So last week I bought a 93 FD. And this is my first rotary. Goodbye DSM. Anyways I am noticing some things about this that I am unsure of. While idling when the car is warm it will idle at the normal 800RPM. But every 3 mins or so the RPM will drop to 300 for just a moment and it will make a sputtering sound like it is going to die. Also, while driving my Oil pressure gauge will sit at 30psi but while idling it is probably at 2psi. While driving every once in a while the gauge drops suddenly and then comes back to normal. Also when I started my car today in the morning the check engine light came on and didn't go off till I started driving. There was no real change to the normal warmup. At 3k rpm for about 5 seconds and then drop to 1500rpms till it was warm. Oh... and there is a noise when I take off. It sounds like burbling like there might be air in my fuel line or something. Usually only audible when I take off slowly. I dunno if this is normal or not. I am new to the rotary so I dunno all of the common glitches. The car is bone stock for now. I am learning the norm before I do any mods after pumping 30k into my DSM and then it crankwalked. Trying to get it mechanically correct and a better feel for the car before adding anything. Thanks for all your help in advance.


-Joh

 

Look in the CA forum area and find a shop in your area and get all these issues sorted out. These noises and sputtering could be many things.
Your idle is normal at around 800. THe sputtering could be a multitude of things, vaccume or fuel. THe oil pressure gauge in these cars are unreliable. Most of them don't read at idle. You'll know real soon if u don't have oil pressure. Check engine light, search for how to read codes if u want to DIY. When u start the car start it in gear so the engine won't rev so high cold. Get a boost gauge, downpipe and than start with a plan in mods. IMHO stock is best with the basic reliablility mods. You won't win any races but.........you won't be as broke either.
Anyway welcome and look in the 3rd gen section and use the search function. Good luck.

 

welcome . how many miles on the car? any mods? First, give the car a good tune up as you never really know how the last owner took care of it - plugs, wires, air filter, fuel filter, and oil change. See if you still have the problems after that. A simple tune up can do wonders for a neglected (even slightly neglected) fd. If you still have the problems, find a good rotary mechanic in your area to look the car over... NEVER go to to a dealership. good luck.

-Matt

 

Thanks for the welcome. Also, I will search for the RX7 Specialists in this area. The car has 85k miles on it and it is a mazda certified car. Still got 24k miles on the warranty. They said the car is all ok. But I already found that the 5th gear synchro is cracked. Heh, so I am worried about taking it back to them. Anyways thanks for the welcome and the info.


-Joh

 

The burbling is normal, its your air pump kicking in. Once you get under more load or increase RPMs the ECU disengages the pump and the noise goes away.