Aruba27flr

I know this is probably posted somewhere else, but i'm having a hard time finding it. Well my RX is not doing so well. She has barely any power, and i'm thinking its' either a backed up Catalitic, a blown apex seal (or something in the motor that i can't see), or the timing is bad. Well i haven't gotten a chance to take off the cat yet, that's gong to be this weekend or sooner i hope, and i was wondering if it's even possible to adjust the timing. I can't find a shop that wants to do it, so i think i'm going to do it myself... but i have no idea where to begin. anyone willing to help me out?

Wankelboble

Its starts oki when its hot ?

Aruba27flr

it starts real good when it's hot, doesn't take more than 2 cranks usually, but it's not 100% consistent, sometimes she seems kind of flooded, i have to floor it for 2 turns, and let off the gas to get her started. she won't idle, and i don't think rotor 1 is even firing. The cat starts glowing after about 20 minutes of running the engine. the spark plugs are good, and so are the wires. i switched them around, and switched the wires around to see what would change. they're good.

Wankelboble

If u dont have truble starting it i dont think its somting rong whid u apex . my ges it is ..

BTW its real eeasy to flooded a wankel for som odd reason :P

so tray to get the cat off see if it makes anydifrent. GL

Aruba27flr

cool, well that gives me hope. I still haven't managed to get the cat off, it's an aftermarket job, and it's welded to 1 piece all the way from the downpipe to teh mufflers... so its' just been kind of a pain in the *** to get that loose. what about the timing though? how do i adjust that?

Wankelboble

first my eng isend that good :P u see wher the plugs wire go to from the engone. it shud bee a smal bolt at engine that u can losen to turn the thing. But u shud ask somone that is a bit bether then me in eng to gide u true that. sorry.

Aruba27flr

no problem, thanks for the help though.

Wankelboble

np

Aruba27flr

oh, forgot to mention, my check engine light comes on only when i left off the throttle... does that help any?

Wankelboble

Not sure way it do that .. sorry

JamesBong

Hey Aruba, Timing is extra easy to adjust on the RX.

Before you get to that, make sure your problems arn't vacuum related. Then check your idle speed.
Once that is done, clip your timing light on one of the lead spark lines and point it at the main pully. There should be two notches. If your car was new, one would be painted yellow, and one would be painted white. If your car is like mine, theres no paint on them. No problem. The pointer on the engine should line up with the first mark for the leading coil, and the second mark for the trailing coils. You just have to turn your CAS (Crank Angle Sensor) a little to the left or right to line them up if they're not already. Then just check that the trailing coil is lined up with the correct mark.

All of this was paraphrased from the FSM. You can download it from www.iluvmyrx7.com.

Aruba27flr

great, that helps a bunch! well i don't think i can adjust the idle speed in it's current condition... she doesnt' have enough power to get up my driveway even! that's why i think it's a timing issue first of all, once i get that settled, i'll fix the idle speed.

JamesBong

It has to have a smooth idle at 750RPM to adjust the timing properly, so make sure you get back to it.

Aruba27flr

oh ok, gotcha, where/how can i find how to adjust that?

WAYNE88N/A

Umm, I'm thinking you need to do a compression test first before you mess with the timing.

Just to make sure there are 6 apex's where they're supposed to be

jd to rescue

iTrader: (3)

I'm thinking more like WAYNE88N/A on this one. How did this problem start? (i.e., did it just start happening one day or did it evolve to this state somehow?) How long have you had the problem? Did the CAS bolt come loose for some reason? The timing doesn't generally go bad overnight. It usually deteriorates over time or unless someone has been messing with it and did not get it reset right. If you are down on power and the car runs with a "flub-flub, flub-flub" kind of idle, then you may well have a blown apex seal.

Aruba27flr

i bought the car recently, like 3 weeks ago. i dont know how this problem came on... but it does have that "flub-flub" kind of idle a bit, and she backfires A LOT at low rpm. the car had been sitting for nearly 2 years when i got a hold of it, and dropped in some spark plug wires and a battery. Remarkably, she started on the first try on the same 2yr old gas that was in the tank. new gas is in there, don't worry. well, i'm just troubleshooting now trying to find out exactly what the problem is. the car has 115,191 original miles on motor and chassis

JamesBong

I'd have to agree with JD and Wayne88N/A on that. If it ran strong when you got it, and just started losing power, a compression check and vacuum check is in order. Old hard and cracked vacuum hoses can cause a loss of power, flooding, and crappy idle. I'd recommend replacing them all with silicone; it takes about 20ft of hose, and an afternoon to install it. May as well replace the UIM to LIM gasket while you got it off too.

If it ran crappy when you got it, go ahead and check the timing. When I got mine, the primaries were lined up with the secondary mark.