I don't know what to do. I pulled my 7 outta the garage to wash it today, and it ran great. Then when I started it to pull it in the garage...it ran like ****. Here is what happened.....

1. It started right up and then it started to sputter a bit. I let it run for a minute and it got worse.

2. When I got outta the car, the Greddy exhaust was shaking like a somebitch.

3. Then I got back in and gave it some gas...it had some stumbles along the way to running decent above 2000 rpm.

4. I could here the turbos spool a little, and the BOV was doing its part upon the spool.

5. Then the engine bay was examined and the engine was shaking till I grab the thottle and reved it a bit.

6. The exhaust was shooting water about 10-20 feet from just being washed.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't figure it out. I washed the engine bay yesterday, but nothing like this happened yesterday. What the hell could it be...cause I know 7's pretty well, and I can't figure it out at all. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks

TODD

 

MAP sensor? Probably just popped off after you got it wet yesterday. Open the hood and look on the driver's side firewall behind the intercooler elbow. There's a little black box about 1"x1"x1" and a hose should be going into it. Find it, and reattach. Yay!
~Tom

 

Ill go with Hyperite on this one.Be sure to look at the map and the plug wires.

 

well, sounds like a lot of water got in somewhere it shouldn't

 

Great, now I just went out and started it and it has no throttle response at all. I can practically floor the goddamn thing, and it almost doesn't respond.

 

I just checked the MAP sensor and it looks to be okay. I don't know what else it could be, so I don't know what to do. Damn....I hate this. It's driving me up the wall.

 

If you didn't let it warm up fully before you shut it off, it's possible that it got flooded some.

 

All right. I was just out there again. I have no boost, and no throttle response.

 

I'll bet it flooded. The engine never got up to optimum temp.
Firing it up, easing it out into the driveway during the rich warm-up stage, then shutting it down is a no-no. After checking MAP sensor connection, pull the plugs(from the bottom unless you have skinny arms), sniff them for fuel, and report back to us.

 

Okay, I haven't checked the plugs yet, but I can say that last night I started the car, and the car ran great for about 30 seconds. Then as I walked in the house to get my shoes so I could drive it around the block, it started it's idleing wierd and vibrating **** again. I'll check the plugs today and let you know later. I need some serious help please

 

I agree, pull the plugs and see how they look, see if there are any fuel droplets on them.

Pull all the plug wires off. Pull the eif fues. Remove one plug and turn the motor over for about 10-15 seconds. While that is spitting out fuel (hopefully) you can also listen for 3 distinct air burst. When done put that plug back in and do the other rotor the same way. You probably also need to replace all the plugs if it was flooded or somehow got water in it.

Hopefully that will help. Let us know how it goes. You can email me if you want. SJWhite2000@aol.com

STEPHEN

 

why don't you reset the ecu?
try it.

 

I don't think that you have to go to that extreme just yet. I'll try some things and then report back to you with the results.

 

Extreme!?!? Disconnect the battery and press on the brake pedal for 30 seconds. Reconnect the battery. That's how you reset the ECU. No harm, really really easy. Easier than changing plugs.
~Tom

 

I think you already answered your question

<quote>
I washed the engine yesterday
</quote>

NEVER EVER EVER *WASH* (with water) AN ENGINE

Guaranteed you got water in the electrics.
Wiring harnes, coils, some sensor somehwere etc etc.
And sometimes it takes a few hours before the water seeps into the wrong place which might explain why it ran ok for a few minutes while you pulled the car out of the garage and now it runs like crap.

This has happened to me twice, once when I was 16 with my first car. Washed the engine (duh) drove the car 40 miles before it all of a sudden up and died on me while driving. I sat on the side of the road for 30 minutes waiting for a friend to come pick me and when he got there I thought I'd give the car one last try and whattaya know it fired right up - engine heat while sitting must have evaporated the water. Similar thing happened recently while I was trying to clean the acid buildup off the terminals on a battery. Problem is the coil packs sit right next to the battery. Oops got a bit of water on one of the coils and the car started throwing faulty ignition codes and a bunch of other crap. Same deal I cleared the codes let it sit for a day and restarted. It ran fine - water in the electrics.

The best solution at this point it to follow Hyperite and reset the ECU let the car dry out for a day or two then try again. After that good luck.

