Overheating and Huge loss of power
 

My 84 GS has lost alot of power. It is a pain to start and it over heats after driving.
I was thinking part of the loss of power could be timeing because last two times i turned off the car it backfired out of the exaust. the overheating problem i was eirther thinking it was the thermostat or the waterpump. I am new to this car because i just bought it like a week ago. I think that the water pump is in the engine right behind where the fan goes in but I wasn't sure. Im not very sure where the thermostat is and how to get to it but i think i have a pretty good idea. I was wondering if any one might be able to help me with this.
Oh yeah this engine is the 12a 1.1 Liter
Thanks,
Jordan

***My 84 GS has (A.)lost alot of power. (B.)It is a pain to start and (C.)it over heats after driving.

I was thinking part of the loss of power could be timeing because last two times i turned off the car it backfired out of the exaust.***

Jordan, have the overheating, bang out the exhaust & loss of power all newly occured within the week since you have owned the car ? Or were these things happening as you took ownership from the seller? If these things were happening when you test drove the car SHAME ON YOU for buying the car. DON'T allow the motor to heat up. HEAT KILLS rotary motors.............

First check to see that all the wires from the two coils, the distributor & the 4 plugs are correct. (If ya don't own a workshop manual buy one at a book store or used book store for just the 1st gen RX-7[ideal just for your year car] & then ya will know where the wires go correctly & it will also tell you how to set the timming.) If you can start & run the motor at idle speed check the timming. Or have someone in a garage check the timming. If driving the car to a garage heats the motor up tow the car to a garage & have the timming checked & set the timming if it is not correct. Both the leading & trailing timming require being set correctly. Don't start taking things (thermostat, water pump) apart untill you have the timing set correctly. That could be puting the cart in front of the horse. If the wires are correct & if the timming is correct there may be larger issues than the thermostat & or water pump. The fan is connected to the water pump as you sugested. The thermostat is within the steel housing that the upper water hose attaches to at the motor.

Hope this helps ; )
David

Thx
I'm pretty sure that the timeing is off some.
I wanted to fix the overheating problem before i go to taking it to my school because i dont want it to over heat on the way.
I can get my timing done for free at my school.
Our teachers there are master Mechanics and know how to work on these Rotarys.
So i think im going to take it there.
I just need to get this thing to keep cool.
I was pretty sure its the thermostat because it takes it a while to start to overheat. Radiator is pumping some coolent