3rd Generation Specific (1993-2002) 1993-2002 Discussion including performance modifications and Technical Support Sections.
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Old Feb 25, 2003 | 08:07 PM
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Too Rich

my car has been smoking alot...whenever i accelerate i will get tons of black smoke out the exaust. even with the slightest tap of the gas i will get smoke. i am getting very bad gas milage. lots of carbon is spitting out my exaust, and at idle the exaust stinks of fuel.

i just got new plugs and installed them today, it seemed to help a little but not a big improvement

my FD is stock all except for a DP and AST.

anyone have any ideas what i could do?
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Old Feb 25, 2003 | 09:13 PM
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How many miles? What's bad gas mileage? Need more info...sound like you are running really rich but will need to know more about your car before saying so.
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Old Feb 25, 2003 | 10:37 PM
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maybe try the o2 sensor but i doubt its that
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Old Feb 26, 2003 | 02:29 PM
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there are 46k miles on a japanese engine (not sure which year the engine came off of though)

gas milage is about 190-210 miles to a tank with highway and city driving
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Old Feb 26, 2003 | 02:30 PM
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Get new spark plugs. If that doesn't work, get new O2 sensor.
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Old Feb 26, 2003 | 02:31 PM
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I dont mean to hijack this thread but i think my cars running real rich to. Is a lot of backfire common? Im all stock cept cat-bak exhaust.
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Old Feb 26, 2003 | 02:36 PM
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Few of the first things I did when I bought my FD was to change the spark plugs, O2 sensor, and fuel filter.
Those are the most common reasons for shitty mileage.
Also consider that 15 MPG is about normal for our cars.
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Old Feb 26, 2003 | 02:37 PM
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i got new spark plugs yesterday and it dident seem to help any.
where is the O2 sensor located and how can i tell if it is bad (sorry i'm a Noobie)...how much does a new one cost?
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Old Feb 26, 2003 | 04:29 PM
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The O2 sensor is on the downpipe near the turbo. You can get a Bosch replacement for $20 but you will have to splice the wire from your stock one because the new one won't have the connector. You can buy the OEM with the connector but it will cost you $120 for the same thing.
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Old Feb 26, 2003 | 07:48 PM
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could not having my airpump connected affect anything?
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Old Feb 26, 2003 | 08:10 PM
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From: dallas
you should probally hook up your airpump......why do you have it unhooked anyway?
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Old Feb 26, 2003 | 08:11 PM
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Originally posted by JhnRx7
could not having my airpump connected affect anything?
YES

Reconnect it and make sure the midcat is not clogged do a search for symtoms of a clogged exhaust. A simpler solution is to get a midpipe and with the stock catback you should not spike to high.
Good luck
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Old Feb 26, 2003 | 10:26 PM
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check your injectors
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Old Feb 27, 2003 | 03:05 PM
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i went to go and reconnect my air pump yesterday and i noticed that when the guy disconnected it he mangled the whole thing...wires are cut too short (dont reach the others) and the connecter is shattered.
why would someone disconnect it? the guy that owned the car before me said that he did it because there are no emissions (SP?) here in Florida...but what would be an advantage of disconnecting it??
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Old Feb 27, 2003 | 05:03 PM
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I can think of 3 areas to check out.

1. Fuel pressure regulator. Either the regulator itself or the manifold pressure it's seeing is bad. If the fuel pressure is too high, you'll run rich.

2. Stuck and/or leaking fuel injector(s).

3. Bad sensor/wire/etc. causing the computer to run the car too rich.

If your car was running ok earlier without the air pump, it's probably not that.
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Old Feb 28, 2003 | 06:34 PM
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well i had my mechanic look at my FD today, he fixemd my air pump and he said my O2 sensor was probally bad and i was going to bring the car back next week for him to fix it...when i got home i popped the hood and it was extremely hot (hotter than normal)...i then heard a bubbling sound from the coolent filler neck and the AST...I turned the ignition to on and turned the fans on and i heard the ADD COOLENT buzzer i left the fans on to let the car cool down.

not sure why it did that, i had the A/C on the whole time I was driving, i was not pushing it hard and the engine only has 45k miles on it.

do you guys think my O-Rings are going? if so do you think the CRC Block Weld will fix it?
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Old Mar 1, 2003 | 02:10 AM
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I've had a third gen. Rx-7 for three years. From what I can figure the rotary runs hot period. I live in N.E. and in the summer if I drive for awhile the engine tends to overheat alittle. You might want to get an aftermarket radiator, a friend of mine said that the stock radiator is too small. The rotary runs extra hot because of the fact that there are three explosions per one revolution and all that heat is confined to a pretty small area. My car has never run perfect, I think the rotary was a great idea but in reality it is not a very reliable and economical design. Its too bad because when you think of its inherent qualities it seems like it should be more efficient. Unfortunately gas is going to only up so I guess I will be mothballing my car for the next year or so. Good luck.
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