First problem.
 

Had my FD for a week and a few days, this morning I was on my way to rotor fest with a group of other 3rd gens so we were averaging 80-90 on the freeway, well I went to down shift into 4th gear and....


1. Oil pressure pegs out and the red light comes on....

then it goes out.


then about 2 hours ago when I left when I would give it WOT the boost would spike ( I dont have a boost gauge but I could hear it)

and the oil pressure red light would ocasionally come on when I was only at 60 PSI .

then the car started to lunge forward a tad bit while cruising at a regular speed...


any suggestions? Vaccum hose blew off? ( I hope)

this could be any of a few problems. one: too much boost is pumping into your engine, causing pressure and may lead to detonation if your engine is leaning out. I don't know if you have any mods on your car. safest bet if your car is stock is to take it to a rotary specialist. you might check your oil level and see if it is overfilled. the oil pressure guage is a poor indicator as it is not reliable enough. another complication could be the ecu. I would definitely take it to a professional instead of trying to fix it yourself.

Hear a boost spike? Are you kidding me?

Get a boost guage installed and come back to us with the numbers.

lunging could be that your injectors are somewhat blocked, it may also make your car stutter at idle. if you go to a shop you might have them replaced or cleaned out and flow tested. go buy a boost guage, it will tell you if your turbos really are spiking and is a good idea if you want to keep tabs on your engine. just listening to your car won't really be a good indicator if it is spiking.

ummm, perhaps a silly question, but you *did* check your oil level, right?

-bill

Re: First problem.
 

this should be made a sticky :) very funny indeed

could you please explain to the rest of up what a boost spike sounds like???

The higher your turbo is spooling the higher the pitch of the sound it makes, when I hit 3500 rpm the turbo should not spool like it did unless I was in WOT.

you know you guys could quit being assholes (not all of you) and just gimme a suggestion or two.

The fuel injectors were just cleaned and flushed about a month ago, so I pretty sure they aren't clogged, as for the boost gauge, im gonna be picking one up this thursday (payday)

The car is 100% stock, so im probably gonna end up removing the UIM, and swapping out the "bird nest" with new hoses, questions, does the UIM come off pretty easily?

Get the boost gauge and check your boost pattern first before trying to tear up the vacuum lines.

well I was planning on adding red vacuum lines anyway, for some engine accent, so I figure what better time to change them, then when im looking for one that blew off.

At this point you don't know if anything is really wrong. If you want to do the hose job, go ahead. However, I would recommend that you wait and to it only *IF* you need to.

Hmmm why it it very time consuming or something?

Yes, and if you don't have a problem in that area, you can create one (or more) very easily.

Ah I see thanks for the fore-warning. when I do decide to do it, im gonna do it tube for tube .


as for the problem with my FD, just started it up, the red light came on after it had been idling for a while, then went out, so I figured I would try adding about half a quart of oil, just to see if it would help, and it did the whole way to taco bell the light didnt flash at all, I guess the drive up north burned a little oil :)

These motors inject oil, so you will be burning some oil. It shouldn't be too excessive. If so, you have a problem.

If the oil was just low, go ahead and get the oil changed.

yea I knew about the motors injecting oil and all because I learned the hard way on my 2nd gen on about every problem you can have with an rx-7, I just wasnt too sure, if the red light would light up on the oil pressure gauge if the oil was low, i thought it had a dummy light for that.


as for the oil change, will do thursday I am debating whther to go with the usually 20W-50 or go for synthetic.


thanks for your advice dude

would recommend checking the dipstick before a trek like that... not even just on a 7 but in any car... its just good maintenance. if you just got it, should look at getting all the fluids flushed replaced, refilled, etc. as unless you have specific paperwork for the last time it was done, its probably better to be on the safe side. check you spark plugs too. get that gauge on there for the boost. be careful about what you decide to tear into. its kinda obvious that you don't know what a big deal the vacuum hoses can be so i would REALLY suggest reading alot more before you jump into stuff unless you want the car being down for months at a time. good luck with it :D i know i'm loving mine (just got it in January) just be careful with what you "think" you know about it.

The car just had the injectors flushed,new plugs installed/coolant flush/new radiator. I have the paperwork on all that too, as for the oil change not sure when the last one was done, but the oil coming out on the dipstick is still its original color, maybe a little tint.

It's a good idea to do it so at least you have somewhere to start for your maintenance history.

right right, im gonna change the oil every 2,000 miles