Hello everyone,

I've just collected my RX7 yesterday and was really thrilled. After driving for 5hrs and reaching home safely, I was just admiring the engine bay while I noticed that the turbos was glowing red hot!!!

Is this a natural thing to happen? I have also noticed another problem was that when I tried to accelerate hard from 2000rpm in third gear, the car seems to choke, but there was no problem in accelerating hard from 4000rpm.

Anyone have any idea with these two issues would be very helpful.


Thanks.

 

glowing turbos is not uncommon but what you mentioned sound like a clogged pre-cat.

 

I agree. Pull the precat if you have it, and see if that's clogged. Then throw it away anyhow and install a regular downpipe.

If you don't have a precat, pull the main cat and see if it's clogged or broken up inside.

If the exhaust checks out, I would consider if you have a dripping injector. Leaky injectors can dump more fuel that the spark can burn cleanly, and if that results in afterburn in the turbos/ downpipe then you'll get extreme heat in the turbo and glowing. I had this problem, and I woudl get glowing when I started the car and let it idle.

But overall, a little glowing after the car was run really hard is normal. But since heat in the FD engine bay is such a reliability killer, I woudl still pursue it.

Dave

 

What are your mods? You could also be running lean which would cause this as well. As the car leans out the EGT's go up which would cause this. But it is more likely your cat or pre cat because it is a more common problem

 

This is most likely the annoying "3500 rpm hesitation" under moderate to hard acceleration that is common to nearly all FDs that have the stock ECU. Numerous theories on the cause have been bantered about, and numerous "fixes" have so far yielded inconclusive results.

 

2000 rpm pull in third I would think it would bog or (choke) as these engines don't really have the torque for a low rpm pull. When troubleshooting the boost pattern I believe it usually starts at 35 mph (so you can pull through from 3k to redline) and I know mine is a dog till it gets to 3k. What is your boost pattern at this time ?

 

did your right foot get a little happy for a little while?

 

Pics??

 

The glowing is normal if you were boosting a lot. Just make sure to let the car idle a few minutes if they got that hot.

 

ya know i see you guys mention checking the pre-cat but after having them off on several occasions i don't see how you guys are checking them unless you can transform into a mouse and crawl in there. (you can have a perfect looking downstream catalyst but a totally clogged upstream head of the catalyst, upstream is the portion you CANNOT see unless you are very creative with a mirror or have a borescope) that or i was sniffing too many rotary fumes while thinking on the subject at the time and the O2 sensor bung gives view of the upstream portion...

 

Glowing turbos = running at max efficiency (typically). Its a good thing.

 

get an Apexi Power FC. only sure way to eliminate the hesitation/stumble.

 

Check and search 3k hesitation as it is a common issue often related to engine grounding. I would agree the fix is often inconclusive. In any event I changed my top engine ground wire -firewall to middle of the engine - with a part from one of those posts-it was like $12-20 at the dealer-in stock. The problem went away. The original ground was a 12-14 gauge wire with a plastic clip mid way. The new wire is solid braided copper and similar to other ground wires on the engine. The car just spit, choked and jolted on the shift right between the rmp's you mention. As soon as the wire was replaced it went away.

 

When my main cat was clogged I couldnt accelerate hard from any rpm. I could go through the rpm's under about 20% throttle, but anymore than that It would bog. So i got a downpipe, and a few weeks later it happened again. And i read that if you disconnect the neg. battery terminal and step on the brake pedal for 30 secs it will reset something to do with the fuel system. Every since then, no problems. Now I have a blown motor due to boost creep.

 

Shouldn't be to hard to fix...

Congratulations on your new FD!

Drive safe and enjoy!

Dwayne

PS... Welcome to the addiction!

 

There are plenty of owners who have enough ground wire on their chassis/engine to run a small power distribution station, but it did nothing to help the hesitation. That's what I meant by "have so far yielded inconclusive results".

 

Thank you all for your comments and help... I'll be taking my car for service and have it checked out at the same time... will let you all know if something iteresting happens.

 

Have a lot of you guys with twins seen your turbos glowing? I've never noticed that on my car running 12 PSI. Maybe it's because I stay out of boost for the last couple miles before shutting it off?

A friend of mine had a 1.8T A4 several years ago and added a chip to raise boost. After a hard run, I saw the turbo glowing bright orange. According to him, it didn't glow like that before adding the chip, but maybe he just never noticed it?

 

It is NOT normal. I have NEVER seen my turbos glowing in driving, not even after a 25-minute track session running 12-13 psi. The ONLY time I have ever seen my turbos glow was during dyno runs at high boost. The turbos cooled to the normal dull color after a few seconds. You have a mechanical problem as some have suggested.

 

even at 14psi. mine dont glow. least not that ive seen. but i usually drive slowly before I get home.

 

I used to get my FC Turbo II to glow a whole lot when on track.

 

Haven't run this one on the track yet, but I never saw them glowing on my old track car at 15PSI. It's always daytime after a session, so maybe I just didn't see it. Did you back off at all on the cool down lap?

 

If you can see your exhaust manifold glowing a bright orange in broad daylight under normal driving circumstances, then yes, there is a problem. However, even after a cooldown period, if you look at your exhaust manifold in the dark of a garage or night after an extended session of high boost, you will see a faint glow. You cannot be pushing that much exhaust energy through the stock manifold setup without some of it staying in the metal even after cooldown.

 

Too much unburnt fuel in the exhaust will cause this issue exactly. It can be a stuck injector and it can also be a bad injector o-ring. I take it the downpipe was probably glowing too. if you can see it clearly in normal daylight, then there is a problem. The exhaust is very hot and will eventually fatigue if left un-fixed. Check your gas mileage after normal driving. I would say if it is below 18 mpg with no boosting, then you have a fueling issue.

Also ditch the pre-cat if it is still installed. That is somewhat easy to take off... somewhat....well maybe not...

 

bummer....


+1 usually the by the time you park, pop the hood, get out walk over and open the hood, the glowing is long gone.

I've yet to see my turbos glow and I've tried lol

yup you gotta a heat dissipation problem. Especially FROM JUST DRIVING HOME. Check them cats like everyone else has said. don't ignore it. Heat is our worst enemy.