all the misfiring but the compression is the only physical evidence-
Incidently, the idle was perfectly smooth, got that up down stuff out after reading these posts 8 months ago (thanks !) but it would never rise when I used the AC so it would stall if I didn't give it a little gas at lights.

I trust you'll have some suggestions - it went from bad *** fast to bad *** problem suddenly....... I can't believe it is carbon, sounds like a port stuck open sort of.

I'll get some pics soon - This isn't about beauty its about push you in the seat power and low cost.

I guess the cold air intake project is on hold.....

 

Hmm, what kind of plugs were the new one's you put in first? How many miles on the engine?

Sounds bad I'm sorry to say. You sound like you know what you're doing and you've tried everything that I know of.

 

PM hypntyz7 (his site is www.rotaryresurrection.com) for info on rebuilding.

 

Sounds like I have some parts for sale pretty soon.....

 

Re-read your post. The thing that sticks out is the glowing exhaust. 2 possibilities there - running rich ro else it's clogged.

No idea about the 'fan hitting the hood' noise.

Don't jump to conclusions until you've done the compression test.

 

I did the compression test - 120 rear and 0 in front - If you want cheap parts email me at b_a@softhome.net - Next stop is the junkyard for this one. I figure I'll leave it where it died for now and remember the good times blowing away honda civics w/o trying. Maybe drop a few flowers on the hood this weekend and have some friends over for final words before I start stripping it.

 

Contact (PM) hypntyz7.

Seriously consider rebuilding before you throw in the towel on this girl (either doing it yourself or having Kevin do it.) Kevin's a great guy and making it happen may turn out to be easier than you might be anticipating...

 

The body isn't in teh best shape, the parts are too expensive for engine rebuild and the price of gas is through the ceiling.
Just like a girlfriend, you have to draw the line somewhere and the term "high maintainance" couldn't apply more here. I liked the rotary performance but can't see repairing. Add engine mounts tranny rebuild and it is an entire drivetrain rebuild now from the fan to the driveshaft -
BTW - Been parting this baby out - Put one exhaust muffler on a Honda accord - Now the Accord sounds like an RX (a little) and I figure when I'm done there won't be much left..
All these '87 wanna be '90's.....I never knew.