Im Paul and I'm kinda a car nut. Mostly Subaru's these days but after I sold one of my completed projects I ran into a damaged 84 GSL-SE that was wrecked but ran great, so I went for it! This is my 4th 1st gen rx7, but my first SE. Has all the goodies it should plus a racing beat header and exhaust. I put the car back together and took it to get inspected...after a long list of smaller stuff, the last thing was a leaky, rusted gas tank.

I found what I thought to be a clean rust free tank and installed it. Turns out it was rusty on the inside and contaminated the fuel system. After several flushes I got the car running again but now it seems fuel starved. I'm guessing the injectors need removed and cleaned. Which is next on the list for winter project, find out where the injectors are and get them to witchhunter or some other injector place for cleaning and testing. Then maybe a megasquirt

Here it is now

By null at 2010-12-18

This is where I found it

By null at 2010-04-26

My wrx hillclimb/auto-x/time trial car

 

Welcome to the club, Paul.

If you have any GSL-SE questions, just let me know. I've had my GSL-SE since '95.

Kent

 

Thanks Kent! I do have a few about the fuel injectors. How are they removed? How many are there? I've heard 2 and 4. Haven't really investigated yet.

That's a long time to own a car. I'm not driving the car in winter here to try and make it last longer. It's still solid, but some rust is around

 

The GSL-SE has 2 injectors. They are locatated under the UIM (upper intake manifold). To get to them:

- remove intake hose (two accorn nuts at throttle body)

- there are two small coolant hoses that need to be removed (drain down the coolant system to avoid a mess)

- there are a few nuts and a long bolt on the passenger side the hold the manifold pieces together

- There are two other bolts that are hiding under the box with "RE-EGI" on it, over by the solenoids

- remove vac lines

- remove accelerator cable, cruise control cable

- disconnect a couple electrical connectors

After this, the UIM should come off (unless I forgot something..).

The injectors are under a fuel rail (held by 2 bolts). Disconnect the fuel feed/return. Remove the two bolts, and you are there.

While you are in there, you might also check/replace the following:

- the small coolant hoses
- manifold gasket (it might be very difficult to remove the old one)
- pulsation damper (end of the fuel rail, it can leak and start a fire - http://www.mazdatrix.com/c-pulsation.htm)
- vacuum lines (if old/brittle)

Also, the electrical connectors on the injectors may be very brittle and crumble when you remove them. It would be a good idea to have some on hand. I believe NAPA stocks them.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the info Kent, can't wait to give it a try. Took the car out for a ride yesterday and barely made it home.

 

Before you pull the injectors, test the volume output from the pump. Go to the engine bay and remove the fuel feed hose and stick it in an empty gallon jug. Turn the key to 'ON'. Remove air filter and push open the flapper door below it (AFM). This will make the pump run. Time for 1 minute and see what you end up with. Normally, it should be close to 1/2 full after 1 minute.

If it is well below this, you probably have a blockage (or a weak pump). There is a pickup screen in the tank that can get clogged up. I've also seen the pickup/return tubes in the tank nearly fully clog. Also, a clogged fuel filter is a possibility.

I know that you replaced the tank (so the screen should be clear), but the tubes/hoses may not be.

The fuel volume test is quick and will tell you a lot about what is going on. My friend had a GSL-SE that would only idle and would die even trying to move the car up a nearly flat driveway. The mechanic tried a new pump and wanted to put on a new regulator, etc. We did the volume test and found that he was getting maybe 5-10 oz of fuel per minute (instead of ~1/2 gallon). Traced it back to the fuel pickup/return tubes in the tank and both were nearly completely blocked. Cleaned them up and the car ran great since.

 

Thanks again Kent! I had no idea that flapper actuated the fuel pump. I just new the pump only worked when cranking the motor.

 

Yep. Normally, the pump only runs under the following conditions:

1. Ignition turned to "START"
2. When the switch (door) in the AFM triggers it (to indicate that the car is running).

For testing, there is also a third option. Near the air filter box, you will find a connector that has a rubber boot over it and not plugged in to anything. You can place a jumper wire between the two wires in that connector and then the key will just have to be turned to 'ON' to make the pump run (don't need to push open the AFM door). This connector is often used for checking for leaks after replacing fuel injectors, performing a fuel pressure test, or could be used for the test that you are doing. However, I figure that propping open the AFM door is just as easy for this application. Good luck.

BTW: You'll want to hit this site and do some downloading:

http://foxed.ca/index.php?page=rx7manual#firstgen

The FSM is very helpful. If you don't want to download it all right now, the most useful sections are: 1, 4b, and 50. After those, 5 and 15 would be the next ones to DL.

 

Nice FB man! I miss my old one, had it before I had my 3rd gen. That car was a blast to drive and a lot less worries! Enjoy it.

 

sweet fb brah

 

Welcome!

 

Very helpful info. I will post results when I get around to it. It's winter here and I don't plan on this car seeing any more salt covered roads. For now I just warm it up once a week and move it around the driveway.

 

Thanks everyone! Looking forward to fixing the car up even more.

 

Nice se you have, if you do the jug trick and it does not give you about half, the first think I would do is check the fuel filter. I had to replace mine like 2 or 3 times in about a month or two. That test really saved a lot of headaches lol