FD cranks but won't start
 

I'll just say im very new to rotary's and my friend across town is my only help but he doesn't know a whole lot about them either. anyway, last night i washed my car and didn't have time to dry it and overnight the water froze ( i live in BC canada just above the us border on the west coast and its nov23 so its 8 degress celcius. so the next day around 2 in the afternoon i went to start my car ( all water was gone off body, nothing frozen ) i turned the key forward and all the lights came on but it just turns over and won't start. i assumed the engine was just incredibly cold so i left it for another 2 hours and tried again but same issue. the only engine upgrades i beleive are HKS hard piping, new silicone hoses, aftermarket air intake and a 4" exhaust (also racing clutch but i don't think that has anything to do with the problem). i also have to change the oil soon but i won't be driving it anymore for the winter i just want it running so what oil i should put in (20W50?). its a 91 FD 13B stock twin turbo's and the car came from japan. thats all i really know, thanks

you have to check the basics first air,fuel,spark and if the car ran fine before you washed it maybe you have a open wire some were i would just look over it real good

I suggest you find a good unflooding procedure from the FAQs posted above.

Basically you disconnect the spark, remove the plugs, and crank the engine to blow out excess fuel. Then reconnect things with new plugs and crank with the throttle pedal down. (The pedal down disables fuel injection during starting)

Dave

also i was thinking about the coolant. I can't remember if the importer said he put new coolant in for colder weather. but lets say the coolant wasn't rated for cold enough weather, do you think it could have frozen and cracked my engine? ... also im going to do an oil change before i try starting it again cause it really needs one. what oil do i use, i heard like mobil 1 20W-50 ? is that right?

In colder weather I think a 20w-50 is not suitable. A 10w-30 makes more sense for street driving in winter weather.

In summer feel free to switch to a 20w-50.

Dave

i think found out whats wrong
 

i haven't touched my car since it wouldn't start other than do the oil because i have been searching like mad to find exactly what happened. and. i believe i found the answer. i've been reading that if you start your car and then turn it off too soon ( or before it has a chance to even warm up ) that it will flood the engine, and it will flood even easier when its cold. and thats exactly what happened. i moved my car from the side gravel driveway onto the street and backed it up in the paved driveway to wash it. and it was probably only 8degrees celcius out, and my only ran for about 40 secs if that... and all of the flooded issues i've read on rx7club.com forums have had the same symptoms, sounds, and situations as mine... so i will be starting the unflooding procedure soon. what exactly do i have to do to unflood an FD, or is there a link specificly for unflooding FD's? or is it the same as FC basicly?

There is info in the 3rd gen FAQ, but the procedure is almost the same for other rotary cars.

Flooding is not normal for an engine in perfect health. However it's something that many owners live with.

Dave

my car has been running really rich ever since i bought it, just haven't had the time to get it tuned, so thats probably why it flooded so easily. i've never turned it on then off so quickly before so im 99% sure its just flooded

Working again
 

yes the car was flooded. and i unflooded it a much simpler way than unplugging the sparkplugs and all that. i read on a different site i found on google and their tip worked:
1. pull out EGI fuse from engine fuse box
2. crank over engine for 15 seconds WITH accelerator pedal all the way down ( its not supposed to start, just burns off fuel i suppose )
3. repeat step 2 after one minute
4. place EGI fuse back into slot
5. crank over engine ( don't use the accelerator pedal this time )
6. engine may want to start like mine did but it died. it reved itself up to 1100rpm then died out
7. hook up engine with jumper cables to another running vehicle because your batt is probably near death by now
8. repeat step 2 with EGI fuse pulled out again of course. ( did this step 3 more times before i continued to last step )
9. place EGI fuse back in
10. crank over with car still connected to jumper cables but with no accelerator pedal pressed down, it will turn over very easily and you'll hear a poof and car will start.
11. should probably change oil after you've done your drive but i'll do that in the spring

i let my car idle for about 5 mins then took for a drive to get it warmed up and turbo's working before i brought it home and brought it into my storage shelter for winter. i hope this trick will help anyone else out. saves having to unplug them sparkplugs. oh and this trick was originaly used on a 2nd gen and mines a 3rd gen, just for the record, and it would be a good idea to get the plugs changed soon too

Hello. I know this is an old thread, but Kevin -- thanks for that little tip about the EGI fuse. It worked like a charm for me and saved me so much time, I had to give you props for that.

Whew!

now when you say to pull out the EGI fuse which one? becasue when i open my hood I see two EGI fuses one labeled EGI comp. and EGI inj.

I pulled the big yellow one. I think it said EGI Main Fuse or something like that.

From my prior experience with my RX's that I've owned (4 of em) They are not short distance cars. I've flooded out my FD and RX-8 before. I recall the first time it happend to my RX-8, first rotary vehicle I owned. I flooded out the engine, I got so upset and thought it was broken LOL.

This is an easily preventable solution. I would highly suggest, before shutting off any rotary vehicle you let it idle to tempature. I know it may be a pain in the butt to stand around and let your vehicle idle to tempature. So pick yourself up a turbo timer and set it for 10 minutes. This allows you to lock up your car, and walk away and let it idle up to temp. Hope this helps

I don't suggest this on an FD. The longer you let it idle stationary, the hotter it will get. You also don't need a turbo timer for the FD. The FD's turbos are water cooled. Turbo timers are more appropriate to oil cooled only turbos. Letting the FD idle for 10 minutes ensure that the engine bay will be HOT. Drive easily the last few miles before you get home and turn the car off.

It is however the most credible use I've yet heard for using a turbo timer on this car.

An alternative which makes more sense to me (at least to try before installing a turbo timer) is to rev the engine up high, let off the throttle, and shut off the engine while the RPMs are on the fall. Theory being that no fuel gets injected on decel and it will be less likely to leave unburnt gas in the combustion chamber to set up a flooding condition.

Another alternative is to just let the car run for a minute or two anytime you start/run it very a very short period of time. All the time spent doing that will probably never add up to the time required to install a timer.

Dave

This step list is increadably helpful, I wish I had had this when I was stuck 100 miles from home at 1am in the morning. Would have saved me so much money from having to be towed home. Plus one to you for posting this list. :icon_tup:

this is all in the FAQ just so you know




https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generati...faq-fc-494667/

Awesome catch. Thank you. But why exactly was it necessary to bump a 5 yr old thread whose last post was 3 yrs ago to tell us that? :scratch:

Just supporting this forum seeing that he mentioned he had to find that info on another site

Correction.
IN the Frequently asked questions ON this Forum.

But just to add that there are also about ten pages of: Flooded,Why won't my car start,Smells like gas,Rolls over but doesn't nothing..That could have all been found with just a fast cruise into the sections of the Forum too.

Search function..It's not just for Breakfast anymore..(new and improved with 100% more Info than the Original "why is my car doing this" questions.)

I had to!..Trust me,it was fun to type that.

Just push
 

Just had this problem in my FC. Didn’t need to pull anything, just depressed gas pedal while starting and it revved high burned off the fuel and then started idling normal.