I'm a newbie, and have had the car for less then a week. Car has good vacuum (16-17 on idle) and a good boost pattern (10-8-10 then trails off). Engine feels strong, idles normally well (800), and there is no smoke coming from the back.

Ok, I was following my buddy home, and he jumped on it around a corner. I followed, cut first short, then romped on second to redline, and then shifted to.... I hope fifth (I was trying for third, but I'm still not used to the box, so I miss it a lot to fifth when I'm on it hard, ARGH!). Because the car just did nothing went I got back on my gas.

I got a bit flustered at this point, shifted tofourth, got back on it, car pulled. So I downshifted to third and hit the gas, and the car pulled like a banshy. FUN!

Anyway, slow it down, took about 1.5 minutes to get home from this point. As I'm pulling into the garage, the car is starting to really idle rough. I have to pull up past my garage, reverse and then pull in. So when I started to try to pull in, the car died (I think partly my fault with poor driving). Restarted and pulled in. Car idled really rough. No smoke or anything coming from the exhaust.

So I started her up this morning. RPMS went up to 3K, hit the gas, came down to 1500, and vacuum was a strong 16. I get out, look at the exhaust. Just water condensation type smoke (clear) from the exhaust. Then I hear the car drop to about 1100RPM, more smoke now, but the vacuum is 17. Distinct smell of fuel though.

I didn't wind up driving the car to work due to expected rain, so I just shut her down.

Sorry for the long post. I'm a bit paranoid right now since I just got the car. Are there any problems here that I should be concerned about? Sorry for the long post.

ERIK

94 White FD
dp,boost guage, ACT clutch, SR flywheel, alum AST

 

Just your spark plugs probly went foul, these cars had the tendency to run realy rich. but check the plugs then hopefully ull be straight

 

ttt.

Thanks T88. Any other thoughts? Help a newb out, please!

E

 

I had a similar problem when I first got the car too. Check your vac line that runs to the map sensor too if you're getting the fuel smell and more smoke that one could have popped off

 

I had a hard run, and then started to see the rough idle too. I changed the plugs, which were pretty bad, and the problem is still the same. Map sensor is fine, no vac lines under the manifold went bad either. Any Ideas?

 

My guess is on the plugs too, during hard driving they're gonna see a good amount of fuel dumped in them, then suddenly leting off isn't going to help in combusting it all. Change the plugs and see what happens.

 

Wasn't the plugs in my case... any other ideas?

 

When i had the fuel smell it was bad injectors and pulsation dampiner.

 

There are a couple different screws on the throttle body that can both have an effect on idle. Fire it up and play around with those a bit, I had a bouncing idle that I was able to fix by adjusting the screws.

 

Telltale signs of a blown motor (compromised apex seals/low compression):

1. Upper Intake Manifold shakes at idle.

2. At a constant idle rpm (~8-900) vacuum is very low, ie 10-12 in Hg or -250 to -300 mm Hg.

3. At a constant idle rpm, needle on boost gauge oscillates regularly.

4. Distinctive chugging sound out the exhaust at idle.

5. Car pulls weakly at lower rpms (below ~2000) and then seems fine.

Guys, if you're experiencing these symptons, drive the car as little as possible and don't boost it at all. You're just risking further damage to the internal parts of the motor and making a rebuild much more expensive.

Eric7, my dad lives in Morristown and knows quite a bit about FDs. I'm sure he'd be glad to help you.....shoot him a PM, his screenname is karken29.

hope this helps--

 

Hey Goodfellas,

Thanks. I will do that. Car has been being painted for the last 3 weeks so I haven't driven it. I get it back tomorrow, if I can get out of work.

I did drive it about 100 miles since my "problem" and the car ran great. My buddy and I are going to do all the maintenance type changes to be safe.

But I will definitely get in touch with your dad. I appreciate the help.

ERIK

 

No problem at all--I'll give him a heads up .

If you happen to stop by my house, he might even give you a ride in the BNR beast

 

don't know about your problem but i do know that if you keep missing that 2nd to 3rd shift and hitting 5th you're gonna destroy the 5th gear sychro, so be CAREFUL. i know this from my own experience. practice shifting and invest in a good short shift kit and save yourself the $400 to $700 it's going to cost you to fix the tranny.
andy

 

Rich, Can you explain that "risking further damage" idea. I was under the impression that a crate motor would be needed anyway. A Mazda Reman.

Like in my case you guys checked my compression in mid 6 range. I've got some of the symptoms listed. Not all. I know I need a new engine soon. To drive it or not to drive it, that is the question.

btw - my motor has 60k miles on it.

 

What symptoms are you experiencing? It all depends on what is wrong inside the motor. You could tear up your rotor housings, side plates, even send a chunk out the exhaust ports and lunch a turbine wheel. I've pulled apart my motor before and found a seal broken cleanly in half---perpendicular to the long side of the rectangular seal, if that makes sense. Luckily for me it stayed in place. If you're using a crate motor (and I do recommend this), then you still have to watch out for your turbos.

Lemme know exactly what it's doing, and then I can better answer the question of to drive or not to drive. Are you seeing 6s compression on all 6 rotor faces?

 

Thanks for the reply, Chris said 6's on all faces, both rotors. My symptoms, hunting idle, slight chugging out of exhaust. (no uim vibration) Preliminary diagnosis, (Steve was away on tuning trip) was cracked apex seal. (small crack) I'll take it over and have Steve give it a listen in the next week or two. Anyway...
I'm about a month away from funding to fix it. Then all the other things that it needs. I'll have to see if Steve can take a second mortgage on the house.

 

After some more reading of this forum, I'm getting the point of not missing 3rd any longer. I drove a very close gearbox S2000 for 3 years. You think I'd be able to get a hold of this. Thanks for heads up.

I might just have to make it a point to stop by your house. I would feel bad if I made him travel anyway to help me!!