Regards
Crispy

 

How would you recommend cleaning the engine bay/engine if there is no use of water? Is there a speciality cleaner that I can pick up?
Cheers,
Mike

 

Ok. Let's everyone just spray degreaser and let it sit there forever

I've washed my engine several times IN THE SUN, and after I washed it up, I just let the sun do its job, and everything was fine. I learned my lesson a long time ago with a celica I had. Something got wet somewhere and it ran like ****, but it's never happened to me in the FD cuz I always let it dry up.

Although I DID notice something once...... after washing the engine in the FD, I took it for a drive, and my fuel pressure was exactly 1/2 of what it usually us. I didn't boost for the moment, and I figured that the fuel pump resistor got wet. Well, after a few hours, fuel pressure got back to normal, and am positive that's what it was.

Moral of the story, make sure the engine bay is dried up.

 

Yea, I've cleaned my engine (once so far) and didn't have any problems.

The car smoked for a few minutes to burn off the excess degreaser but it was fine. I already had the battery out since I was working on the car, so all I covered were the battery cables and intake. Hosed down everything else.

However, after spraying down the engine to wash off the degreaser, I let the car sit for over 2 hours. Install the battery and other things I had out and then let the car sit for another hour before starting it.

 

Oh yeah. Disconnect the battery before washing engine is always a big plus

 

OK his car has problems but he has more problems! I need everyones help!!!!!! He wants to now sell is fd and his fc!!!!!!! I cant seem to make a dent in his choice! He now wants to buy a truck!!!! So other than the fd problem please help him realize what he is doing!

GOAT: dude dont sell your cars!!!!! I dont want to be the only one is this $hit a$$ town to drive a real car! Besides your fc is one amazing piece of machinery!!!!!
Anyways........... talk to you later

 

Oh good. I'm sure he needs a truck to pull a boat and to go off roading each weekend, if not, then tell him he jsut fell into the same mindless pot the rest of the americans fell in

 

Ok Ok don't everybody get your undies in a bunch
My comment was directed to those that get the water hose and spray down everything in their engine bay. The very careful use of a degreaser and water will do a great job but as for me I never use this on the topside of the motor. Maybe down underneath but am I going to stick a hose over my solenoid rack? Umm NO.
I do find it interesting that even though most of you guys say it's ok to use water when cleaning your engine most of you have also said you experienced some funky happenings with your car for a short period after the cleaning...sound like what happened to Todd? All I can say is if you do choose to use water to "clean" your engine bay be prepared for problems. Engine electrics are water resistant not water proof.

And for the poor guy who wants to sell his RX-7's to buy a truck...DON'T DO IT. You will regret it later. Trust me I've been there and 8 years later I still regret selling my turbocharged FC 'vert

Regards,
Crispy
PS I wasn't trying to lecture just pointing out the possible cause of Todd's car running like crap that no one else seemed to have mentioned. Oh well.

 

This was BEFORE I learned my lesson. My lesson of making sure I wash the engine bay on a sunny hot day and to remember to disconnect the battery. Washing it in the morning and then letting the sun dry it. This method has never given me any problems, and I have washed the FD's engine bay over 5 times. I had the funky problem with my previous car.

 

Flyby, Todd apparently hasn't learned the same lesson. Continue to use a hose on your engine
at your own risk, it's your car. IMO it's just not worth it.
S'all I got to say on the matter.
Crispy

 

I went through the car this morning. I took out the plugs and the second rotor(nearest to the firewall) was covered in gas, leading and trailing. The plugs looked pretty black, so I'm running a little rich(that's a good thing). Anyway, I took off the filters to my turbos to see if I ingested some water or something. I did notice that the coupler to my intercooler inlet from the turbo has black oil in it. I don't know what that means yet. But I'm fearing the worst. I'm going home tonight to check the compression, but I'm thinking that maybe it wasn't the water after all, maybe I blew a seal somewhere. Damn!!!!! I'm beggining to hate this ****. I used to love to work on cars. If all of you could see my project FC you would understand. I just don't know if I want to do this **** anymore. So that's why I'm thinking of buying a 2002 Dodge Ram 2500. And then I want to get a 2002 Kawasaki Ninja ZX-9R. If anyone else has a suggestion, please let me know ASAP....I'm going crazy over here.