New Member from Alaska
 

Hi, I'm Will from Soldotna, Alaska. I have a 1979 RX-7 with the 12a rotary of course. :nod: I need some trouble shooting help.

I bought this car a few days ago to learn a bit more about the rotary engine and work on them properly. The car doesn't run but all of the electronics such as headlights and stereo all work. But after all of the starting fluid, mystery oil, sea foam, and other such items, I can't get the thing to start. I've checked to make sure both ignition coils are getting voltage and they are pulling ~11 volts. It turns over smoothly, but doesn't even try to start. The car has been sitting in a barn since at least 2001 and has 88,000 original miles I wanted to know what could possibly be an issue for a car that has sat this long, and what I could possibly do to fix, or is it rebuild time? Thanks in advance!

welcome to the board. :)

i'm jealous. i would love to get a '79 some day. congratulations though. you're in a for long process, but i truly believe the car will show you that it was worth it in the end.

before doing anything else, get a copy of the FSM and a Haynes manual. Foxed.ca has free downloads of the FSM and if you can't find Haynes local, then look online. you can find used ones in great condition on Ebay. :)

well, as with any other combustion engine, you need air, compression, fuel, and spark. since the car has been idle for 14 years and you said it turns smoothly, i would focus mainly on fuel and spark. a compression test is a good idea and you should get one done, but for now, pour a little oil down the throttle bores and just turn the engine by hand through a few revolutions. remove the leading plugs and then turn it again, this time listen for 3 pulses from each side of the engine (front and rear) through each full revolution. they should be relatively loud pulses (a psssh sound - like air leaking from a tire) and all should be roughly the same intensity and duration.

Fuel - 14 years is a long time and gasoline turns to garbage in far less time than that. you will want to go through the fuel system and methodically drain it and refurbish it. pull the tank, clean it, replace all rubber hoses, filters and see if the metal lines show any signs of rot. you may or may not have to replace the pump, but you need to at least bench test it. there are several threads that can help you through this process in the Gen I forum and whenever you begin work, i will be happy to direct you to them and/or help as much as i can.

Spark - you mentioned that you were getting 11 volts and i'm guessing that was just the main power. you should check for actual output at the coil and at the plug. new plugs, new cap, new points and new wires are a good idea. however, you might be able to work with what you have after thorough inspection. play it by ear until you finish the fuel system.

How do I go about rolling the motor manually? Like from the fan?

the main pulley is a 19mm hex. while you can use a wrench, a socket is much better. turn it clockwise.

Okay, so I am going through your trouble shoots right now and I went to Napa and got new spark plug cables and spark plugs and am about to install, wish me luck. :)