zx1441

Well I picked up my first FD last week, love it. Low miles, perfect interior and even better on the outside.
Modifications/upgrades are basic bolt ons including radiator, big intercooler, elbow, intakes, BOV,3" down pipe, no cats, racing beat, solenoids, efini turbos, Apexi, and a few other things.

I have been driving the car every day at least 15 miles per day. Hit boost plenty of times, 12 psi, no creep seen(as I watch the guage).

Just yesterday, it wouldn't start(cold start) after cranking it initially. Then a few mn later, I cranked it again and it fired right off.

I drove down the block and started to accelerate to 25 mph and she just died.

I had to turn the key back all the way everything off and it started right up. It will not restart if it dies and you still have the ignition on, turning the key all the way back is the only way to restart when this happens.

After a few more times of dying(back to back attempts to accelerate) everything became normal and drove fine for 15 miles. I attempted to trigger the problem but hitting boost at various rpm and throttle position, it was fine.

I pulled into my next stop, turned the car off and parked, after eating lunch, a few mn later, i got back in, restarted no problem, but the car died again right when I hit the gas and released the clutch to get the car rolling. Died one more time, restarted, then drove it another 15 miles back home, hitting boost, in attempts to see if the issue is still there. It drove and ran normal, couldn't reproduce that problem on my drive back.

I searched threads of motor dying and found nothing like what I'm experiencing.

Things unique to what heppens:

Engine dies at minor addition of throttle or under load.
After 4 or 5 restarts, the problem goes away.
Problem will return on next start up.

The most important thing that may be a clue during this issue is the fact that in order for the engine to restart after it dies, you need to turn the ignition all the way back, no radio lights or pre start lights on the dash.

What could it be guys?

zx1441

Either my issue stumped even the most seasoned of experts in the forum, or the new member section isn't frequented on the weekends...

Rotary Performance will have to figure it out for me i gue$$

rxtasy3

iTrader: (2)

patience young grasshopper. noone lives on the forum, may take a few days before someone with fd knowledge sees this and responds.

littlebit421

Some clarity please, there is Crank, Start and Run, crank - is the engine turning over, start- is the engine actually firing and running on its own. So when you say it would not start, was the engine actually cranking but it would not start and run or, when the car would die it would do absolutely nothing (no crank-engine not turning over) until you turned the key all the way off and back to the crank start run position, and then the car would crank start and run fine. When you say no radio lights or pre start lights on the dash <--- is this when it initially stalls there is no electrical power<--- so when driving the car dies of all power, engine and electrical until you turn the key to the off position then back on?... sometimes with odd ***** like this, a video can be helpful. but remember its really hard to diagnose over the phone so to speak. I would say if you are loosing all power electrical and engine, I would check all your battery connections to make sure you dont have a loose connection somewhere., that would be the first place I would start.

littlebit421

I have noticed that I get quicker responses during the week. but also be patient. as I put in my previous post it is hard to diagnose over the phone so to speak, especially an intermittent issue, at least you have found what seems to trigger the problem and its not completely random, this may help with properly diagnosing the issue.

zx1441

@littlebit41,

cranks, meaning starter is working but in effect the motor won't fire off and run.

if the motor dies, it will not fire off and run UNLESS you turn the key all the way to the back where no accessory lights for the dash radio, etc are on. At which the next attempt to start the car will always fire off the engine as it should.

I did disconnect the battery a few days ago(located behind the passenger seat), not loosening the terminal from the post as rocking it back and forth freed it easily. I did not tighten it down in any way when I reattached it. So it could be loose enough to cause a problem but it didn't effect the batteries ability to turn the engine over.

zx1441

Also, when the engine dies, all lights are working, nothing else turns off. My first attempt to restart the car after it died was pushing the clutch in and turning the key forward and the motor cranked for ever but would not fire off and run.
That's when I turned the key all the way back and found out that is the only way to restart the motor.

littlebit421

if the battery has been relocated I would definitely make sure that all connections and wires are tight also make sure that none are pinched or shorted. The terminal should be snug enough where you're not able to wiggle them loose so to speak. Again you definitely have an odd situation but hearing that you're not losing electrical power you're just losing engine power and turning the key all the way off and back on lets did crank start and run almost seems like a fuel issue. Weather actually be fuel itself or electric signal for fuel delivery.

zx1441

I tightened the terminal, see how that works in the morning.

There's one other thing I noticed. At low rpm, lately I've seen a yellow light to the left of the steering wheel flash, like low rpm clutch release, pulling up in a drive, going from reverse to first and easing off slowly, that light will flash once. It's the same light that turns on when the engine cuts out and dies.

I never saw that light come on before this issue started.

armans

iTrader: (2)

Do you have an AFR gauge? It would be useful for you to see what the gauge shows just before the car dies on you.

zx1441

No AF gauge, but at such little load , it wouldn't mean much whatever it reads.

Maybe this could answer your question though, once it almost died right when the secondary came in sequence around a corner, maybe just over half throttle but around 7 psi boost, and it sounded like a shotgun(backfire) but it didn't die, it recovered and I made it home no issues.

i

zx1441

Tightened the Terminals last night,

Everything was fine on the coldstart and drive into town, 16 miles. No issues. Now to find out if it's normal after I start it and drive again...

zx1441

Update- I got it to die again on the way to the shop(Rotary Performance).

I've heard nothing but good things about the shop.

Hopefully the labor hours chasing this issue don't break the bank.

The only consistency with this issue is the fact that it won't restart unless you turn the key all the way back to acc off position first.

I will post up the findings and the fix so that anyone else can search the forum and find the fix if this problem is encountered.

Lsxrex

Ari and those guys are top notch. Pretty much the only option in dfw for rotary cars. You get that fd from a guy in Allen?
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Lsxrex

Also have you checked the fuel pump relay? I had a similar issue once where the pcm wouldn't command fuel until after the car reached idle speed. The starter couldn't get it spinning quick enough. So cycling to key allowed it to crank after it primed. Starter fixed that issue for me. And the nvram reset (rx8)

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