So once in a while my FD is kind of hard to start...I just keep cranking it while feathering the gas pedal (like a carbed motorcycle) and it eventually starts up. Is there anything else I need to do or just drive it around and it's all good? It seems to be doing this more and more lately (I drive the car only once a week or two weeks). Usually a lot of blue smoke comes out of the exhaust for about 30 seconds and then it clears up.

My car also seems to leak a ton of oil, even while sitting...not sure if this is relevant.

 

First off, the #1 cause of flooding is cold starting, moving the car, and shutting it off. If you ever do that, stop. I usually drive the car once around the block to get some heat in the motor. Or, if you're just moving it from the garage to the driveway to wash it or something, just drop the E-brake and push the car out.

Second, how old are your plugs? Worn out plugs can cause starting issues.

Third, how old is the engine? Have you done a compression test? Bad/worn engines will be harder to start.

All that said, if it is flooded, the best thing to do after it starts is keep it running, drive it around, and get some heat in the engine. That will clean the plugs off and get any extra gas or oil out of the system.

There's something else going on, the car shouldn't be that hard to start cold.

Dale

 

It usually starts up quickly...but the last two times I drove it it was a little tricky to start. The plugs have about 500 miles on them, I put them in right before getting a tune at a renowned shop with my adaptronic. I may have him to adjust it, he said that it might be a little rich on cold start.

It's an original engine with 74k miles...I have not done a compression test.

So even if it floods, as long as I am able to start the car and get a good drive in, then nothing else needed...gotcha. I'll try to drive the car more often as well.

 

You may have some leaky injectors...that would exacerbate the issue.
Check to see if you are getting any fuel dilution in the oil.

 

^Mmmm, I know what you're saying Greg, but every rotary I've lifted the hood on had at least some fuel dilution. And if it is rich on cold start that would add to it. I guess my point is if he's got some fuel dilution it wouldn't necessarily point to leaking injectors. Could be other things. including worn hard seals (low compression). Based on what he said about the tune in my mind it's likely just starting it cold with a tune that's too rich and not running it very long.

 

I've been driving the car more these past couple days and haven't really had any issues with starting it...I probably need to drive the car more often but we shall see if it continues. My tuner says he can also lean it out for cold starts, which will probably help.

 

How do you know it's flooding?

3rd gens aren't known to flood on start/shutdown like 2nd gens are. You could have other issues that should be ruled in or out like compression and worn o-rings

 

seems like the opposite to me though, being too lean during cranking, so you keep on cranking until there is enough fuel to start the engine.

 

Feathering the throttle and having it start, means introducing more air, which reduces amount of gas in the mix, so no not lean.

What ECU is OP running?
Tuner probably did not do tune your crank map.

 

I have adaptronic select with BNR turbos...my tuner says he can adjust things for me, so we'll see. I'm going to throw a midpipe on and re-adjust things regardless.