Hello all!

I am having a few issues with my current project. Lets start from the beginning.

I got a 85 RX, that has been sitting since 1995.. The motor was rebuilt, and the car sat. Needless to say, the motor turns over and starts now, but work was required.

The car sat with about a half tank of gas for 13 years, and of course, the carb and everything was trashed. I was able to rebuild the carb, drop the tank, have it hot tanked, I replaced all the fuel lines and flushed the hard lines with Acetone. I replaced the fuel pump with a generic Mr. Gasket Carb fuel pump.

I have gone ahead while doing the rebuild and I have done the emissions removal mod, as I am not required to emissions test. All of this has been verified as working, I do not have any VAC leaks, and even replaced the intake manifold gasket. I kept the choke, and related components, like the fast idle. I need to be able to have easy starting in the cold.

Now that we are on track with a clean working carb, I was able to get the car fired up. I found I had a dead leading coil, and I have swapped the plug wires from the coils around to get the car started. The car runs wonderfully, with a few problems, and thus, my questions.

Will the temp running the trailing coil on the leading affect timing? Is it 10 DEG off?

Also, I converted to mechanical secondaries, and I know that you can't flatfoot the gas and expect a miracle, but even easing into the secondaries, (You can feel it in the gas pedal, they have more resistance to move than the primaries) the car will just bog down and eventually lose nearly all power. A visual inspection down the carb shows a wonderful spray pattern on the secondaries, and no noticeable flow issues.

Do I have fuel pressure issues? Too Much, not enough? I don't have a gauge to test, just keep in mind, I am using a Mr. Gasket Carb Pump.

I know that I have to get a trailing coil, but I have one day a week to work on this car, and would like to know of a direction to go on the day that I am off. In my experience, a failed trailing coil does not manifest itself as something as severe as I am experiencing. The car will run and drive all day if you don't even think of cracking the secondaries. But when I think I can...

 

welcome to the board.

to me, what comes to mind with the secondaries is maybe the way you have it connected (tied???) may be such that there is too much of a ramp. basically, i think they're opening to fast. at least, that's my thought.

as for the trailing coil ... i'm sure missing the whole trailing side doesn't help things, but i don't think it's playing a significant role in your issue.

 

Thanks for the reply!

I have aeronautical safety wire wrapping the linkages, I have no binding issues, Maybe it does open too much too soon, but as I have read, I thought you'd get just a bog then it will take off. It doesn't matter if I slowly ramp up in 2nd to 5K RPM and let it into the secondaries, or just a quick romp, it will not run on the secondaries at all once it opens. It's like the flat spot never overcome.

One the trailing coil issue, I have the OE trailing coil running to the Leading on the distributor, I have not swapped, or changed the igniter positions. Is the timing off because the leading is firing from the trailing ignite signal?

 

i guess i misunderstood what you did. i thought you had swapped the coils. in this case, yes, i think you're basically running the leading ignition retarded now. you can confirm with a light.

i would suggest physically swapping the good coil (wiring and all) into the leading position. see if that makes it run any better.

 

Well if I understand correctly then, I have my timing retarded by about 10 deg.. Which would also be the cause of some other issues that I am having... I will swap the coils as soon as I can, and report with the results.

Thank you for the help!

 

That should do wonders. I look forward to your next post.

 

I think that I am going to just do the Second Gen Direct Fire Ignition System (2GDFIS), if I get it fixed with it running on correct timing... If it works, Ill just swap the trailing back to OEM location and grab a coil if I can find on this Sunday. I think I will have time tonight to see if the proper coil swap works. I will report back sometime between now and Sunday.

As far as the 2GDFIS, Other than making sure to have the resistor in the proper location, is there anything else that I need to watch out for? Are the advantages really that noticeable?

Thanks

 

My 2gdfis is splendid. No resistor or anything. I ran the coil right off the leading ignitor. Now the coil runs off an msd 6201. I am quite pleased and yes it's an improvement. I have the stuff for tfildfis but see no point in more clutter.

 

Alright, I tried last night with no luck. Is it possible the leading ignitor failed? With the future swap to 2GDFIS doesn't it still require the factory leading ignitor to be installed on the distributor to tell the 2G coil when to fire?

 

It is possible. More likely than coil failure I'd say. If the 2 is all you have, swap the trailing ignitor into the leading spot on dizzy. That's the one to the fore. Yes, you need the leading ignitor to fire the 2g coil. When my leading ignitor died I installed the msd. It has been said that the 2g coil cuts the life of the leading ignitor. That may have been true for me, but it was a 28 year old part. In 93 I had an 8 year old ignitor fail on a stock ignition, so who knows? I have approximately 5000 miles on the msd now, and 2 spare ignitors in the glove box. With both stock coils in original positions. Redundancy. P.S When my leading ignitor died I was surprised at how well the car ran on trailing only, but there's no getting deep in the throttle with it.

 

Alright, I have the ignition sorted out, car fires easier, and doesn't need as much feathering the gas to get motivated from a dead stop. YAY!

However, the secondary issue with the Carb is still present. As of now, it does not handle the transition to secondaries. This is running up to 5500 RPM before slowly opening the secondaries. There is no power at all once they are opened. Its like there is not enough fuel, but unlike before, it won't bog itself to death. Just like running out of cam on a piston motor. No further power. I wish I had a wideband, but I am cash poor at the moment. Any ideas on the Carb now that ignition is sorted?

 

Im thinking its fuel pressure related.. I could be wrong, but I have no idea why its breaking up like it is. Im going to pull the carb and re-do the cleaning. Maybe I missed some crap. But I have no idea. Anyone have any idea? A pull down the road hammer down at 6K RPM had no visible emissions, so its not rich, unless the stock cats can filter that much. If it was cutting up that much running rich, there would be quite a bit of visible emissions. So just by guessing, I feel that its lean.. Really lean.. But then again, maybe ignition related, but wouldn't there be some black smoke, the same as running rich?

Any other suggestions before I tear the carb apart again?

 

I think the Pump you have is inadequate. Which doesn't mean that's your problem. If you see yourself sticking with your stock nikki, I'd go for something like this. More Information for CARTER P60504DP If you're gonna do any more serious upgrading, you will require something more. Threads on the topic abound.

 

Actually, looking at the sightglass in the carb, it is full, like above the top of the sightglass. Both sides, and I set the floats to the recommended droop and all as outlined in the carb manual. I do have a very rich choked idle, like excessively rich, but I thought it was normal to bathe in partially burnt gas when starting cold. Would this cause any issues like the ones that I am having? I have the same fuel pump on a VAC secondary RX and no issues with it running out of steam, or keeping the bowls filled.

 

My future plans for this car call for an AFR gauge to be installed. I am going to go with a wideband, as my experience with a narrowband shows they are about useless with the A/FR the rotaries like. I will have one in shortly. Before I start drilling holes in useless locations, where would you install the O2 sensor?

Also, in regards to the fuel pump, what is the best method for testing flow rate? I figure to disconnect the return line and let it fill a gas can, but how much fuel in how much time?

 

measure over a minute. it will then be easy to calculate the per hour output.

 

That, I understand. Basic Math. What I am looking for is how much I should have, and what is the best method to test? Dumping the fuel return line into a container, or straight off the fuel feed line from the tank?

 

Anyone? What is the proper way to test? Coming off the return, I have about 40GPH, is that going to be enough? MY car also seems to not have a fuel pressure regulator, is this normal for the Carb 12A?

 

40 gph is sufficient for a stock carb. The regulator is the metal thing in the return line off the carb.