Roddimus Prime

https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/ive-tried-everything-still-wont-start-473127/

I'm still having problems getting the FC off the ground. I'm sure someone thats familair with them could look at it and point out the problem right away. Anyone around the Birmingham, AL area that would be interested in coming by to look at the car for me? I'm trying to keep the car but if I can't get it running the wife will make me sell it.

Thanks.

Roddimus Prime

bump....thanks a lot guys for being so quick to help someone out in need. You guys rock. Everytime I ask for help or have a question I get nothing. It's a real "brotherhood" you have going here and I feel very welcome. Thanks again.

HoosierDaddy

iTrader: (1)

Pretty sarcastic attitude considering you're asking others to donate their time to "help out". I read your other thread and I see someone is still trying to help you out, however. Have you ever tried pull-starting the car as almost everyone who's responded has suggested? You indicated that your "friend" had success with this technique, apparently the last time the car started. If it's really bad flooding, an extended pull-starting effort should get it going. From your description in the other thread, I'll side with those who tend to think you have a bad seal and are losing water/coolant somewhere - assuming "white smoke" is an accurate description of what you're seeing.

Sounds to me like the problem has been pointed out already, you just don't want to believe it. Have you tried that compression test? What did the numbers look like?

What year model is the FC? If it's a series 5 ('89 or later), holding the accelerator to the floor while cranking should "cut" the fuel pump and allow the flooding to clear. If it's a series 4, you'll have to dry out the combustion chambers by pulling the fuse/relay for the fuel pump, removing the plugs, and turning over until all the fluid is gone (you may still get some oil from the MOP, but no fuel). Once the flooding is clear, you should be able to replace the spark plugs and the fuel pump relay/fuse, and fire right up if your ignition timing is good and you're getting fuel and spark - if it's taking a lot more than that, it's likely that you have a bad seal.

HTH,
T

Roddimus Prime

Thanks hoosier for finally adding some insight. The sarcasm was used because I've asked for help no less than 5 other times and been flat out ignored by the local rx7 guys. I'm on several other car forums and when a member has a problem and asks for help there's never a shortage of people offering advice or time. That is NOT the same here. That's all I was pointing out.


Yes, in the other thread they suggested pull starting the car. I haven't done this yet as I don't have a tow chain I'd trust not to break. I was planning on doing it this weekend when I have plenty of time to work on the car in daylight. By the time I get home, dinner and outside it's dark and late. I don't want to smoke out the street or break something when I dont have time to work on it. I'll also do the compression test as soon as I find a compression tester. I'm fairly sure the compression is good. My friend accidently tried to start the car with the car in gear and it jumped forward about 6".

How would I go about checking the timing on this engine? Is it ny different than a standard distributor engine? There are no timing marks on my crank (that I can see). Someone else suggested that I try to slightly turn the distributor while cranking to see if it fires. How does that sound to you?

Wodihor

In piston motors you can turn the distribitor (sp). So that will work for advancing your timing or retarding it. these are elctronic ignitions... they work the same as points for the most part of firing.

If you turn your car over like bump it. I have an 83 and it it has very faint yellow paint on it... with a tooth mark in the "crank" that can hardly be seen... take a really close look at it. you may see the same thing and it may take a few revolutions to see the notch.

as far as timing on a rotory i'm not much help to you there i just bought mine about 2 weeks ago. Just sharing my experance with other cars. Timing is not that hard though once you know what wire to clamp the light gun on to, Light gun timing gun same thing to me. you may want to just check it and see where it is at right now... may help you see if there is a notch in the pully... doing it at night is sometimes helpful also as you will get a strobe effect... or a dim lit area... willhelp you see from the blinding sun.

HoosierDaddy

iTrader: (1)

Wodihor has a point - if you are going to mess with ignition timing, best to use a timing light. Failing that, there's a tube near the front of the engine with a round, hockey-puck shaped top about where you'd normally expect a distributor to be. It has a single-bolt clamp holding it near the bottom, again much like a distributor. This is the crank angle sensor, the equivalent of a distributor in this setup. Loosening the bolt and turning the tube will have a similar effect to turning the distributor. I'd recommend marking the original position, esp. if you don't have a timing light., so you can put it back where you found it if you get it way off.

Forty bucks or so for a Haynes or Clymer manual might be a good investment if you're seriously going to be working on the car. Let us know what you find out on the compression, and good luck!

EDIT:
It just occurred to me - if you're getting a lot of white smoke with a gassy smell like unburned fuel you may have a stuck fuel injector that's effectively flooding the engine as it turns - it would be very hard to start and would not want to idle or calm down and may throw black smoke under open throttle when running. This is actually a common problem with new or rebuilt injectors because the assembly chemical can dry up and leave a sticky residue. I don't want to steer you wrong and don't know the proper procedure for determining/correcting this, but I think it's fairly simple - you can probably find it in the archive or by googling. It just occurred to me that that's another possible explanation.

Roddimus Prime

I forget that was called the CAS..I haven't touched it...i won't touch it until I find timing marks of some kind. I have the Hayes manual but I let someone borrow it and haven't gotten it back yet.

I was planning on buying a spare set of injectors and having them rebuilt so I can have nice clean ones when I do my intake manifold swap.

I'm going to do the pull swap thing this weekend and let you guys know how it turns out.