wf7soccer

car was running fine, no symptoms of any problems. car stock with minor reliability mods. i drove it 2 weeks ago. pumped gas, parked it in the garage and now it wont crank. i go to crank the car up and the starter starts but the motor wont crank. popped the hod and saw that the belts turn. it gave one sign of wanting to crank once by a slight pop noise but never did. its not a daily and hardly drive it. it has 118K on the miles. recently rebuilt the starter, and the battery is brand new. i installed brand new spark plugs and cables at 113K. what could be the problem? bad motor? new spark plugs needed? any input would be helpful and appreciated!

wf7soccer

bump for some help...

JesusGLS

iTrader: (5)

OK... so the motor does crank but just doesnt turn on then?

jfolley

iTrader: (1)

I have had similar issues in the past. After my car sat for some time it would not want to start. Then by trying to start it I would end up fuel fowling the plugs. I would start there. Get some new plugs and see what happens. Before you put the new plugs in disconnect your fuel pump (either by unplugging in through the access port in the trunk, or by pulling the relay) and have someone turn the motor over for 5-10 seconds to blow everything out of the combustion chambers. Make sure your coils are disconnected so the plug wires don't arc to anything igniting any excess fuel coming from the motor. Once that is done put the new plugs in and reconnect everything and give it a shot.

Keep your eyes on what ever comes out of the spark plug ports when you go to blow them out, if its just some fuel you are prob. fine. On mine I began to smell something sweet (like syrup) and started seeing coolant come out of the ports... Bad coolant seal.

Good luck, and I hope this helps.
-John

NOPISTONS?

I've had this problem, I have a set of plugs to rotate when this happens. I would unplug the fuel pump and hold the throttol open then put the dry plugs in. Now if it doesent start fast I rock the peadle a little as it cranks and it hasent been happening. But I have 850 primary's.

wf7soccer

yeah my bad it wont turn on. just gave that one sign of it wanting to turn on but thats it.

thanks john! i will do this as soon as i get a chance.

thanks for your help! im going to get some new plugs asap and give this a try.

89fc3sgtu

iTrader: (3)

i would do a compression test first then if the motor is good try to pull start it my fc used to do that crank but not start but we pull started it and it was fine

bajaman

Er...IF you just started it and parked it after only running a minute or so, that is the NUMBER ONE no-no with a rotary, as it is a guaranteed way to flood the engine. Don't ever do that, let the car run for several minutes.

A tried and true way to deflood is simply this: get in the car, hold the gas pedal to the floor. NOW crank the starter, do NOT let off the gas whilst cranking, do this for 15 seconds or so. Stop cranking, let off the pedal.
Now crank it over without touching the gas pedal. It may try to 'catch', but do NOT touch the gas pedal!
Repeat the first cycle, the key thing is to have the pedal to the floor before you start cranking as the ECU recognizes it should not supply fuel to the engine under this condition.
Repeat the second cycle.
Repeat the sequence until the car starts. It WILL evenutally start, it will run like **** and smoke like hell, but eventually clear out the excess fuel. You need a FULLY charge battery, and it is a good idea to have a charger on the car whilst doing this.

This is a VERY common problem with rotary engines. My FC used to flood at the drop of a hat, I have fucked up two or three times doing exactly what you did with my FD and it flooded bad.

If you ever have your car at a shop, you must caution them against just starting it up, pulling it inside or whatever, and then shutting it down. Same for if you ever loan your car out.

There are numerous un-flooding techniques, do a search but I will guarantee you my way will get your car started.

wf7soccer

thanks guys for the help info! i didnt just start it and turn it right off though. i would never do that. i actually drove it fine that whole day. i parked it when i got home and a week later it didnt want to start. but i will try all this asap. thanks again for the help!