Sylan

This is regarding an 87 NA S4 FC.
My last engine overheated and was shot, so I spoke with Ernst up at Rx7world.com and got a new engine. I replaced all my vacuum lines, coolant lines, and whatever other misc lines/parts were bad. Once I got everything installed I mounted engine and tranny, serviced everything and gave her a crank. She started just fine, ran to 3k, leveled off to 1k after a few minutes and due to my lack of attention she died. Couldnt get her started for a while, she had flooded so after a couple of hours I pulled the EGI INJ fuse, cranked it a few times to unflood and tried again.

On the 2nd start this is what I got. 20130421_170154.mp4 Video by TierDisogni | Photobucket

Not to mention I forgot the o-rings on the oil filter stand which I found out during that run.

So she lost a LOT of oil while idling and I put her up. Tried to crank again the next day after work and couldn't get her started. Pulled the relay under the dash to cut the fuel pump, got her to crank. Same idle issues. Retired for a few days to wait for o-rings. Re-adjusted the timing, pulled and cleaned the spark plugs, de-flooded again, threw everything back together, and no I am unable to get her turned over. She tries to crank, get's close, but won't fire off. At one point there was a very loud bang/pop that was let out, sounded more like a gunshot than a backfire.

So today we ran jumper cables to her from the other car, tried again to no avail. pulled the relay under the dash again, no change. plugged it back in for another try after de-flooding again and nothing. Now I noticed the oil is low, but I dont think that would keep it from not starting altogether. Any advice would be appreciated at this point and if any more details are needed I can supply them.

misterstyx69

iTrader: (142)

couple things to ask.
do you have fuel?
when did you last have good fuel?
do you have a clean tank and sock,fuel filter?
are the plugs wet when you take them out?
have you even taken the plugs out?
who wired the engine in the car?
have you verified it is correct?
is the CAS stabbed correctly?
Is the AFM plugged in?
are all vacuum hoses hooked up and no vac leaks available to suck air?
I'll let you work on that.That is off the top of my head.

Sylan

do you have fuel? Yes
when did you last have good fuel? Tuesday was the last time it actually cranked up
do you have a clean tank and sock,fuel filter? Not sure about the tank or sock? The fuel filter has less than 100 miles on it
are the plugs wet when you take them out? Yes
have you even taken the plugs out? Yes
who wired the engine in the car? The wiring was still factory when I got it, The harness was never fully detached from the rats nest, and everything else was marked and put back in its correct place
have you verified it is correct? Yes with the FSM
is the CAS stabbed correctly? Yes, the first start it was slightly off, restabbed it, and verified it was correct.
Is the AFM plugged in? Yes
are all vacuum hoses hooked up and no vac leaks available to suck air? All vac hoses were replaced or nipples were blocked off for certain things. Though I do have a small vac leak from the thermowax(cap popped off when dropping the engine ine) it wasnt enough to prevent the vehicle from starting

satch

iTrader: (1)

Set the G/R wire of the TPS to 1 volt DC w/key to on and engine as hot as it can get.

Sylan

That screw no matter which direction I turn it doesn't change the value on the multimeter

satch

iTrader: (1)

The TPS plug needs to be connected. And what reading are you getting? And are you certain you are adjusting the proper screw?

Sylan

The plug is connected. Key turned to ON
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...425_203046.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...425_203100.jpg

satch

iTrader: (1)

Your wire terminals look to be corroded. And...... what reading are you getting?

Sylan

Well the cleaning wont be a big issue. The reading is anywhere from 2.05-0.76

I havent found anything that will cause a steady increase/decrease, even if I push in the switch with my finger.

satch

iTrader: (1)

Your TPS might be shot as well.

Sylan

I hadn't had any issues with tps prior to this, even the first actual start up went perfectly until I let it die.

http://static.photobucket.com/player...421_121529.mp4

Sylan

Update: Came home today after letting her sit for almost 2 days without touching her. Pulled the fuel pump relay, cranked, she started right up, couldnt get the relay back in before she died. Tried starting again a few times, she starts hoppin and poppin like she wants to start, but won't quite turn over to run on her own.

To me that would be a sign of significant flooding. I've set the mixture to full lean via the right strut tower adjuster near the boost pressure sensor. Also adjusted a little bit higher idle from the screw on the throttle body(in hopes that open plates = more air flow = leaner mix) and now I'm gonna let her sit for an hour and try again.

