Hi, so a few days ago i bought a 86 rx7. It wont start without starter fluid in the intake, and once it starts i have to use the gas pedal to keep it not from dying. Once it warms up, it idles just fine. But my question to you guys is why wont it idle at 3k rpm on its own when it firsts starts? Once it warms up, i can turn it off and start it, as long as its warm. The previous owner did alot of electrical work so my suspicioun is that has something to do with the start up problem. Also, the temp gage doesnt work. Is it possible that the ecu cant tell if the motor is warm or not? Is that why it wont idle till warm? Also, i pre-mix since the omp was deleted. Any advice would be appriciated.

 

'86-'88 temp gauges read notoriously low and usually sit no higher than 1/4 of the way up when at operating temp. The car you just bought is about 33 years old and is probably in dire need of maintenance regarding rubber parts and wear items. You probably have a vacuum leak and leaky old injectors.

Are you in over your head with this car?

 

I respectfully disagree, my S4 vert had a more accurate temp gauge than my S5 which reads Cold/Ok/New Engine. A little movement and you knew on the S4 to stop and check everything, My S5 im worried that if it moves a bit higher than the slightly above half its at i need the shut it off asap.

Your mileage may vary but thats my experience with this.

EDIT: I do agree that you need to do some serious maintenance on an old car like this when just purchased, I swapped all fluids and most rubber parts that i could find new or like new used.

 

i knew this was goingto be a project when i first brought it. The owner claims to have had it rebuild 30k miles ago, but theres no paperwork to prove it. There's an oil leak coming from the front timing cover, so i was going to do a rebuild anyways. If maitnence and a rebuild is in place, im willing to do what is needed.

 

my suspicion is you have a blown rotor.

"previous owner did a lot of electrical work" kind of throwing out big red flags.

so i'd start with a compression test.

 

yeah, i researched further and im going to do a compression test this weekend. Thank you guys for the advice!