Compression Test?
 

Please help a noob out. So I drop my car off at a body shop so they can paint the front bumper. I went by today to pick it up and it won't start. Battery was dead so I got a new one. It still wouldn't start, so I texted everyone that I know. Someone said they could have f*ucked up my motor. Well my friend also has a compression gauge, so my question is will it work or do I need a special one for the 13b?

how long did the car sit? i'm guessing it has low compression from sitting awhile, also hence the dead battery. if it's only been like a week then yeah, i bet they took it for a joy ride and popped it and drained the battery to throw you off track.

I left it there on Firday night and went back today. The motor was rebuilt by a shop in Dallas and had less then 2,000 miles on it. I'm really wanting to get a compression test done before having it pulled from the shop. Inorder to do a test the car has to be warm right, so I don't know how thats gonna work. How do I know if the motor is bad?

Thanks

I forgot one more thing, since the motor was being broken into. It was made to cut off at 3.5 to 4k mrp.

even with those tight restrictions it could be blown. did you record the mileage?

Damn I forgot... >_<

Also the car doesn't have a ICV, I told them "you have to sit there when your foot on the gas for about 5 mins to warm it up, if you have any issues moving the car just call my cell and I'll come do it because that motor wasn't cheap".

Anyways, the car turns over just doesn't feel like starting. You hear the feul pump and all the fuses looks good and battery is new. So you would check for compression just like on any normal car?

They could have flooded it. If the body shop moved the car real quick and did not let the car warm up, it could be super flooded. If the motor was blown you would know with a compression test warm or not most likely. I have flooded my car before and it is the worst to try to start afterwards.

^^^

Yup - sounds like flooded to me. That's very common with not running until warmed up. Search for theads on deflooding. Lots of them around.

Thanks guys, I'm just going to have the car towed to a shop. One of the guys that work there has a FC. Maybe he can help.

you can do a compression test while cold also, in fact when doing a compression test you should do both warm and cold. it should have at least 85PSI of cold compression in order to not have low compression starting issues while cold.

probably flooded, if you do a compression test you'll find out pretty quickly anyways...

I agree with others on here. It really just sounds flooded.

compression test from faq section in 3rd gen forum
http://www.fd3s.net/compression_test.html
http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/3r...ion_check.html

deflooding
https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...92&postcount=5

And here is another VERY helpful hint. If you have a powerFC and commander, on the commander there is a rev limiter setting. Set this to 1500-2000rpm ANYTIME you have to take your car into a shop and remove the commander from the car. This way it cannot be altered (unless someone has a commander to plug into it and that is highly unlikely) and no one can "hotrod" and or joyride in your car. This only takes a few moments to alter and then another few moments when you go to leave. I do this even when I am just having something like an alightment done on the car to help keep people "honest". Just an FYI tip for ya!

Hey Supra, what shop in Dallas performed the rebuild? RX7.com? BDC? Hopefully not Don Marvel...

If you need help, there are plenty of people in the local area (you are in Houston, right?) that can lend you a hand with the comp test, myself included. Send me a PM or message over AIM if you need help or have any questions :)

I would also make sure the shop dose not tell you your engine is finished, if it's really just flooded to get work.

ahhhh sounds scary I hope you get this fiexd!

I agree with the others, probably flooded. They probably just moved it around in the shop and didn't let it warm up or know to rev it up to around 3,000 rpm and shut it off as it is revving. That sometimes will keep them from flooding when you don't have time to warm it up.

I'd suggest you pull the plugs, de-flood it, squirt a little oil or wd-40 in, and replace the plugs with new ones. Also a quick check of the oil may give you a clue. Higher oil level or lower viscosity would mean gas in the crankcase. It gets there by going by the side seals, hence the lower compression.

This is the only part of the rotary which gives me pause. Some flood easily, some don't. Some can clear them by just holding the accelerator pedal down and cranking, injecting WD-40 in a vacuum port, or other means. None of those methods have worked for me and I always end of having to replace the plugs with new ones. Seems like gas fouled plugs are impossible to clean.

Good luck,

Jeff

I see that you have yet to meet Flooded's serial killer cousin, Detonation :egrin::lol:

That's right and I hope I never have the pleasure!

Really though I am still fairly new to the RX7 world. A year and a half ago not knowing anything about them I bought a non-running car, rebuilt the engine and am now trying to tune it properly. So even though I haven't driven it much yet, it's been a blast getting it to this stage. Except for the couple of times I flooded it. What in a piston engine is fairly easily overcome in my engine stops me dead in my tracks. But hopefully I've learned and it won't happen again.

My goal has been to have a car I can do some touring with and drive it on the weekends - not race it. Only problem I foresee with that plan is I have never driven a car before which accelerates and handles like this one. It is amazing.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread.

Yes it turn out it was just flooded, they put in new spark plugs while they were at it.

I contracted the manger at the body shop told him what happen and felt that they need to pay the bills. One of the workers told me he would speak to the head boss about it and they would call me back asap (yeah right).

Compression tested showed it was 90. Thanks for all of y'all help and input :)

grats

^Thanks

The bill came out to be $275 which I intend the body shop to pay for.

It was done by Gotham Racing.

Yes sir I'm in Houston. I just don't live near any RX7 people :(

Well theres two FC guys within 10 miles of me but they are always working or something.

Thanks for the offer, now I know where to go if I have any other issues.

Thanks for the info :)

My car doesn't have a commander :(

why should they pay for the bill? rx7 plugs foul out all the time

I thought 90 was on the low side for compression? Especially for a fresh motor.

Here are some photos that I just took. I know they suck, was taken with my phone.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4018/...53da86b7cf.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/...d19dfc9e4e.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4069/...e9bb00e9ac.jpg

I never had a RX7 flood out on me. It happen while it was in their hands. The boss even told me he had no idea if they took care of it or not. So far they have accepted wrong doing.