Rotary Fanatics Wife

Hey Everyone...

I'm just looking for advice at the moment. My husband owns a 10th AE Mazda Rx7 that wont run. When he first bought the car it ran perfectly fine. But about two weeks after that he started having some problems losing power and then finally it just quit running. As of right now if wont even start. When you do try to start it theres a lot of smoke and gas smell. If anyone has any ideas please let me know. I would love for him to get his car back on the road when he gets back. If there is anything I left out that you need to know to figure it out let me know and ill try to answer it. Im not a reall tech savy person with cars but im trying... lol

Go48

iTrader: (7)

What a wife! Sounds like the engine may be flooded at this point. [This may or may not be related to the power loss.] Something that is fairly common with these cars, particularly if you are not diligent about warming up the engine before shutting it down. Meaning, for example, if you start the car, move it a short distance and shut it down without letting it warm up. Flooding can also be caused by a leaking fuel injector that continues to dump fuel into the combustion area after the engine is shut down.

So for starters, the engine needs to be de-flooded, if it is, indeed, flooded. There are several techniques for accomplishing this, but the simplest is to remove the leading (lower) spark plugs from both rotor housings, pull out the EGI fuse from the fuse box in the engine compartment and then crank the engine to expel the excess fuel in the combustion area. Crank the engine for 10 seconds or so, let it stand and do it again. Replace the EGI fuse, clean off the spark plugs and re-install them, then try to start the engine.

If the car starts you will see lots of smoke until the engine warms up. Then the loss of power question can be addressed. First thing to do then is to check the engine compression. Unfortunately, if the compression is low, the engine will need to be rebuilt or replaced.

Not sure if you are willing to tackle these tasks on your own. Maybe someone living nearby will read your post and volunteer to help. I would if I lived close by. Good luck!

bsf1980

iTrader: (2)

I'm not sure how far you are from me, but I would be willing to lend a hand. Send me a pm with your zip code if you are interested.

ZoominFD

Sounds like the engine is flooded to me, Go48 covered what you should do. Best of luck!

Rotary Fanatics Wife

Thanks everyone for your help. I thank you Go48 for the advice but unfortunatly just like you said i have no idea what your talking about lol. But bsf 1980 offered to help and thank you for offering. You guys have been a big help. Just one question. If the engine does need rebuilt could anyone give me a estimate on how much that would cost

another7driver

Anywhere up to $5,000 depending on the shipping, labor, builder, parts required, and/or modifications.

If you have a local mechanic who is willing to work on a rotary pull the engine and ship it instead of the whole car, it would be significantly less.

Rotary Fanatics Wife

Thanks for the answer! Im hoping that it doesnt have to come to that but I have a feeling it will. Plus I figure what the hell the car would do good with a rebuild lol. But I just want to find the problem first so that it doesnt repeat. Ya know?

Go48

iTrader: (7)

Only sure way to know if the engine is dead is to have a proper compression test done. I would suggest that you post a query in the NE RX-7 section of this forum asking for help from an enthusiast in your area who would be willing to do that. There are a handful of rotary shops or rotary-associated businesses in the Columbus area, but they will likely charge you the proverbial arm and leg for conducting a test. Like I said earlier: What a wife! Good luck!

Edit: Potential shops with which I have had no experience. Just know of their existence. They may or may not still be in business.

Auto Innovations, 163 Wilwood Ave, Newark, OH 43055-4924 740-345-2639
Carswell's Rotary Connection, 12157 Broad St SW, Pataskala, OH 43062-9297 740-927-7629
Coldwater Motorsports, 33590 E Royalton Rd Bldg # 5, Columbia Station, OH 44028-9706 440-342-2412
Weber Automotive Inc., 23779 Lorain Rd , North Olmstead, OH 44070-2224 440-734-1413

Rotary Fanatics Wife

Thank you so much Go48!!! Your the greatest help. But I do like the idea better of finding someone near me lol. Wont cost as much!