Johnny

how bout a upgrades ignition also,...

jacobs
hks,
crane
msd

personally I'd go with HKS becuase the ease of installation....I have a crane hi-6..but if I had to do it again...hks

neokai

i don't have much in terms of tools nor do i really have a space to do it. is this something i wanna take to a shop to do or what? maybe you wanna help me learn wrenching on my rx7, johnny? perhaps on a free day or something? i'd be more than happy to buy you a meal or something just to have someone guide me through this baby.

RX7 RAGE

iTrader: (22)

nice car dude

Johnny

well the HKS is really easy if you get the FD harness...plug and play basically...(from what I am told) The Crane you have to splice in the main coil..etc etc...

issue Crane is like 100 something bucks
HKS is like 400 something..

neokai

can i change the plugs and this harness thing without removing other parts? anyone have instructions? what does this $400 hks ignition upgrade do?

thanks rx7rage.

zayrx7

I notice that they didn't put the fan in front of your car for the dyno, that's a no, no never get your car dyno without the fan.

neokai

actually, there was a fan. maybe its not in the pictures?

spyfish007

Ok ... I am only hearing 2nd hand info on HKS but I would stay away. I really need to dyno test one personally and see what I get. I have the Jacobs and it rocks. First start by getting the car to ignite air/fuel properly @ 10 psi w/ no ignition upgrades. If the car can't do this then there is definate ignition problems. The haress I'm refering to is from the mazda dealer. You will need to pull the upper intake manifold to put this harness in because it plugs into the ignition coils. I'd say plugs, maybe wires, and definately this harness will make life grand!

neokai

spyfish, how exactly do i go about getting the car to "ignite air/fuel properly @ 10 psi?" what's the process for performing this test? i apologize for my ignorance but i guess we all learn something new each day. thanks in advance for helping me out with advice.

spyfish007

Well basically you need to have the car on the dyno and set boost to 10 psi .... how you do this is based on what setup you have to control boost. Basically you want to troubleshoot your ignition system piece by piece till you get smooth power delivery. The dyno run you showed is obvious ignition break up which indicates weak ignition system-not really a timing problem so don't worry about that. The reason I say 10 psi is that at that boost level the stock system should be sufficent. Once 10 psi works then get up to 12, etc, etc. I noticed on my old car that 7 psi was great but 10 psi was too much just because I had a weak system.

neokai

hm. i thought the computer controls boost and short of having my car at m2 to dyno and modify the computer on the fly, is there another way to do this? i think i better find a rotary shop with a dyno soon. this looks like a lengthy process. judging by what you're all saying and by the dyno tester's "feelings from the gut" comments, it does look like the ignition system is weak. will this mean i need to get a new system (stock or aftermarket) to solve this and that the spark plugs or harness isn't the problem nor necessary? while money is an issue, time is a bigger issue for me and i don't like having my car or myself stuck in a shop for long.

suganuma

always get things running up to snuff as per stock before modifying things. even if you put on an ignition amplifier like the crane or HKS you will need to have good plugs, wires, harness, etc (good stock system).
check your plugs first - you will probably have to do this many times during the life of your car.

as far as the boost issue - the computer only limits boost, you can always turn it down via a boost controller whether manual or electronic. do a search on this forum (button at top right corner of screen) for boost control and youre surely to have lots of information at your disposal. you can learn tons just by playing with the fields in the search engine.

it could very easily be something as small as a pair of bad leading plugs.

happy troubleshooting....

-Nic

spyfish007

Well I took a look @ your ECU and you have M2 and w/ no mention of a boost controller then I'll assume that is your boost control. Anyway, don't worry about that. A real easy way to get low boost is to remove the wastegate pill. This should give you 7psi and hopefully this will be smooth curve. If not, then you definately need to look a major items like coils & ignitors. If this curve is smooth I would look toward plugs, plug wires, and ignition harness mentioned above. Depending on how many miles you have on the car I would say that harness and main coil would do you good period! You will probably find the car idles better and is just smoother once you preplace these two items. Don't forget changing an ignitor is also a real easy thing to swap with a buddy for a quick test of it ... haven't heard of many going out .... but that could be just me.

rxrotary2_7

the ignition coil wiring harness has changed from the time the car came out. i replaced mine from pettit for like $40 some odd clams. the "old" style had a ground right next to a hot wire, where as the "new one" eliminates it. if you call pettit, they should be able to help you out. it fixed a problem i was having with ignition. another piece of advice i can give is, if you know someone who has another fd that is running right, take parts off their car to see if it is the problem before you go buying stuff, no need to waste money if you dont HAVE to.

