Hey, What will make an Fd flood. Any common Problems? I was driving last week and went to a friends house. when I Came back out, the car had a sluggish start.
It sound, and smelled like it was flooding. Now the car won't start. It sounds like it wants to go but it doesn't. I pulled the plugs and were drenched. Getting spark, but not kicking over. Any ideas?

 

do a search about flooding

 

While there's a lot of info out there about this, here's a quick answer: don't start the car and turn it back off while it's still cold. That's a great way to flood it.

To unflood, the quickest/easiest way is to go to the fuse box next to the battery, and pull out the fuse marked "EGI." This disables the fuelpump, so it won't keep feeding the engine fuel.

With the fuse out, crank the engine 5 X for 15 seconds a peice. Don't worry, if your battery is fine, it'll handle it. Wait the full 15 seconds.

Now, go back and put the fuse in. Try to crank it, 9 times outta 10 it should start right up, and smoke a good bit. Give the car a hard run.

If this doesn't work, I'd get a can of WD-40, and using the straw it comes w/, spray into the nipple on the UIM for a good 5 seconds. Let the car sit for a min, then crank it. Now it should def. start.

If it doesn't, DAMN lol...then pull out the leading plugs and the EGI fuse, and while they're out, crank 5 X for 15 sec a peice. I suggest you tie everything away cuz sparks will be flying. You might want a friend nearby w/ a fire extinguisher as well . When you're done, it'll have spit out all the fuel it had. Replace the plugs & fuse, and crank, and it should start right up.

If this STILL doesn't work, THEN re-post, in which case, good luck

PS: I wrote the procedures out in order of easiest/least time consuming

 

I'm having almost an exact same problem with my car right now. Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead.

I started the car when the engine was cold, drove it back into the garage and then turned it off. So the car was running for about 10 sec max. A few days later I go to start it, no starting. The engine turns over, but no vroom. I smell gas in the exhaust and the battery works fine. So im guessing the engine is flooded.

I tried pulling out the EGI and then cranking it over, I put it back in and then the car still would not start. Looks like tommrow I either have to take the plugs out and the relay and try cranking it or use this wd40 method.

 

If you can't get it started after that, then when you pull the plugs turn it over with the egi fuse out and then after that shoot some ATF or 20w50 oil in the spark plug holes. Theres no way that it wont start after that.

 

Yeah man you can't just turn it on and then back off....its a rotary man..

 

saburo, before you go pulling the plugs, pull the EGI fuse, and crank her FIVE times, w/ each time being a FULL 15 seconds. I mean count slow. One......two......three..... etc. If you have a battery charger, hook it up while you do this so you don't drain your battery too much. But yea, crankin 5 times for 15 seconds each usually works very well. Then, spray the WD-40 into the UIM nipple, and give it a good 10 - 15 seconds to work. Now, get back in the car, and here's the trick: when you put the fuse back in, FLOOR THE GAS PEDAL FIRST AND HOLD IT THERE, then drop the clutch and crank. Flooring the pedal and holding it there cuts off the fuel pump while you're cranking, so you won't re-flood the engine. Prob the first time you try cranking, she'll try for maybe 7 or 8 seconds, and almost catch for a sec. Then try again, w/ the gas pedal still on the floor...she'll come closer to catching. Then again...by the 3rd of 4th crank, she'll be sputtering, almost starting, and you just gotta help her through it...and once you get her going, yes, it's bad cuz she's cold, but HOLD THE REVS, cuz she'll sputter and die. Let her blow her 2 min of blue smoke, warm up, and take her out and redline the hell outta her. Enjoy

~Ramy

 

Yeah, but its still a car.

You should be able to just "turn it on and then back off" as many times as you want and the car should still start. I know mine does.

 

I think you've been lucky. Even my 1st-gen RX7 would flood if you didn't warm it up before turning it off. I've never flooded my FD, but i also never turn it off while it's still cold.

 

All cars can flood, especially when they are only moved a few feet. Seen it happen on plenty of piston cars. It's not just a rotary thing, but it is more common on them (and apparently harder to clear).

 

In the future, if you are only going to start the car for a brief period, before you shut off the ignition, rev the engine to about 3000 rpm, and switch off the ignition while holding the revs.

It has worked for every one of my 7s, and you don't have to sit and wait for the engine to warm up.

 

well i pulled out the egi fuse and cranked the motor for a long time, stuck it back in and then kept trying to start the engine. On the 4th try, the motor finally kicked on and it came to life. White smoke was coming out of the exhaust for a few minutes and the idle was shitty. Took it for a hard drive and now it runs 100%. I also found that one of the leading plug wires was on very loose, i tightened that up as well. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

try going WOT while you crank with the fuse out. works on my 88 S4.
replace fues, start like normal...hopefully

hope it helps

 

saburo, told ya it'll work Pulling the plugs is only required if the plugs are completely fouled. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure EGI + WD-40 + holding pedal down while cranking will (almost) always work

On a sidenote, saburo, you know who this is, right? Gene's friend from JGTC... me, you, Gene and Walien kicked it for a few that Sunday night...

 

My 2nd gen used to flood all the time.. it sucked.

 

Cloead, I'm def. no expert, and in fact, I'm sure you'd know better than I, but I'd venture to say that if your car's flooding regularly, and you're not turning it on and off while it's still cold, there's another underlying issue at hand...

 

I know, my 2nd gen had many problems and common flooding was just one of them :p