Rotorhead Questions (Long, Sorry)
 

I bought my car about 2 years ago and i havent done much to it. I have Greddy Airinx intake, dp and mp (newb move i know but according to my boost gauge there was no creep, it held good at 12psi) I put in a PowerFC and did the master reset on it and ran it in my car. I was told that it should perform like the stock ecu and reading up on here it does to certain extents. Now to the problem, i was on the road and about 4 times previously i would be WOT and at 5-6k rpms the car would fall on its face (fuel cut?) but then it would drive fine. I noticed that when it fell on its face black smoke would shoot out of the exhaust then clear right up, but i was driving and i gave it some gas in 3rd and the car would sputter so i let off and put it in 4th and it sputtered some more, i then pushed in the clutch and the rpms dropped fine but then the car shut off and i couldnt get it started. Since then, about 2 months, i have had it started but it only starts when i push it and pop the clutch, even when its running it sounds really rough. I took out the 2 trailing plugs and listened for the 6 hits and they all sounded healthy, so i dont think the engine is blown. If i try to start the car with the key i hear metallic grinding and the rpms bounce up to 4k. My battery is really low and i have tried putting a charge on it but it doesnt help. I bought a new reman starter cause the old tested bad and i put on the new one and it still didnt do anything. The front part that spins on the airpump is making noise and moving in and out when the ignition is on and i hear clicking coming from right in front or below the UIM. The car is sitting right now and i have prolonged this thread cause i was searching but i have many little things that are wrong and it makes it hard to pinpoint exactly what i'm looking for...i also had fitzrx7 over and he looked it over and just isnt quite sure what it could be, we adjusted the TPS cause it was off a little but it didnt help. When i push it and get it started and warmed up to operating temp it wants to die, i have to feather the throttle to keep it running, maybe some fouled out fuel injector?

If i think of more i will post it and if you have any questions please help...i need this fixed for HIN in Chicago on March 31st if at all possible. Thanks for reading and hopefully this all makes sense.

Yep, it sounds like you were hitting fuel cut, and your ECU was cutting things off. Good thing, too, since 12psi is NOT a safe level to run with the stock fuel system. It can be done, but without a wideband or other measures there is no way to know if you were getting enough fuel to the engine.

Get a real compression test done. The poor mans method is good when you can't actually crank the engine, but it will only detect big problems. You may have a smaller problem in the engine.

Is the starter grinding on the flywheel teeth? Might this starter have a bad solenoid? Are we talking about your reman starter?

OK, you need a new battery. Lots of electrical problems can kill a battery. When recharging doesn't solve it, buy a new battery. No point in waiting around, or doing other troubleshooting until you have a good battery again.

With the engine off, can you make the air pump pully move in/out? (You might want to loosen the belt with the adjuster at the alternator first). Sounds like the clutch/bearing at the air pump might be bad.

The clicking may be the air pump trying to engage the clutch, or it might be something else. There are a lot of components under the UIM that make soft clicks now and then, but if it's loud you should try to pinpoint the problem. The trick of listening with a piece of tubing really works, try it.

Maybe you should have a compression test run first.

Well I would get on it right away and schedule a compression test, buy a battery, and inspect that airpump.

Thanks very much for the response i will keep you updated on what i find out

The reman starter does the same thing as the old one, i was going to take in the new one and have them test it and if its bad too, then get another one. I'm not sure if its grinding on the flywheel.

Here is a video of what i am hearing with just the ignition on.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ighlight=sound

If fitz couldn't figure it out in person, my speculation over the net is worthless. But here's hoping the compression comes back OK. :scratch:

bump

i just decided to take the airpump off, i bought the elimination kit so i will do that when i get it in the mail. as far as the clicking under the uim i havent checked into that any further, i just think that it is a wiring issue to one of the injectors or the injector is bad, if thats the case and i take the uim off how should i diagnose that as being the problem?

just started to take off the uim and i was looking at this blue connector and it wasnt connected to anything...any ideas on what it should connect to? i took the airpump but i dont think i unplugged this from the airpump

http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/3...nnectormz0.png

That could be the connector for the EGR valve, which was installed only on California cars.

^Yep. It's not suppost to be connected to anything. Throws alot of people off the first time they see it though.
------>https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...=egr+connector

what about the two black connectors to the left of the blue connector? they are connected now but when the car was clicking and one of them was unplugged it stopped clicking but then i unplugged the fan switch and it started clickin again. By the passenger side headlight there are 3 connectors that mess with the fans, they are doing some crazy things to my car...i had a cd in and it would work just fine but then i would plug one of those fan connectors back in and there would be a loud buzzing coming from my speakers.

Your radiator fans are unplugged??? :MissileSm

my car isnt running right now...i just turn it to the on position, i havent had the car running with them unplugged.

The two black connectors to the left of the blue connector are very important--they're for your wastegate and precontrol solenoid. make sure those suckers stay plugged in.

Sounds like a problem with the battery/electrical system. Check all your grounds, as Dave mentioned get a new battery and make sure you have solid connections on the pos and neg terminals.

Thanks, i will be getting an optima red top and i'll check the grounds