Hello, my name's Bruce. New to the community. So I just want to start by saying, thanks. ROBB M, AND MEMBERS. I have went through this site a couple of times and have found it to be my number one, go to resource. Which also brings me to the reason I'm here today. As a member, I recently purchased a 88It's convertible and would love to get it running? I'm not really sure what all age will take yet. So I would like to see if a new one would show me the ropes and walk me through this process.

...I do not have any history on car ..

1988 red convertible manual

As of right now,

1. cleand gas up.

- drained and vacuum gas tank.

2. replaceed leading plugs.

- Purchased two NGK BUR7EQ 69Q7

3. verified fule pumps.

- by means of jumper wire from pump assembly too battery + and -

4. pulled upper intake manifold - found wiring to one of the lower injectors burnt in two. Made repairs did not see any other obvious damage. And I am assuming that it must have caught on fire. There is a little bit of black smoke under the hood. I am guessing it was more likely from somebody trying to get it to start.

5. clean up and inspection of wiring

-to work on it easier i remove power steering pump and ac compress.

6. Ran a new ground wire from back top side of motor housing back to - battery terminal.



that's about as far as I have made it i am at the moment trying to verify that coils are firing ok

can used some guidance. In my attempt to it is running or what it takes to get it running.

 

There are plenty of way more qualified people on the that me to help you along the way than me. So, take this "advice" as you will.

You picked a good place to start, so far. Aaroncake's grounding will get you further along in your path to good grounds.

Build or buy yourself a test light and look for codes.
I tested sensors back to the ECU with the engine cold. Instructions are in the FSM. If you know how to backprobe a connector, it's very simple to do.

Having a very strong battery is necessary, too. With a strong battery and good grounds, do a compression test.

Test your plug wires per the FSM.
Testing coils is fairly simple procedure in the FSM. Although I am not sure that a full test can be done with specialized equipment, I can't remember now.

Do a smoke test for your intake and vacuum lines if you have the money. It will save you a lot of time.

With your intake off remove the EGR and install a plate and cap the vacuum port, replace the fuel damper, pull your injectors and send them for cleaning and replacement seals if they spin with little resistance when installed and remove/cap off the Sub-Zero system. There is more like, verifying the accelerated start up start still works. That will cause issues holding idle when cold.

Test your sensor on the back of the thermostat housing and replace the thermostat. Flush the cooling system, too.

Replacing as many hoses in the vacuum and cooling systems is a good idea as well.

This has been my path forward anyway. There is more to do, others can probably remember better than me right now.

There is more once you start the engine but this will get you most of the way to not having many worries when the engine is started.

Oh, change your oil/filter and verify if there are any missing sensors, other parts and vacuum lines. I also disassembled the ACV system and the secondaries. Cleaned everything up and reinstalled, verifying that they spin easily throughout their range. Also verify that you re-install them in the correct orientation, unlike me.

Cleaning off the outside of the engine of oil/dirt is not a bad idea either. It makes is much easier to spot leaks.

Edit: Some of this stuff I listed might be a bit overkill, I am usually the better safe than sorry. There is a very useful article somewhere or was somewhere on the Internet about, "How to take your RX7 out of storage",it could be helpful, too. It might have something about dropping some lube in the spark plug holes and turning the engine by hand to. It lessons the chance of accidental damage to the engine, I think.

 

the pulsation damper leaking is usually cause of a fire under the intake.

getting an engine to start is as simple as checking for:

fuel
spark
compression