About to buy, questions!
 

Hi there,
Am looking at buying a slight ‘project’ FD RX7 for ~$3,000 US. Sure its an auto, but I can’t go past it at that price! Anyway, to the point of the post, as an ex piston pusher I’d like to ask the experts (and the opinionated) of the forum a couple of questions!

1. the car smells of fuel at idle, and puffs black smoke under acceleration. In my 4pot this would have been running rich, I assume from my searches and what I’ve read the RX is running rich as well and can be leaned out by a bolt somewhere. Correct? Where would I find that bolt (out of interest of course, I’d have a pro lean it!)?

2. there is a collecting of engine oil at the connection of the 13b block and the transmission. It is DEFINITLY engine oil. Mechanic that looked at it wasn’t exactly rotary minded and all he could say was that he’d imagine it is the main engine oil seal. Would he be right? What is the trouble/cost involved in fixing one of these?

3. and now the interesting on. Attached is a picture of an (not THE) engine bay, the circle around the pipe/nozzle there shows the one that is MISSING on the FD I’m looking at, what does this do? Where does this go?

Thanks guys, I may have been a piston pusher, but at least I have accepted that if its not a rotor, its not a motor and am looking to join the club soon!

Go the mighty Batmobile!

well the forum sucks... posted a decriptive reply and lost it... damnit!

1. Maybe a fuel leak... bad injector o-ring also...

2. Rear main seal... around the output shaft. Yank tranny and replace.

3. If the tube is missing off the throttle body then you are missing a coolant line... it comes off the block.
If your missing a tube off the back of the black pipe then your missing a part that goes to the accelerated warm up valve which is an emmisions part under the manifold.

im missing that same hose too!!! the rubber soft one!! whats it do??? warm up valve?

its not his MAP thats missing right?

it might be the map. if it is, he can notice something wrong with them car. its in the same place

if it is the MAP, would the car then run rich to compensate/guess correct air/fuel values?

the other thing it does; when held at 3000rpm in neutral is bounces... i.e. runs 3000 smooth then dips below with an engine 'vroom'... excuse the description!

Is there anyway you can get a better pic for us?

If the MAP sensor is disconnected, then reconnect it (its a small black box 1x1" on the driverside of the firewall) and problems 1 and 3 will most likely be resolved. Disconnected MAP sensor also causes very low mpg, no power and rough idle. Car should still be able to go over 80mph (my experience), but felt powerless.

Finally an interesting post from a novice ;)

Check the MAP sensor definately.
AWS (Accelerated Warmup System) could possibly cause same symptoms... Or if the nipple where the AWS is connected isnt plugged so the manifold pressure would always be 1bar (atmospheric pressure) thus running BADASS RICH :D

ok, attached is a better angle of the hose that is missing on the FD.

my next question would be, if it is the MAP why would anyone leave this off?! the car was serviced by 'professionals' 1000miles ago. surely they wouldn't miss that!

the reciept from them said there was slight knock on acceleration and they raplaced spark plugs and flushed the fuel system to fix that...

sound like i could be in for a fun time here.... time to talk to people about warranties! course, that being said i intend to fix the transmission at some stage anyway... seems to want to change gears itself and has little lights on the dashboard... hmmmmm must fix that!
;)

You'll need to get a better picture and mark what is missing exactly. There a lot of hoses under the hood.

Sounds like you should run away from that car as fast as you can!!

Seriously, these cars are a bitch to fix and expensive. $3k doesn't sound like much, but add in all the costs of fixing stuff to make it run right and that figure quickly doubles or triples.

Search on fuel smell for issues on that. Could be a bunch of expensive stuff. The missing hose maybe the Accelerated Warmup System AWS.

Most mechanics don't know how to fix these things. If you buy one, I highly recommend finding a reputable shop nearby you. Having one will save you lots of $$ and headaches.

The hose circle looks like it could be from the TB coolant bypass or something ?