flooded engine
 

https://i130.photobucket.com/albums/...tary/done1.jpg
I just got done putting my car together back after 3 years. Car has 1/4 tank of gas and i added premix to the tank as well. I loaded up a calibration for my aem ems that someone else posted, and rescaled it for my injectors. Car started roughly and idled. I checked for leaks etc. No leaks! Now the problem is, I shut off the car for the night and then came the next morning to start it up. Doesn't start. Thinking that it was the tune, I started messing around with the crank time fueling table. No go. I pulled out the plugs, they were drenched with fuel. You could see the liquid. So I realized I've got a flooded engine.

I cleaned all the spark plugs with a wire wheel and brake cleaner. I cranked the car with the engine relay pulled out so no fuel would be injected. Lots of smokey fuel came out of the spark plug holes. I'm assuming its smokey because of the premix in it. I tried to start the car after putting everything together. No go.

So i pulled the plugs again, and they were majorly wet again. I cleaned them again, and put them back in. I used one oft he vacuum hoses near the throttle body to suck about a cap full of atf in. Tried to start the car, and I can hear it catch sometimes, but it doesn't start.

I also noticed something, when i'm cranking, my boost/vac gauge reads 0. But occasionally it will read -5inhg, and thats when the car will want to start, but doesnt start.

It's driving me insane. Is there any way I can dry the rotor housing? Any other suggestions?

just use regular oil into the spark plug holes.

the flooding washes oil off the housings and the engine cant make compression to start.

also, if you havent drained the three year old gas and replaced it, do that.

Yea, replace your gas if its 3 years old!
What heat range plugs are you using? Might want to try some slightly hotter plugs till you get it going.

Its really trial and error in your situation.

It might something as simple as fouled plugs or more involved like leaky injectors(test them if you haven't). I'd start with making sure the map is good in idle/cranking.

okay. im letting the car sit overnight and will use a map posted that has worked for another person on 550 cc injectors. if that doesnt work, im going to take the hoses going from the fuel rail to the fpr and disconnect them at the fpr and hook them onto a T which will have a pressure gauge. then ill power up the pump using the diagnostic port for a few seconds and disconnect it and watch the fuel pressure. it should barely drop from 43psi. if the injectors are good (which they should be because i had them cleaned and balanced), then ill try changing plugs. if none of this works, i dont know what else to do

would it help to blow compressed air (20-30psi) air into the rotor housing through the spark plug holes in an attempt to evaporate the fuel? then crank the car with the efi relay out and then blow more air and do this process about 3-4 times?

best way to deflood a severely flooded engine is remove the 2 vacuum hoses at the passeger side of the UIM just above the LIM. squirt a few ounces of MMO into each port and put the hoses back on. floor the throttle while trying to crank it over, to allow more air to get into the mix.

attempt that a few times.

I've had a lot of RX7s, in my experience FCs flood easier than FDs but FDs are much harder to get going once flooded. The easiest and best way to get a FD unflooded is a quick tow start IMHO. If you have someone to drive the tow car.

Here's my usual ritual for getting a flooded FD started:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...gi#post8201444

i tried mahjik's method. the key is to put a couple of fluid ounces of atf in there THROUGH the spark plug holes. i was getting the engine to suck it through the port for the pcv hose on the plenum. i guess it wasnt making it all the way to the rotor housings. i just cleaned the old plugs.
car started up right away. its so critical everything is done in order and properly.

thank you so much.