Billyberu

Hi,

I have owned the car since 1990 and have enjoyed driving this fine machine. It is fun when people ask what year it is and I say guess. Usually they say something in the range of a few years old! That is how stylish this car is. I live in Edmonton and have only seen a few of these cars up here. Anyone know how many were produced and how many made it into Canada. I was told productin #'s were 5,000 and ~500 in Canada? Anyway's I am having problems with the car starting, but that is for a later thread as I familiarize myself with the site and check other posts.

Thxs,

Rob

mar3

iTrader: (8)

Wow! Another one! What's the story on owning an RX-7 for twenty years and never registering with this website!

Seriously though, thanks for finding us and registering. Welcome aboard, Rob!

Mario III

Billyberu

Thanks Mario! Not much of a techie I guess! I seen a list of all the 10SE's and was amazed that that many still are alive. I will have to have a look at my SN and see if I match up. Rob

Penguin Racecar

iTrader: (1)

Hey Rob! Welcome to the forums. I'm in Calgary, and can tell you there are plenty more than 5000 2nd gen rx7s in the world. I happen to own two myself.
As for your starting issues - what sort of symptoms are you seeing? It's pretty common for 2nd gen rx7s to flood.

Billyberu

Hi Penguin?

First let state that I am not that adept in fixing cars I just like driving them but do have some troubleshooting skills with my background in Instrumentation. Let me start by stating what I believe and you guys can correct me if I am wrong!

I have picked up a few tricks over the years to get it started but they are not working now. I have bypassed the fuel pump with a jumper for periods of time (8-10 sec) prior to ignition and do not smell fuel whatsoever? This leads me to believe that fuel is not making it. Thus my theory that I have a leak in my fuel line and it is draining back to my tank. I can hear the pump running and it sounds strong. I have read that you can check fuel pressure but am unsure where this is done at and lack the proper gauges to do so.

The fact that it stays running when I get it running and idles fine means the sock or fuel filter is alright?

There also was a period when I could not get it going period so The car cranked fine and the voltage was down slightly on the old battery so I did not think it was that but when I purchased a new battery it went immediately. Since then I am experiencing problems again.

Some time ago the dealership installed a bypass switch on the cold start injector?

Also I a aftermarket exhaust from the racingbeat and my Cat's are out along with my air pump. There is also a black box to fool some electronics installed under the hood. I do not know all the terminology so bear with me.

I really either want to drive this car or sell it. So I need to get this figured out for next spring.

Anyways enough for now! Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Rob

Billyberu

Hey Penguin,

You mentioned more than 5000 2nd Gen's...are you refering to SE's? or just all second gens. I was refering to getting #'s on 10SE's.

Rob

AXFC3

Welcome Rob, I am new to the forum as well.

Does anyone have or know the numbers on the convertibles?

Flash

iTrader: (2)

They sold 86,000 RX7's in 1986 alone in the US. Sales peaked in 1988. Motortrend's Car of the Year for '86.

10AE production numbers were 1500 for at least the US, IIRC. See ad. Strangely, I've seen quite a few still around. Keep in mind though "rare" is going to depend on where you live. In Calgary, I've seen maybe 5 or 6 different ones driving around. Around 2003, I knew of 3 personally driven by friends. Rare to us was an 89 or newer Turbo. A lot of people I know have questioned the 1500 unit cap, but no one can prove it solid either way. Still, a 10AE is a nice car to have!

Unfortunately they didn't break out convertible sales from their reported numbers.

Billyberu

Flash,

Thanks for the insight. My car was originally out of Quebec and the dealer (in Calgary - Kramer Mazda) told me that Canada was slated for 400 units but 500 came across the border to Canada due to demand. Now that could have been him blowing his horn...who knows!

Thxs,

Rob

TheAbsence

iTrader: (19)

An SE model is more or less the base model (they tend to actually be preferred by many people for their lightness), whereas the 10AE that you seem to be referring to were the limited production run of only white turbo model FCs. They had black interior and white wheels as well. Are you confusing the SE model with the 10AE?

Billyberu

Hi,

Yes I guess my acronym terminology is incorrect. I have the 10th Anniversary Edition. I was calling it SE for "Special Edition". My Bad! Curious as the the production run of these only.

Regards,

Rob (Edmonton)

Billyberu

Hey Flash,

I was reading that Brochure that you posted and it states a top speed of the 10AE of 140 mph. Now either my speedomter is way out or I have a few more gerbel's on steroids? I had my car in excess of 150 mph a couple of times when I was young and foolish. It took me a while to get there but it got there? This was when it was stock!

Rob

ImpartialMouse

iTrader: (2)

I may be mistaken but I think manufacturers like to put lower speeds because of tax write offs and a few other things like that to save money.

Billyberu

Here are some pics of my car! Hope this works

kuro

Your Turbo II AE looks like you just picked it up from the dealer! Since its a '88 and you have owned it since '90... did you pick it up used? or manage to get a new?

