i recently replaced the clutch on my 83. i also chnged the o-rings under the filter pedestal as it was near impossible to do with the tranny on and i had an oil leak from somewhere and thought that would be a good place to start. the car had been sitting most of the winter and was a little hard-starting after i plugged it in. it started but idled really rough somewhere around 500-600 and smelled really strong of gas at the exhaust. i got the clutch put in and it works great now but...it was very hard starting and bogging out after i got it back together. i couldnt let it idle or it would stall... so i went for a drive around the block. its backfiring alot when i let off the pedal and has very little power up hills and even on flats. problem is...i got it back home and now it idles around 5000 and wont come back down...i just bought this car last summer and it was running well except for backfiring and my oil leak when i parked it...

please help, i want to drive it off a cliff.

 

whoops...its an 1983 rx7. 12a N/A stock engine.

 

damn bro, I cant help you with that. Sounds kinda weird. Did you take it to a mech?

 

Really sounds like a fouled spark plug to me.Time for some new ones.At least that's where I would start.

*edit* as for the 5000 rpm idle, check your linkages and cams on the carb.Perhaps something is sticking,or siezed. A bit of WD40 and some cleaning may be in order.

 

Check for spark from each coil. You may have a bad ignitor. The check ALL the vacuum hoses around the engine. There's one that's above the exhaust manifold that if it doesn't keep a vacuum, the car will stall.

 

Stuck throttle linkages and or a vacuum hose off combined with stale gasoline. I don't think its the ignitors. I had a lead ignitor go bad, and I can assure you that the car will not have a high idle, jus the opposite. You can swap the ignitors to solve that idea. You'll never miss a trail ignitor being bad, but a lead ignitor thats bad will give you symtoms similar to those described but not a high 5000rpm idle. A bad shutter valve will give a very rough idle(carb car, right?) but clear up with higher revs. Yep, jammed throttle linkage and bad vac hose somewhere.