With that being said, how can I get it to stop flooding?

I don't think it's leaky injectors because when I have the relay disconnected or the EGI INJ fuse out, there is NO fuel getting in at all, and common sense would lead me to believe that leaky injectors would still allow fuel in the lines to drip into the chamber.

Sylan

Cleaned out the TPS connecters, got her adjusted to 1VDC, still no start, let her sit overnight. Unflooded this morning, pulled spark plugs, cleaned them up, verified correct timing(right side notch on top of pulley lined up with pin, shaft on CAS lined up). Same result, engine turns, small hoppin and poppin like it's trying to start, then nothing. Unplug fuel pump relay and it hops and pops a bit more, then nothing again.

I'm wondering if I should change the oil, I've read the oil and gas mixture can thin things out a bit and cause a loss of compression. Any more ideas out there?

satch

iTrader: (1)

How about one to two seconds at most of starter spray into the air intake and see if the car starts up briefly w/the fuel pump disabled (pulling relay under the dash). If it does, you know you have spark and that would lead you to the fuel delivery aspect of things.

Sylan

New plugs and starter fluid today, we shall see

Sylan

Ok so with new plugs and no starter fluid, relay pulled, she cranked up, did cold start just fine, than at operating temp she started acting funny.

Idle would jump randomly 5-700 rpm incriments, hooked up the multimeter to TPS and still got jumpy readings. Here is what I saw.....

20130428_103309.mp4 Video by TierDisogni | Photobucket

Now if I push up on the arm(compress the switch) the idle will drop and steady, if i push too hard it starts to die. So I'm thinking faulty TPS. Would that match up with the flooding though?

satch

iTrader: (1)

If you compress the TPS plunger before the engine reaches operating temperature it can cause the idle to drop to a rather low level.


W/o going through the whole thread did you make sure the timing is set properly. There are a hundred posts detailing such a procedure. Have you tried playing w/the amount of fuel used at idle via the screw encased in a small tube right near the Pressure Sensor known as the Variable Resistor. Have you tried to set the idle? To do all of these things requires jumping the Initial Set Coupler. And have you searched for vacuum leaks as well?

Sylan

The only thing I haven't done is jumper the initial set coupler. Why and how would I do that?

satch

iTrader: (1)

Doing so reduces the BAC affect to a trickle so the idle can be set properly as the BAC will fight against most changes to the idle. And to set the timing the idle nees to be rather smooth and below about 1100 rpm or the timing will automatically advance. The FSM details all of these procedures. The coupler is a two wire check connector right near the battery and leading coil. A U shaped wire inserted into both terminals jumpers the two wires together.

Sylan

Ah, coupler is the proper name lol. I knew it was a bypass for the fuel system. Last time I used that it flooded like crazy. I'm guessing the engine has to be running when you jumper it?

As far as idle goes, once the cold starts begins to drop to normal idle, if i dont keep my foot manually idling the vehicle it will die. so I cant get the idle to under 1100 without killin it.

Sylan

Update: Jumpered the coupler, got the idle set perfect She's sittin at about 900 rpm idle, and doesnt die out. I'm still having issues getting her to start on her own with the relay plugged in. With the relay out, she cranks up the first time, with it in, it tries to but cant quite start up.

satch

iTrader: (1)

There are two couplers in the engine bay. The one I spoke of, and the other is the fuel check connector on the opposite side of the engine, which is used in checking for fuel leaks after working on the car. Jumping this coupler forces the fuel pump to turn on w/key to on. This is also done to see if there is a problem w/the fuel switch internal to the AFM. So, I am not sure which coupler you jumpered. Again, the one by the battery is for setting various items listed previously which is the one I suggested you jumper to set the idle and timing. And cars which start w/the fuel pump disengaged usually occurs on engines which have leaky fuel injectors, thus disengaging the fuel is like having a fuel cutoff switch that is relied on by manyy as a quick fix for some of these type of situations.

Sylan

Well at this time a fuel cutoff switch seems to be the most cost effective method. now....what wire from that relay is needed to splice off for the switch?

satch

iTrader: (1)

There are different ways to interrupt the Circuit Opening Relay from providing power to the fuel pump, but the Blue wire takes voltage from the relay and sends it to the pump so you could use that wire.