EL7

I recently started having an issue where my FD is cutting out. The car is a manual stock 94 with only a M2 downpipe. The first time I noticed it was a year ago when we were having pretty heavy rains. I was driving around the block very slowly and when I pushed the clutch in to coast a bit, the car cut off. I then had to crank the starter several times before the motor would fire. Almost felt like the when a car floods and you have to give it a sec.

The symtoms never came back and I thought it had something to do with the downpour I was driving in. The only other thing I noticed was that the car bucks sometimes when I'm holding speed at partial throttle around 3-5K in third or fourth. I've done a search and this symptom sounds a bit unrelated and many people say they have it too. Some fixes point to bad grounds.

Well..

For the past couple weeks I've been experiencing the car cutting off when I have the clutch in as I'm coming to a stoplight or I'm driving in a parking lot. It's never a consistent problem and I can't reproduce it every single time I coast with the clutch in. When the car does die, I have to crank it several times to get it to fire again.

Today was the worst it has ever been. I cleaned my engine bay last night and I think I may have got something loose or wet somehow. Now the car will die if I let it idle for a bit in my garage. I'm also experiencing serious bucking at cruising speeds and the check engine light is coming on at times. The CEL sometimes comes on when I've holding the car at partial throttle and cruising along in third or fourth. The light goes off by itself and never stays on longer than a few seconds. Modulating the throttle seems to have an effect on it.

I've also come to figure out that when I'm cranking the starter it helps to pump the gas pedal to get the car to start again.

I took the car to Rick's Rotary Performance two weeks ago and mentioned the symptoms to him. I happened to be there for a compression test and he thought it could be the plugs. He pulled the plugs and they were a bit fouled. He promptly replaced all of them so those are all new. He also mentioned that my plug wires had oil on them and that they should be replaced soon if I'm going to put any power adders onto the car. The compression checked out fine all across the board.

So, I'm ruling out plugs and compression. Could it be the wires shorting? Maybe there was a pre existing condition with oil being on the wires and I agitated it when I was cleaning the engine bay? I didn't hose the engine down but I was using a squirt bottle in certain spots. I was careful not to hit any relays or fuse boxes but who knows. Maybe some water ran down the plug wires and it's arcing or something.

Could it be the fuel filter getting clogged? The engine was replaced at 20K and it currently has 84K on it now. I don't know when the last time the fuel filter was replaced. Is that why I can save the car from dying if I pump the gas pedal when it sputters and it also helps me restart the car? Maybe clogged injectors?

I did a search and found some stuff mentioning heat soak on the 93's. My car is a 94 (manual). The other stuff I read is mostly with people who don't hear anything at all when they turn the key. I can alwasy start the car fine when I get in. I can't really tell if it's a heat issue because it happens at night and during the day. Scratch that, atcually it does seem to happen when the car hits operating temps. I live on a military base and 90% of the time the car never has a chance to heat the oil and reach operating temps. It's only a three minute drive to my office and I rarely take the car off base. Also, the max speed limit on the base is 30MPH so the car only gets its legs stretched when I go off base. Could all this low speed driving everyday have a bad effect? Should I routinely take the car out to "stretch its legs" with some WOT? Kinda off topic but I wonder if my driving habits have contributed to the problem.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

EL7

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lennie_hughes

i'd try changing the fuel filter & getting the injectors cleaned

luizajeff

Maybe the clutch switch. There are two and mine was the one without a lead wire. Lots of owners have had their clutch switch fail at or after that milage. I would change the fuel filter anyway.

luizajeff

Sorry, the clutch switch is right above the clutch pedal and it's a cheap part that's easy to replay. So I'd say go with the easy stuff first.

Slipspeed

Yeah, I'm kinda leaning this way too. Mostly because pumping the gas pedal in neutral while the car is dying seems to help bring it back. It also helps to get the motor to fire when the starter is whirring away.

I don't think it's the clutch switch because the starter wouldn't even turn over. I tested this out last time when the car died. I was coasting after the car had died and popped the car in neutral. I then turned the key with the clutch out and nothing would turn over. Push the clutch in and the starter started to turnover with no problems.

impactwrench

Maybe primary coil?

wankelrx

Mine was doing the exact same thing, it would die ever time I pushed the clutch in. The problem with mine was the Throttle Postition Sensor somehow it was way off adjustment. After adjusting using this thread as a guide (https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...highlight=idle) it now idles 750-800 RPM smooth as silk. Might give it a try.

Slipspeed

Thanks wankelrx, I'll give it a shot.