KZ1

get a midpipe, and make sure plus are not clean. if they are coated with carbon, then you know you aren't burning all the fuel. Also check the plug connections, they are known to be kind of hard to secure.

mr_jonboy

Those numbers are definitely low. Just for comparison, I dynoed mine when my boost controller was messed up. It was only boosting at .6 bar = 8.7 psi and the guy only took it to 6500 rpm b/c it was messing up and he said it wasn't worth risking anything. I got 215 hp at the wheels with that. If I would have had the right boost 10-11 psi and been able to take it to 8k rpm, I believe it would have hit 290hp, maybe slightly higher. I am dynoing in about a month considering I think I got the AVC-r running pretty good. I will let you know what happens. Mods are as shown...

RPW Motorsports

I almost bought this car!!!!!!!!
You got from an older man who owns a piano store in Walnut Creek didn't you. When I talked to him, he said that he had it modified so as to only boost stock. He really didn't know much about RX7's at all. How much did you get it for. I offered him 21,500 but decided to get the RX7 I have now instead. Go to Diablo Import Service in Pleasant Hill. Talk to Doug there, he was the main mechanic at M2 Performance for years. Wonder why he left It has no boost controller in it. Talk to Doug over the phone.

neokai

ryan! nice to meet you. jerry phillips (the piano seller, LoL) definitely mentioned you and what you offered him. i got it for 18.5k which is a fairly decent price. the car is mechanically sound for the most part and has fairly nice mods even if the interior is a bit rough. i'm still working on getting rid of his odor (not a bad odor, just that its his odor and not mine! LoL!)! i was actually looking for a silver/black car originally but this CYM was pretty nice so i decided to get it. are you saying dough @ diablo import service worked on my car before and would know what to do? thanks!

neokai

send a pm to you, RPW MOtorsports.

neokai

i talked to Oakland C2 Automotive's William today about my dynograph and his suggestions for fixing this. The plugs are definitely old, probably been on for 15-20k miles now. He quoted me $100 on parts and labour for getting those done. Does that sound like a bad price? Where can I find the right plugs (NGK Platinums, right? 9s and 7s? or should i change them to something else) for the best price? He said they're about $9 each from the dealer. I'll proabably change the plugs first, dyno it again and see if the curve smooths out any. if not, william says i should change my restrictive hks exhaust and maybe get a better intake as he believes the greddy intake has good flow but since its an open-air intake it sucks in hot air. apparently i already have racing beat wires. what do you guys think? i can understand the restrictions with my exhaust and intake but i want to solve this fluttering power curve and hopefully get closer to the figures i should be getting.

ironically, william told me the hks exhaust on my car is more restrictive than the stock exhaust. go figure.

Johnny

dude change you plugs yourself...yeah it's kinda hard compared to other cars but not that hard....yes get NGK plat.. 7leading 9trailing...you might want to try all 9's also..... we already went though the intake question...you know what I recommend...the HKS is not more restrictive then stock??? that's BS bro...I had that exhaust on my old R1...sure it does not flow as well as some of the newer stuff that is out right now....but it's better then stock for sure.

spyfish007

Ok run NGK BUR9EQ on all four ... like $7 a plug from Advance Auto Parts ... most places will need to cross refrence to get them but many places stock them. The plugs are actually not that hard to change. Just be sure the motor is cold and go for it. I'd feel shafted @ that price! Don't change your exhaust. If you are worried about it being clogged or something of that nature simply disconnecting for a quick run won't be a problem. You main cat will keep things from going crazy and it will be only slightly loud.

twinturboteddy

Ignition Harness N3A31805Z
53.51

From www.mazdaformance.com

neokai

man, i just experienced power loss due to this problem for the first time tonight.

coming home from pleasanton in-n-out a bit past 10pm, i was driving along minding my own business and i casually pass up an e36 m3 with chrome 18s/19s. didn't think anything about it until i see him flying past me like a bat out of hell. so i give chase and i catch up to him just as he flips the emergency signals. i figure it was still a good race and i felt like i did pretty good considering i had to make up the distance. i pull along side him and try to give him the thumbs up and compliment him on the car but the bastard totally ignores me and smokes his cigarette. damn, i'm like, fine, be that way you snob. as i fall back a bit, he shoots off again so i drop it to fourth and give chase again. i swear to god i was catching up to him until this car gets in my way and i deemed it too dangerous to swerve past it so i slow down to pass it safely but alas, the guy flips his signals again. yet again, i pull up next to him, open the window and give him the thumbs up and he snubs me. i give up on the guy and catch my interchange.

so where did i feel the power loss? the second time i gave chase. i was pulling hard and then it flattened out for a brief moment before pulling again yet the boost was stable at 10psi. i figure this ignition problem is what caused that so now i can say i know what the dyno guy meant when he said he felt the car hesitate a bit.

well, i got the ngk plugs (all 9s) from kragen (ordering online and picking it up...pretty damn good service) today and i'll probably get them i next week.

i'm still a bit perturbed by the e36 m3 guy. had a powerful car but he was such a *****. plus i bet he thinks he won. well, i guess that's the first illicit freeway race in my rx7. gotta keep that to a minimum.