Billyberu

I picked it up used out of Calgary with 46,000 km on it. It presently has about 150,000 km. Calgary is ~3 hrs south of Edmonton. I always wanted a RX-7 and was familiar with the Gen 1's. Went to Calgary to visit a friend and decide to go car shopping. Stopped in at a dealership and they had nothing in the way of used. Before I arrived home on the Sunday I had a message awaiting me that they had just got one in. I plopped down $400 on my M/C sight unseen and went to pick it up the next weekend. Did not even think I would ever own 1. Paid an arm and a leg for it at $23,000 plus change. It was $33,000 new here in Canada I believe. Heck didn't even know if I would qualify at the bank for a used car lol. Many years of enjoyment.

Thxs, Rob

TheAbsence

iTrader: (19)

Please please please keep it stock!

now

iTrader: (1)

Rare well they say they were made in limited numbers but there seems to be lots of
them out there.
I have two of them, one thats all stock and one thats not quite stock..
I think i have seen you in this car it was a few years ago northbound calgary trail
close to Weber motors, i was driving my "not quite stock" AE ..
adding a few years from when this was if i were to guess your age i would say you
are around 50 years old now?
at that time your car looked like new!

as for your issues,,, is that the original motor in it? if so it might be getting tired.
If when you do get it running, it idles and seems to run well, pull strong, suggests
that it might be starting to get low in compression which will make any engine hard to
start...
there are many reasons these cars start to give problems getting them starting
could be electrical wiring issues, something as simple as the starter turning slower
then it should will make starting harder...
matt

Billyberu

Hi Matt.

I have only come across 2 other 10AE in Edmonton over the years. One may have been yourself. I just turned 45 a few days ago, but still young at heart. It is the original motor with basically no work to it other than the turbo which would have nothing to do with starting. As for my starting issues I guess that could be a compression issue? One thing to mention is that the car only does not start after it has been idle for awhile. Does not seen to be the typical hot or cold issue but I cannot be sure. I also would like to mention that when this problem originally started I could get it going by jumpering the fuel pump prior to ignition. This does not work all th etime now. One thing I noticed is that I do not smell gas when running the fuel pump for 8-10 seconds prior to ignition. I would think that it would flood and one would smell gas? Correct me if I am wrong.

Thxs, Rob

now

iTrader: (1)

Ok I was close on the age,,, btw we are the same age.lol
when you say you are jumping the fuel pump could you explain how you are doing this..

Almost all rotaries if idled and shut off before the motor has a chance to warm up will
flood next time you try to start it, Always warm up to normal temp before shutting down...

I have a feeling your problems is one or two things working together.
There is a chance that the air flow meter is bad which could cause a starting issue.
only problem is that if it is the air flow meter usually the pump will run while the
key is in the cranking position and when let off cranking to the on position the pump
will stop if the air flow meter is bad. jumping the yellow two wire plug by the pass strut tower
will keep the pump going if the air flow meter is bad and the car should keep running.

an air leak anywhere between the air flow meter and the engine can cause problems as well

lastly a tired engine can cause this kind of issue as well but i don't think that the case with
your car, not that it wouldn't be a good idea to freshen it up before it blows, costs much less
to catch it before it does..

the little issues that these cars can plague you with are almost enough to drive a person
crazy! my all stock car has an idle issue that i have been trying to sort for some time but
so far its getting the best of me!

matt

Prôdigy2nd

iTrader: (3)

Those pictures looks fantastic... I want a 10th AE... such nice cars.... Matt you have it good, one stock, and one modded... so jealous...

they pop up every once in a while on kijiji, but not too often, before I bought my FD, I scene one for sale in calgary, had a bunch of stuff done to it, was in rough body shape though... the paint was doing the thing those 10th AE's like to do...


J.

now

iTrader: (1)

You stay up north! I could use a 3rd .LOL
matt

Prôdigy2nd

iTrader: (3)

lols.... the 10th's have always had a special place in my heart... they look so pure, so innocent, until you get them crossing an apex, pedal gets to meet the floor, and you cruise away in a white satin glory...

BTW.... where do you live, I thought you lived in Red Deer... although I could be mistaken... seeing as how you were talking about Driving it around Calgary and such...

and don't worry, and FD is enough to keep this poor student occupied right now.... although the 10th's do look mighty tasty.....


Jon.

now

iTrader: (1)

I am in wetaskiwin..

Billyberu

Matt,

The jumper I am talking about I believe is the one you mention below!

My car will only not start when left for a period of time after running it up to full temp. Let's say 1 hr or longer. It has no issues with starting once it has been going. Yes my fuel pump stays running if the car starts, but of course stops if I stop cranking it. I only try the jumper when I am desperate to get it started and it has been sitting awhile. So I think the air flow sensor is out.

"an air leak anywhere between the air flow meter and the engine can cause problems as well"

How does this air leak cause problems with starting if you do not mind me asking?

Lastly where does one get a freshen up here in the city. The last time I took it to a dealer they had it 33 days. LOL. That's about 1/4 of the time I have to drive it! Any recomendations and what work would you recommend.

Thxs,

Rob

Here is a thought on what is happening! Correct me if I am wrong.

It appears that I am not getting fuel to my engine right away which leads me to believe that my fuel line could be draining bank into the tank and thus needs to be charged again? Thus jumpering the pump prior to cranking it charges the line. Is there some sort of foot valve that could be allowing my fuel line to vacate?