newtgomez

So I got as far as the motor going back in to place because of a bunch of small last minute stuff like making 2 trips in to town, resealing the oil pan, having to take the turbos off after realizing I forgot about the heat shields, etc...

Here is where I am currently





I have to order one exhaust stud and all the downpipe studs because I apparently forgot to order enough...I also somehow managed to break the big o-ring on the y pipe so Ill either find another o ring or rob the one off my old y pipe. So far it has been a great trip and hopefully its running by thanksgiving!

TomU

iTrader: (11)

You need to drop a 13brew into that vette

newtgomez

That almost sounds like a good idea...My dad and my tuner always say "It's not too late for a v8". Personally, I just think they need some magical rotary power in their life! If I had the money and the vette was mine, I would definitely swap a 13B-REW in it! That vette has been sitting for a little over 10 years all because of the massive amount of fiberglass work it needs!

newtgomez

Between work and having to be home around 6, not much has happened! The car is almost completely back together and still needs the exhaust system hooked up, the cooling system put back together, and parts of the intake need to be bolted in. I'm getting pretty excited and can't wait to drive her again! I used an add a circuit box to power all of my gauges and everything looks like it is working fine and dandy!



I love the look of my dash set up so much and I'm extremely glad to have my speedhuts. While the stock cluster is pretty good looking, I just prefer this color scheme and gauge set up a lot better! Everything is where it needs to be in plain sight but also at the same time not blocking any vision like a pillar pod would.

Only part I have to wait for is a singular driveline bolt which will hopefully get here friday and then hopefully start up attempts will start this weekend!

jacobcartmill

iTrader: (6)

wow the gauges look great!

newtgomez

Soooo I got everything back together today and she is now clean and runs great! Gauges even work too!

So first start up was a little sketchy. I primed the fuel system to check for leaks, put some oil in the leading plug holes, pulled the egi relay, and then cranked the car over to gain some oil pressure...and she accidently fired up! I shut the key off right away and then put the egi relay back in and she fired right up again. The were no leaks but I definitely didn't put enough coolant in the system and she got up to 230F for a second before I shut her off at an idle. That was a nervous 10 or so minutes!

So I let her cool off and put about half a gallon in the throttle body line and the filler neck and then fired her up again and went for a drive. Damn...I missed the feeling of driving such a wonderful car!

After the drive I gave her a bath and parked her away for the day!



Cheers to a wonderful, leak free day!

newtgomez

So I guess I spoke too soon on being leak free. ..I found a leak on the primary turbo on the passenger side coolant feed line...that really sucks because I replaced the copper washer to prevent this from happening...Another problem is there seems to be something draining the battery. ..when I checked on it this morning, the battery read 10v but started right up after jumping my security relay (car clicked and the starter did nothing). Another thing I noticed about this is that turning my BATTERY key to the ON position makes a noise near the driver side engine bay almost like a loud relay noise.

Another issue occured on my way home today too. I went to give the car some throttle in a straight line with about 5/8 of a gas tank and it bucked really hard around 3k almost like a fuel cut. This wasnt like the 3k hesitation either.

So now I have to figure out some issues and not drive her once again...*****!

Brilliant7-LFC

iTrader: (7)

Just when you fix one thing, something else goes wrong. Such is the life of an RX-7 owner. This is the life we chose...

You'll get it all sorted out in no time. Don't worry.

The drain on your battery will get real old, real quick. I have a cut switch to isolate my battery for the same reason. It's one of my projects to get around to, to actually find the source of the battery drain.

We've added so many electronics to our cars, it could be anywhere!

Good luck with yours!

Nick

newtgomez

So it appears that my charge control actuator moves when turning the BATTERY switch to the ON position. Could this mean some wires are swapped? Do any of the ECU plug ins swap around or something? I might have to pull the UIM to see what the deal is but before the car was torn apart, you wouldn't be able to hear anything when the BATTERY switch was turned to the ON position. You used to be able to hear a loud "CLACK" noise when you turn the IGNITION switch to the ON position but now it only makes noise when you do it with the BATTERY switch...Is it possible that a relay is not installed the right way?

I feel like I'm on to something...

I also noticed that my deceleration hesitation is because the car runs at an AFR of 19 when the fuel comes back on around 1.6k RPMs and I am contributing the lean mixture because of my double throttle is essentially open the whole time. Widebands are such great tools and I am really impressed with the Innovate wideband!

TomU

iTrader: (11)

If it starts with the EGI fuse pulled, you've got some electrical problems somewhere

newtgomez

You're right...my injectors shouldnt have fired at all without the EGI relay...Im starting to think maybe I got some plugs in the wrong place or my stock ecu is giving up or maybe even a ground is in the wrong place. Another thing I dont like is that my car is an auto to manual conversion which means there are a lot of plugs not in use...I might have to plug in my Adaptronics if nothing works.

My car also has two codes that are stored
16-EGR circuit (I dont have an egr valve at all so its not a concern)
23-Fuel thermosensor (Explains the two times it bucked during a drive home)

With that, Im probably going to pull the UIM and check some wiring and check the wires at the ecu.

I had 100 miles of fun and now she wants to be in the garage...fml

TomU

iTrader: (11)

Chasing electrical gremlins is probably numero uno on my fun list. If you take your time and check every circuit methodically you'll eventually get there.

