Im Tyro

My dad had a 1986 GXL and it has sat in the garage for 19 years. Nothing was done to it to prepare for the long period of not being driven. I know for a fact that the fuel pump is bad and that the gas tank could use some serious care. I attempted to rig a gravity system just to test the engine and it wouldn't start but I was able to get it to start up briefly on starter fluid. I am just looking for suggestions on things that could cause the problem. Also are there any things that I should be watching for or replace now. I am still in high school so I don't really have a huge income that I can put into it so any rough estimates of what has to be put into it costwise would be appreciated. It only has 33600 miles on it and the body is in very good condition there is no rust on the body at all what could I sell it for in its current condition? I would love to keep it but I don't think that I would be able to do it justice in my current position. Sorry for the wall of text but I'm new to all of this.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

STOP TRYING TO START THE CAR! You will just cause more massive damage.

Read this: http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/unstore.htm

Also, you can't "gravity feed" an EFI vehicle.

D Walker

iTrader: (1)

Aaron is right, stop trying to start the car. Having sat as long as it has the rotors,side seals and irons will have started to corrode and the rust involved can cause issues such as pitting of the irons, stuck apex, side, or corner seals, etc. Also, even if it all "frees up" iron oxide (rust) is very abrasive and can and will damage the rotor housing surfaces. Other possible problems with the engine include dried out coolant o-riings, which will leak into the combustion chamber, rust/corrosion in other areas of the engine. If it were my car and I was on a budget I would:

Remove engine
Tear down and inspect the rotors and irons, reapir/replace damaged bits
replace the corner seals
replace all o-rings, gaskets, etc.
re-assemble
re-install the engine
flush fuel and oil lines and oil cooler along with the radiator and heater core so as to ensure crud removal
Clean/replace fuel tank and install new fuel pump

You can have the tank cleaned by some radiator shops, but its likely to be cheaper to just find a decent used one.

As far as cost, assuming you do the work yourself, figure an o-ring/gasket kit for about $135.00 from Atkins, a set of side seals (75 I think), side seal springs( 30 or so)
If your irons are not pitted, than you just put it back together
If your irons are juuust barely pitted, a resurface usually runs $75 per surface from racingbeat, although others offer the service as well if you look around.
If the irons are really pitted and are now heavily scratched from your start up attempts, figure $150 or so per iron for good used peices, perhaps less.
Fuel pump, $85-100 bucks

the rest depends on how much you do yourself and how much youhave to pay someone to do.
N/A 6-port stuff is not particularly expensive, and is out there, you your lucky there.

cab91089

iTrader: (3)

I bet that FC is mint, If I were you I would not sell it and just fix it.

canonize-ryda

i have a fc with a brand new engine with maybe 5-10k on it and i bought tis whole ride for 1200... so unless u had the right buyer, then the seven would have not seen justice of a true 7 owner.. imo i would get into thse car and learn as much as u could. not many know much around my area and truefuly dince i got my seven nearly 3 -4 years ago i started this dream of being one of the first rotory shops in wyoming.. this can be an awesome project for you. do some thinking with only 33k on the body u may have a nice ride with little work..

Im Tyro

D Walker, I wish I could be that thorough with it but as I said I am still in High School so my equipment and funds are limited. Would you say that it is absolutely necessary that I pull the engine and do all that? The cost of the replacement parts isn't that bad but put on top of the price of the equipment to get the engine out it starts to look like more of a stretch. Assuming that I have already scarred the irons from the starting attempts what else could have been messed up? On a side note, does anyone have a somewhat idiot proof tutorial/walk through on how to replace the fuel pump? I have it outside of the tank but I don't have a clue how to actually change the pump itself. I checked in the hayes guide and it only showed how to get it out of the tank. As it is now the entire pump assembly is not looking too good, is it worth trying to salvage it or should I just replace the entire thing?

D Walker

iTrader: (1)

Thats pretty gnarly my freind.

At the bottom of the assembly there willbe Phillips head screws. Soak the crap out of it in WD40 or PB Blaster or similar. The screws will probably strip anyway, but its worth a shot. I use Vice Grips to clamp the screw head and unscrew them when they strip. If seriously corroded, they will break off in the holder. You can then either drill them out or just get another holder.

