How to identify flooding(Engine Cranking but not starting)
11-26-20, 02:38 PM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
How to identify flooding(Engine Cranking but not starting)
Hey guys,
i'm fairly new to the whole rotary engine things. I have a 93 rx7 with a recently rebuilt engine, must have less than 200 miles so far. Anyways I haven't been driving it around much because my turbos are leaking but I still turn on the car everyday and let it run for about 30 min. I tried to turn it on the other day and it would not, but I noticed that It was out of gas. I added 10 gallons of gas and turned on the car. The first time it turned on with no problems, I thought great everything is back to normal and went to my garage but as soon as I did the car turned off. I tried to turn it back on but the car simply cranks and doesn't actually catch on. I left it for a day, and came back today to turn it on. Once again it turned on in the first try. I was in the car for about 5 minutes to make sure it would not turn off, the engine was running smooth but once again out of nowhere it turned off, and I am now once again having the issue of the engine cranking but not actually turning on. I have seen online that this may be caused due to flooding but I'm not sure how to identify that it is the culprit. If you guys have any ideas on what may be wrong i'd greatly appreciate it, Thanks!
i'm fairly new to the whole rotary engine things. I have a 93 rx7 with a recently rebuilt engine, must have less than 200 miles so far. Anyways I haven't been driving it around much because my turbos are leaking but I still turn on the car everyday and let it run for about 30 min. I tried to turn it on the other day and it would not, but I noticed that It was out of gas. I added 10 gallons of gas and turned on the car. The first time it turned on with no problems, I thought great everything is back to normal and went to my garage but as soon as I did the car turned off. I tried to turn it back on but the car simply cranks and doesn't actually catch on. I left it for a day, and came back today to turn it on. Once again it turned on in the first try. I was in the car for about 5 minutes to make sure it would not turn off, the engine was running smooth but once again out of nowhere it turned off, and I am now once again having the issue of the engine cranking but not actually turning on. I have seen online that this may be caused due to flooding but I'm not sure how to identify that it is the culprit. If you guys have any ideas on what may be wrong i'd greatly appreciate it, Thanks!
11-26-20, 04:41 PM
#2
welcome to the board. (... and Happy Thanksgiving) 
yeah, it's probably flooded.
as a general rule, rotaries are not particularly fond of being turned on and then shut back off until fully warmed up. to further complicate that, idling them to warm up is not the best thing either.
you'll want to deflood it - a procedure in which the details can vary from person to person, but the bare bones of it is you'll need to:
1. shut off the fuel supply
2.clear the chambers (with the starter)
3. dry or change the plugs
4. then attempt to start it.
finally, since you're not driving the car yet (presumably while you wait for the parts to repair your leaky turbos), there really is no need to be starting everyday. if you were going to be storing the car long-term (with the battery connected), then you'd need to start it every once in a while, but for your situation (again, i'm assuming you're waiting for the parts to get to you), you should be good just waiting.
yeah, it's probably flooded.
as a general rule, rotaries are not particularly fond of being turned on and then shut back off until fully warmed up. to further complicate that, idling them to warm up is not the best thing either.
you'll want to deflood it - a procedure in which the details can vary from person to person, but the bare bones of it is you'll need to:
1. shut off the fuel supply
2.clear the chambers (with the starter)
3. dry or change the plugs
4. then attempt to start it.
finally, since you're not driving the car yet (presumably while you wait for the parts to repair your leaky turbos), there really is no need to be starting everyday. if you were going to be storing the car long-term (with the battery connected), then you'd need to start it every once in a while, but for your situation (again, i'm assuming you're waiting for the parts to get to you), you should be good just waiting.
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Rotary_Newbie (11-26-20)
11-26-20, 05:04 PM
#3
Junior Member
Thread Starter
welcome to the board. (... and Happy Thanksgiving)
yeah, it's probably flooded.
as a general rule, rotaries are not particularly fond of being turned on and then shut back off until fully warmed up. to further complicate that, idling them to warm up is not the best thing either.
you'll want to deflood it - a procedure in which the details can vary from person to person, but the bare bones of it is you'll need to:
1. shut off the fuel supply
2.clear the chambers (with the starter)
3. dry or change the plugs
4. then attempt to start it.
finally, since you're not driving the car yet (presumably while you wait for the parts to repair your leaky turbos), there really is no need to be starting everyday. if you were going to be storing the car long-term (with the battery connected), then you'd need to start it every once in a while, but for your situation (again, i'm assuming you're waiting for the parts to get to you), you should be good just waiting.
yeah, it's probably flooded.
as a general rule, rotaries are not particularly fond of being turned on and then shut back off until fully warmed up. to further complicate that, idling them to warm up is not the best thing either.
you'll want to deflood it - a procedure in which the details can vary from person to person, but the bare bones of it is you'll need to:
1. shut off the fuel supply
2.clear the chambers (with the starter)
3. dry or change the plugs
4. then attempt to start it.
finally, since you're not driving the car yet (presumably while you wait for the parts to repair your leaky turbos), there really is no need to be starting everyday. if you were going to be storing the car long-term (with the battery connected), then you'd need to start it every once in a while, but for your situation (again, i'm assuming you're waiting for the parts to get to you), you should be good just waiting.
I'll definitely do more research on how to properly de-flood my car and will do it this Saturday if all goes well. I also appreciate the other little nuggets of information regarding the car, cuz I have already had a lot of tiny but annoying issues with it that needed to be ironed out, so any info for a starter like me is more than welcome. Once again, Thanks and have a great Thanksgiving!!
11-26-20, 08:34 PM
#4
well, okay ... since you're waiting on modification parts, i know how that goes, so i will adjust some of what i said above.
if it starts to look like the car will be down long term (months and months), you can always opt to "store" it, the essence of that is basically put some oil in the chambers and turn it by hand through a few revolutions to coat the sealing surfaces with a little extra lube, (the truth is they hold quite a lot - more than most people realize, so it's not even "necessary", just a good idea). once lubricated, the engine is pretty much ready to sit for an extended period. disconnect the battery. there's still no need to start it daily.
one final thing i want to mention is when you're clearing the chambers, either disable the ignition as well or make sure the plug wires are as far away from the spark plug holes as you can. there is the potential for them to ignite the vaporized gas coming out the plug holes, so just do due diligence in being safe for both yourself and the car.
if it starts to look like the car will be down long term (months and months), you can always opt to "store" it, the essence of that is basically put some oil in the chambers and turn it by hand through a few revolutions to coat the sealing surfaces with a little extra lube, (the truth is they hold quite a lot - more than most people realize, so it's not even "necessary", just a good idea). once lubricated, the engine is pretty much ready to sit for an extended period. disconnect the battery. there's still no need to start it daily.
one final thing i want to mention is when you're clearing the chambers, either disable the ignition as well or make sure the plug wires are as far away from the spark plug holes as you can. there is the potential for them to ignite the vaporized gas coming out the plug holes, so just do due diligence in being safe for both yourself and the car.
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Rotary_Newbie (11-28-20)
11-26-20, 09:26 PM
#5
Rotary Fan
A tell tale sign of flooding is gasoline saturated sparkplugs.
No need to check the trailing plugs, but if the leading plugs are consistently wet after an unexpected shutdown, I'd suspect an ignition malfunction.
No need to check the trailing plugs, but if the leading plugs are consistently wet after an unexpected shutdown, I'd suspect an ignition malfunction.
The following users liked this post:
Rotary_Newbie (11-28-20)
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