O Great! I just bought my 1993 RX and have just been told that my turbo is bad. My car has no power whatsoever under about 3000 RPM's (I can floor it and I move slower than glue), but after 3000 RPM's then I start getting boost from something (not sure if it's primary or secondary) between 3000 and 4500 RPM's is where it starts. Once this happens then it will boost just fine, still only starting between 3000 and 4500 RPM's and it sounds like something is loose when It starts to spool up like something it rolling around in there AND it someimtes won't boost at all until I hit the next gear. So my question is this, is my turbos bad? Or do they just need to adjust something, connect something, etc. And shouldn't I have more power at low RPM's even with no turbo? Or is this just how the car works if the turbo is bad? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

O yeah and I forgot to add, when I start the car it starts out extremely SLOW at about 100 RPM's and stays there for a bit (sounding like a lawn mower) then slowly moves up to about 1000 RPM's and when I push in the clutch it starts idling wierd especially when I put it into gear. Would this be in conjunction with whatever else is wrong? Well I hope this helps you guys out in trying to help me, I'm obviously really new FD's and this is strange to me so please let me know whatever you can tell me thanks.

 

Well, 3000 rpm is where you second turbo begins spooling, often referred to as pre-spool. 4500 rpm is when it should start delivering full boost. So this leads us to believe your first turbo is either not spooling, or the boost is not getting from it to the engine. Definitely get a boost guage to find out if there's any boost, and what the pattern is. It should be 10-8-10 psi. 10 under the first turbo, 8 on the transition, and 10 when the second comes fully online.

 

Yeah that sounds like a first turbo problem, you're gonna have to check all the boost lines, and make sure they're all connected right, no easy task. A non functioning primary would cause a strange idle because of the lack of vacuum. Search the site for a vacuum hose diagram, and check them out.

 

So you're having problems with your fd eh? That sucks. Nothing worse than not being able to use it when it's broken. I know the feeling. All you want is to be able to drive it and not worry about anything. Well, one things for sure... it's an fd, it ain't gonna happen! I've learned this myself and am still marching toward getting it. Just take a look at the entire forum. 90% of everything has to do with problems associated with the car. Sigh... Oh well. Looks and speed come at a price. I'm kinda glad you beat me to the fd but then again sad to see an fd enthusiast dissapointed (https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...40#post1219640). Should you get the car running fine soon, then i'll be Montego Blue with envy.

Take care man and read up as much as you can before shelling out big bucks.

-HeX

 

well, I'm not dissapointed, kinda mad, but I knew this was going to happen. It's going to get fixed and I think for now I'm just going to go with a jt-imports used turbo set, I can wait however long I have to wait for a nice set that he can get me. Thanks for everything guys.

 

I'd say 90% of all turbo problems are not with the turbos themselves, but with the control system. The usual sign of blown turbos are oil leaks and/or oil smoke out the exhaust, NOT problems with boost. Problems with boost are usually the result of failed check valves, solenoids, or leaking vacuum lines, hoses, or gaskets. This is not a problem you will likely be able to fix yourself, probably one of the hardest FD problems out there to fix (ie the mystery leak in the control system), so I recommend taking it to the nearby FD specialist and letting them handle it. There are MANY things that cause this kind of strange boost and strange idle problem, you may have more than one of them, but they can be fixed.

 

RX7SpiritR,

How much money have you put into the car since you bought it (to get the car running, problems you have encountered since etc...)?

-HeX

 

I dunno about him, but I've put in about 1k in repair work and I guess 2k including reliability mods...and it hasn't been a year yet.

 

I'm in the $4,000 range after 5 weeks. I drive it every day. It loves me, and I just smile at the Hondas with the Altezza's.

I don't rice, 'cause I don't have to.

Now, to be helpful, have you been to

http://home.istar.ca/~dvandit/TurboT...shooting.shtml

yet? They have a step by step account of the things you need to do to diagnose your problems. I will note that if you have no primary boost, you WILL NOT get secondary boost. Can't have the one without the other.

Happy reading!

 

Spurvo,

In what condition did you purchase the car in? Was it working fine when you bought it? What did you spend the $5k on?

-HeX

 

Do you have a downpipe or a midpipe? Sounds like a precat or main cat may be clogged. How many miles are on your FD?

 

I bought a downpipe, haven't put it on yet. And no I haven't been to that site yet. I took it to a mazda specialist where they mostly deal with rx-7's, there was another 3rd gen there when I took mine in. They are the one's that told me that my turbo was bad. So I'm still not sure, I'm very confused....=( I just wish I knew everything about tthis car including how to fix it and I had the tools that way I would be able to do everything myself cause I trust myself more then these people working on my car.....you know what I'm sayin'? Anyways, I'll try out several things. Thanks, and keep the information flowing. O yeah and by the way I have spent about $2,000 on repairing the car to running condition excluding repairing the turbos of course since something isn't workin right, right now.