Before trying to start the engine again PLEASE do the following-

1- flush the crap out of your fuel system. I would literally take the rubber lines loose up front and use an electric pump to pump mineral spirits from the engine bay back to the tank. Flush your tank with mineral spirits, drain, and clean as best you can. This is going to be very nasty, smelly work, but it will make your life easier. For the electric pump, you can use a low pressure pump from the parts store that sells for about $30 bucks or so, its usually by a company called Facet, just wire it to a battery or power supply, put one in in a gallon of mineral spirits and splice the other into the fuel line to the engine. Replace the drain plug and install a new fuel pump. Make sure you install a new filter sock as well so the pump lives a while.
2- Change the engine oil
3- get a squirty bottle of some description fill it with ATF (automatic transmission fluid) and remove the spark plugs. Squirt a small amount in the plug holes while turning the engine over by hand. Go have lunch or to a movie. Come back and check compression. If you do not have or cannot borrow a compression tester, have someone crank the motor over with the ECI fuse pulled with your thumb over the plug hole. You should feel three distinct and fairly strong pulses per engine revolution. If you do not, you can either stop there and plan on an engine build/replacement, or go ahead and pray its just a stuck seal and will come unstuck when started.
4- replace the plugs with brand new ones.
5- Fill tank with 2-3 gallons of gas
6- Charge the battery your using completely
7- try and start car

If it actually starts, its likely to smoke quite a bit, part of that will be from the ATF. If its missing or runs like crap, give it a minute or two and see if it smooths out. If it doesnt, find someone who knows what they are doing to take a look at it.

Im Tyro

Thank you for the quick response, I went out to the garage and started scraping all of the stuff off of the old pump and I still cannot find the screws. If I understand you correctly the screws should be near the filter sock on the side that is towards the bottom of the tank.

D Walker

iTrader: (1)

I will take a pic of mine tomorrow if you are still having issues finding it.

Im Tyro

That would be helpful. I did manage to clean up the assembly a bit so the underlying metal is beginning to show again, but since I couldn't see them and its currently below freezing in the garage I decided to wait for it to warm up a little tomorrow.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

I can't recall there being any screws holding the pump in place. I think it is a friction fit with the bottom rubber boot and the rubber hose on top.

Im Tyro

Do you just remove the piece of hose or is there a way to take out the rubber boot?

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Compress the spring clamps on the hose and slide them down to the middle. Then slide the hose up a bit on the pipe. At that point, the fuel pump bottom should lift out of the bracket. Then just pop it off the hose.

This picture may help a little:

D Walker

iTrader: (1)

Yeap I was thinking of the DSM one Sorry

Im Tyro

Thanks Aaron ill try that when I get home.

Im Tyro

I replaced the in tank sock, the fuel filter, the fuel pump, and several sections of the fuel hose that I noticed were beginning to crack up. I also drained the tank completely. The spark plugs and new wires should arrive tomorrow, but I was looking and it seems like the plugs would be hard to get to. Is there an easy way to change them?

79RX7GUY

should i follow the same sort of procedure if my 79 rx7 has been sitting for 10 years?

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

You can use the info I posted as well. Just instead of doing the EFI related stuff, you need to rebuild the carb.

79RX7GUY

yeah im in the proces of doing that right now, thanks alot. do you know of anything that willl help me un-seize seized up secondaries. or of a thread that talks about that?

LunchboxCritter

iTrader: (9)

Go here http://www.rotaryheads.com/PDF/2nd_gen/index.html and read/print/download the FSM (factory service manual). It will help you a great deal better than the Haynes manual. Don't lose your Haynes it has some helpful information in it as well.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Disassemble and clean the carb.

79RX7GUY

it is already dissembled and cleaned but the secondaries are still stuck, they have soaked in carb cleaning solution for at least an hour or two and i have been attacking it with pb blaster as well but i have had no luck

Im Tyro

I got all of the new plugs in and put the oil in as suggested. I did try to start it, it just kept turning over but wouldn't catch. I think I flooded it so I will go through the unflooding process tomorrow and try again. Is there anything I can do to keep it from just flooding again?

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

It could be flooding for many reasons.

Have the injectors been professionally flow tested and cleaned?

D Walker

iTrader: (1)

Was there fuel on the plugs?
If so, have you checked to be sure you actually have spark?
If so, try the deflooding techniques in the faq. If these work great!
If not, and you have both fuel and spark, you need to perform a compresion test.