Hi, just to start out, personally I have little knowledge of a rotary but my husband is a huge rx7 fan, and I bought him one as a surprise. ('88 fc) Well the guy I bought it from said it has a few issues and he wasn't sure exactly what was going on. But he said that when he was driving, and stopped the car (at red light/stop sign) it wouldn't idle but instead would shut off. He decided to stop driving it and worked on it a few times and it to start but would immediately shut off when let off the gas. So he decided to sell it.
My husband is mechanically inclined and knows how to work on all our vehicles, but I'm trying to get as much information as to what is wrong before I give it to him for his birthday on the 20th. This will be his first rotary though. If anyone could give me any info as to what is wrong, it would be very appreciated! I tried searching for some issues and solutions, but I'm coming up short. I also have no one else that I know personally that could help and I'd rather not take it to a shop if he can do it himself, he enjoys projects. Thanks!

 

Firstly, Welcome to the boards!

I'm more an FD guy than an FC guy, but I can at least try and point you in a good direction.

By the problem you describe from the Previous Owner, it sounds like it will start and drive but shuts off at idle.

Best start with changing the spark plugs (get 2 sets as no doubt if the problem is with idle control it will flood if it stalls on a cold start and can potentially kill the first set).

From there, adjusting the idle control screw to increase idle speed to rule that out to see if it will idle at higher RPM. If idle is stable, readjust the idle control screw slowly to the correct idle speed (or to before it sounds like it's going to shut off).

I hope this helps give you a starting point at least

 

Rx7 full service manuals

The link above provides all of the full service manuals for that rx7. It will become his best friend.

Reference the manual in setting up the throttle body and associated pieces.

 

welcome to the board.

the simplest thing i can think of is a vacuum leak.

if it's more complicated than that, then next on my list would be the TPS or AFM, in that order.

 

[QUOTE=diabolical1;12501115]welcome to the board.

the simplest thing i can think of is a vacuum leak.

if it's more complicated than that, then next on my list would be the TPS or AFM, in that order.[


Thanks for the reply! Ok so I talked to the guy I bought it from again, and he said that somehow or another (stay with me here) His brother installed the battery backwards. To the point that the rubber hosing on the cable started smoking. And then lost all power to everything, even with replaced main fuses.

 

Ok, Installing the battery backwards is not a good sign for the electrical systems.

What is the current state of the car at the moment? Did the Previous Owner start the car and show you it running (but having the idle problem) before you bought it?

or is the situation more "The previous owner had this idle problem, then potentially fried the electrical system, then I bought it"

Please don't think I'm being negative on your purchase, just trying to get the right information for all of us to be able to help! 😄