I'd start with the ECU plugs and check connectivity to ground for any shorts.

newtgomez

So I figured out my electrical issue and it was because of the auto to manual conversion!

I triple checked the charging harness just in case something was wrong but it's correct. Then, I moved down to the ecu where the emissions harness was at



I was gonna post this picture to see if anyone could figure out if everything was in the right place or not...but the I looked a little bit closer at the puzzle...Now I thought this box that was near the ecu was the electrical load box...but it turns out the numbers show that it is the automatic transmission control box...Hmmm...



So now that I know it isn't important, I looked at the harness and plugs that weren't plugged in to anything and what do you know!



THE PLUG IN MY HAND WAS EXACTLY LIKE THE RIGHT ONE! (This picture was after swapping the wires around so the one in my hand is to be plugged in to nothing that I have)

So then I plugged my battery key in and I hear nothing at all...could this be the fix I have been looking for? Was it that simple of a fix?

Surely enough, I turn the ignition to the ON position and hear the clicks I know and love! And also no fans run anymore when I turn the key!

Such an easy fix that I lost sleep over. It's hard to believe that it was that easy.


Now the story gets better...

I went for a test drive staying below 4k rpms because of the clutch break in and I go to shift from 4th to 5th in the middle of my drive and CRUNCH!!! 5th gear ground so hard and the clutch pedal now feels different and it goes in to gear harder...Now I get to have fun diagnosing a clutch issue...yay...

TomU

iTrader: (11)

The grinding going into 5th may be a syncro issue which is not an easy fix. You may want to start with the shift selector spindle first. That's relatively easy to replace.

Shift Select Spindle Upgrade

Glad to hear you sorted your electrical gremlins

newtgomez

So I jacked the car up and pulled off the bottom inspection plate and what do you know? The bottom of my clutch fork is cracked! The car has only been together for a week and I have to rip the tranny out...Boooooo!!!!! I'm almost considering having somebody service the transmission if the cost is good enough. It just sucks it wasn't broken before I put everything back together...

Cheers to more weekend projects!

jacobcartmill

iTrader: (6)

Hang in there newt!

TomU

iTrader: (11)

Well that's certainly frustrating

The clutch fork is a known weak point on '93s (it may even have been recalled). It's not a hard job, once you've dropped the tranny. Of course if you go through the trouble of dropping the tranny you may as well change your 5th gear syncro, which is a job but doable.

A simpler solution may be to source a low mileage '94 tranny if one even exists locally

newtgomez

I'm already half way through pulling the tranny and have ordered an input shaft bearing and seal along with a few shifter parts because some of them broke in the 100 miles journey I made. Unfortunately, the amount of parts for FD in Oregon are super scarce for some reason and I have yet to meet anyone aside from Turbojeff that owns one. I think I'm going to have someone take my tranny apart and replace anything that is necessary because I don't want to pull this tranny after a second set of 100 miles lol.

Even with the low miles, should I replace my throwout bearing again? The FSM says to replace it but I don't believe it has enough wear to justify it personally.

newtgomez

I have to say that I am quite impressed with how quick and easy the transmission came out of this car! The transmission probably took about 3 hours by myself to get out. These cars have so much room to work on things and that makes me pretty happy!

Anyways, it's hard to believe that such a small crack would affect the clutch like this but hopefully the new fork will last at least a year lol. Now I have to figure out what to do with the rest of my weekend...Oh man, I didn't prepare for free time...

newtgomez

Well my transmission is all good to put back in the car so it's gonna go back in the car this week and then I'm gonna enjoy driving the car!

I might even order some new brakes so I have a safe car! The current ones only have maybe 20% left on the pads and the rotors in the front are warped to hell. Maybe then I can let people drive the car without feeling like Im gonna die lol.

Natey

iTrader: (19)

This is the 1st time I've ever read this about an FD.

Congrats on sorting out the electrical issue so easily. Sometimes the problem is hiding in plain sight!

newtgomez

Well I mean compared to the other cars I have helped work on in the past (mr2, e36 bmw, dodge rams) The FD is almost like a god send in my eyes lol. Just as easy to work on as my Hondas!

I finally manned up and bought stoptech sport pads and centric blank rotors because they were the cheapest and most available items for my brakes so my car will be capable of heel toe downshifting like everything else I drive (Yes, the pedal goes down that much further pass the gas pedal)

Now the only other thing I have to fix is the coolant copper washer on the primary turbo and she will be running the best she has ever been! Boy, I just love coolant...

TomU

iTrader: (11)

IMHO Stoptech pads are not up to snuff for anything more spirited than street driving.

newtgomez

I'll see how they perform but the stoptech pads I have on my integra have yet to really fade but thats most likely because I dont abuse my brakes even when I'm racing.
Luckily this car is used for street use and maybe a drag strip pass or two but the way I look at it is that anything is better than what the car has now.

I was gonna put everything back together but I smashed my thumb at work so its gonna be put off for a little while. I also got my rear pads in on thursday!

newtgomez

Well I got the tranny back in place and didn't even think about how the clutch system works so I decided it would save a second or two to use the clutch pedal to get the release bearing where it needed to be...oh boy that screwed my day up. So now I ordered a slave and master cylinder because if you do one you might as well do the other...Merry BRAPmas to me!