This is a bit long but please read, I desperately need help.

I recently bought a 1993 Twin Turbo FD with 85k mi which worked fine for about a week. Yesterday the car started to give me problems such as overheating and not starting until i let it sit and cool down for about half an hour.( I was not racing nor "hot rodding" it around) After that incident the car would idle very rough(the tach needle would fluctuate beetween 2,000 RPM - 100 RPM until the needle got down to 0 RPM and then would die) I got the car home and hoped it would be better in the morning( I was wrong =[ ) This morning I went out to start the car and it did the same thing by idling very rough and fluctuating until it died. While the car was idle there was thin white smoke coming from the exhaust, and a fairly quiet hissing sound coming from the upper right side of the engine bay when i lifted the hood.

Possible factors: When I bought the car the man who sold it too me said that one of the turbos was leaking oil. Also I asked him questions such as what type of gas too use(He said Premium) and what type of oil he had used. (He said Castrol 10w-40 which I have just read on another thread is not good) Also I asked him if the engine had been rebuilt or replaced which it hadn't. I have heard that rotory engines have to be rebuilt or replaced anywhere from 60-80k mi. So that could be a possibility also. I am trying to avoid costly repairs since i did just spend a lot of money on the car itself, so im hoping that the engine will not have to be rebuilt.

Any help would be extremely appreciated as I am new too this car and very dissappointed it has stopped working so soon. It was just so incredible the week or so I drove it.

Thanks,
Andy

 

I'm no expert, but engine overheat + hissing sound + won't hold idle = blown engine until proven otherwise in my book...

 

Sorry to hear that. Get the compression checked. I remember the experience a year back, have a new engine now.

 

Get a compression check done on the car.

The hissing sound could be a few things. Possibly a vacuum leak which would cause your idling problems, or a coolant leak which could be causing your overheating problem.

What happened when the car overheated? Did the coolant expansion overflow? Did the temp gauge go up to the red mark? What did you do, turn off the car?

If the car is having white smoke coming out of the tailpipe when the engine is warmed up, then it is possible that an coolant o-ring failed, which could lead to overheating or vice-versa. Do a pressure check on you cooling system. They rent a pressure tester at your nearest AutoZone.

You need to get a manual or download one from iluvmyrx7.com, and get to looking at the car if you don't want to spend the money to have someone else look at it.

 

I concur.

 

there has not been any leaking under the car. also when the car overheated the the temp gauge did not go up all the way it stayed about half way but the red "add coolant" light came on. all of the fluids were then checked by me and they were all full or close too it.

 

How do you know the car overheated if the temp gauge stayed in the middle?

Hate to tell ya, but if the engine is warmed up, you are having hard start or idling issues, you are seeing white exhaust when the engine is fully warmed up, and you are getting the add coolant light come on, you may have a damaged coolant o-ring. Check the cooling system with a pressure tester.

Again, as far as the hissing sound, check for a loose vacuum hose.

Come back after you tested the above.

 

Andy, My email is sk8world@hiwaay.net send me a email. I will see if I or another local FD owner can swing by and take a look at it. But from what I am reading it does sound like rebuild. I know you hate to here that and I hope I am wrong.. I can not think of any vac lines that would cause your car to have so many signs of motor failure. A vac line off will cause your car to idle high trying to make up for the loos of vacuum. But the signs you gave me, idle bouncing, white smoke, cutting off and now not able to start sounds like a bad motor.. If you do need a new motor I know one shop in town that I would trust.. Van Kleef (or cleef) Racing. He put in a rebuild for another local FD owner a year ago and did a fine job. BNR "Brian" in Bham is also a good source. If and when you get your car back running the mods you will need to do first are safety ones... Boost guage, new fluids in radiator, tranny and rearend. Then Fuel filter. After those are done and your car is running good, pulling the right amount of boost and vacuum. Then you can add catback, downpipe, intake, upgraded ecu. After that I would do the non sequential mod (some will so no to this but I like the idea of getting rid of all the vac lines and other parts that always seem to cause boost issues) There will be so many ways you can go but one thing I have learned is do it right the first time as it get very expensive to replace the same parts, example.. Upgrading to a stock mount IC (intercooler) then deciding to go front mount later... Wait, save and make a plan as for what you want... Mike