Ok i just got my car back yesterday, with a fresh rebuild at 83000 miles. The engine wasnt blown when i took it in, my mechanic said the compression was really bad and it would be cheaper to rebuild then. So a few things i have concerns about...

1. When i asked when the good break in point was he said 500miles, would you guys agree that 500 miles is a good point?

2. Ive always had a boost issue, no boost gauge yet (ordering one next paycheck).. but i do have a power fc + commander which would never read more then .50 bar... a few times it read .70 which i believe is 10psi.. but rarely... so anyways my mechanic said it looked like the previous owner tried to do a non sequential setup and some of the vacuum hoses around the turbo were in weird places.. he didn't go into to much detail and said he didn't want to mess around with it. I havent taken the car over 5k rpm yet but it still reads .40 bar to around .50 bar.. what could still be causing this issue? bad turbo? those hoses in the wrong places?

3. Before the rebuild the car had idling problems and would stall out at idle sometimes.. well yesterday a few times when i would start off in first the idle would dip down low and feel like it was going to stall out... it happened a few times today and i took my gf home 30 minutes ago ( car was still cold ) and at a stoplight it stalled out, then at another stoplight down the road it did it again... could this have something to do with the engine? it feels like its not getting enough fuel sometimes could it have to do with the injectors maybe?


Thats most of my concerns as of now i plan on calling my mechanic tomorrow morning, and asking his opinion.. thx for the help in advance!!! -Eric

 

Sorry if my grammar, spelling, or w/e sucks.. im tired and ive had a long day... oh yeah my biggest worry is why the car stalled out with a brand new engine... just incase i didnt mention that...

 

Um, why the hell didn't your mechanic fix your boost issues during the rebuild? All of the vacuum lines should have been replaced and solenoids/check valves checked as part of the procedure, especially since you were having problems.

"so anyways my mechanic said it looked like the previous owner tried to do a non sequential setup and some of the vacuum hoses around the turbo were in weird places.. he didn't go into to much detail and said he didn't want to mess around with it."

I can't believe a mechanic would say that...and if so, why would you keep going there?!?!

 

1. The boost problem is impossible to diagnose without having a boost gauge -- get one. Then you can go through the troubleshooting turbo link in the FAQ thread. If you don't want to do this or can't, find a knowledgable FD mechanic or forum member to help.

2. The stalling problem could be any number of things....clutch switch, bad PFC programming, bad ISC, misadjusted idle speed, misadjusted TPS, etc, etc.

 

Im not sure why he didnt, i am calling him tomorrow and will find out.. it is a known rotary mechanic in my area in florida... and ive had great work done from him before.. im guessing he thought the hoses were like that for a reason and didnt want to mess it up... not sure though

 

I hope you're not talking about that douchebag Fuego Racing....

 

And the guy should have done a COMPLETE hose job since the engine was out. Trust me, once you get this issue addressed (which won't happen if it IS Fuego Racing), I would avoid this "known" mechanic.....

 

no it is maztech in Tampa....

 

Well, you need to address this with them....in fact, you really should have done that before posting here. That way you give them a chance to correct their mistakes before their name gets out like this. There's two sides to every story but I am at a complete loss as to why a complete hose job was not done for the rebuild.

 

I am by no means bad mouthing maztech... they have done excellent work for me in the past and the owner jeff is a great guy... it was partially my fault i didn't address the problem when picking my car up... i am not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to cars and didn't realize the problem

 

If the hose that connects the wastegate actuator to the solenoid rack was removed and plugged you'd be seeing ~7 psi max (what the wastegate is sprung for from the factory). Normally you'd do this procedure when installing a boost controller. Perhaps the previous owner had one on there and removed it before selling it? Either way get all your vacuum lines sorted out before anything else.

 

Sounds like your mechanic dropped the ball, plain and simple. Your car should have *never* left with those problems. I'd recommend taking the car elsewhere, to somebody competent.

 

Not to rain on your parade... but if you have to wait for the next paycheck just to get a boost gauge, this may not be the right car for you at this time.

This car when it is experiencing troubles can eat up gobs of money in short order.

 

 

This all seems a little shady to me..I'd be very concerned after all this that they may have even been using used internal components on my rebuild..Did you get a full invoice?Make sure he didn't charge you for a full vacuum hose job without receiving one..

 

Trust me i know how expensive it can be. I just spent all the money i set aside for the car for the rebuild.. i have plenty of money coming next pay check..

 

Search for the vacuum hose diagram and check the hoses for the precontrol and wastegate actuators. See if there is a "pill" carb jet inside limiting airflow or if the line is completey empty. This could be the cause of the 7psi max. Even with the pill removed it is common to see more than 7-8 psi on the primary if you are in 4th or 5th gear and at a low rpm. That might be why sometimes you see more than 7psi.

As for the stalling, it could be a multitude of things as mentioned above. I would suspect the dashpot, but it is hard to tell without seeing the car. Search the PFC section for how to manually adjust idle without the ISC as sometimes that nets better results for heavily modified cars.

How is the idle when it is not bogging down? Flat and steady, 800rpm, does it idle hunt?

I dont understand how your car might or might not be setup for non-sequential? Get a $40 boost gauage, hook it up to the UIM run the vac line underneath the rear of the hood and thru the pass window and have a friend monitor it while you drive the car. That is the simpliest way to start diagnosing the problem. Good luck.

 

When should i be receiving full boost? My car is still in the "break in" point and im not going over 4k rpms...

When the car is warmed up the idle is perfect... stays at a steady 900-1000 rpm.. although its still iffy starting out in first..my mechanic said it was idling really rich and the idle problem could be becuase of the tune on it (rx7store tune)

I will be ordering a boost gauge next week and test it out. Thx for all the help it is really appreciated..

 

Best way to test sequential or not is get in 4 gear and roll on the throttle from about 1500 rpms. If you see 5 psi by about 2200 I think, that means you are still sequential. With sequential you will see a full 10lbs by about 25-2700 but someone may correct me on that. I know you will see it by then, if the car is non-seq it will be about 3500 rpms before you see 10lbs. The primary turbo is rather obvious if it is working or not, as soon as you press the gas you should have instant acceleration.

 

Well i opened the hood and first thing i saw was a hose disconnected... i took pics with my shitty camera phone.. and im sitting out in my driveway so the quality is extra bad... heres the pics :








sorry for the bad editing .. laptops...

but.. could this hose of blown off causing the car to idle and stall bad?

as for the boost problem i looked at the diagram but ive never worked on my car before and that diagram looks like its in a different language to me (metaphorically speaking).. i cant find where the precontrol and wastegate actuators are... if i took a pic of my engine would you be able to pinpoint it?

 

in the second picture.. is that where the hose is supposed to be connected? if so it looks like the hose will need to be put into a weird position and maybe bent..

 

Thats the airpump relief hose (aka the MOO hose). It doesn't connect to anything as its just a vent line to release the excess air from the airpump/acv system.

 

Great just when i thought i was onto something.....

 

You can make a more 'elegant' fix this way:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/eliminate-air-pump-moo-%241-1-minute-486061/

At least it eliminates having a hose hanging around which appears to serve no purpose.

 

thx ill probably get that done... but in the meantime my car is still broken :-\