Hey guys, thought id ask you guys as well for some troubleshooting advice. I finally feel like a real FD owner since it broke down........

So i was taking my wife for a drive since she was begging me so much. I warmed my FD up to about 87 before i took off (last night was very cold). I drove about 3 or 4 miles before i got to a stop sign. At that stop sign I dropped the clutch and took off like a bat out of hell. Went all the way through 4 gear and i stopped because i noticed some ignition brake up (something a fellow rx7 club member had pointed out to me last saturday). I drove it for a bit and decided to speed up from 60 MPH and i got to 100 MPH. When i reached 100 MPH i noticed that my turbos stopped and when i pressed the gas nothing was happening. My RPM gauge was at 4000 and seemed only to be slowing down because of my loss of momentum. I turned into a median and thats when i realized my car had shut off (or atleast my engine). I had not noticed earlier because all my lights where on PFC was working good ect. I tried to crank it back up and all i got was a loud whinning noise and the occassional backfire. I checked to see if maybe my wife had hit the fuel cut off switch by mistake but i dont think that was it. I tried to turn it one again and the same thing happened. It almost sounds like my starter is trying to turn but nothing is happening, dosent sound like my engine is actually turning. I pushed it like a mile all the way to a parking lot where its still sitting.

At first i thought alternator but my battery was holding strong so I dont think thats it. Could it be a vaccum hose? Fuel Pump? Something silly iam overlooking? I dont notice any visible leaks or hanging vaccum lines. I just replaced the spark plugs and wires about a week ago as well as replaced the radiator with a fluidyne one. Any ideas, help on troubleshooting would be greatly

Appreciated

 

compression check?

 

I recently did it and it was Very good.....also i poped the clutch while trying to crank it and it moved so it has compression.....

 

check the compresion again becouse it sounds like you might have blown the motor hope not but thats where I would start looking.

 

how many miles? did it sound like the motor was cranking? if it was backfiring i would assume it is getting fuel... take the starter off and bring it to a place like advanced or auto zone and have them check it... might just not be good, also check the amps on the alternator...

 

"loud whirring noise" and backfiring sounds like no compression

 

popping clutch while starting as rough test of compression? never heard of that trick...

anyway, how recent is recent? can u give any other characteristics of its behavior now? when u try to crank it, does the motor happen to sound like its spinning over quicker than before?

damn i hope u didn't blow it...

 

if it is backfireing then that means it is cranking, which means the starter is good.

this deffinately sounds like a blown engine. i sure hope not.

just sell that TA of yours and put a full bridge motor in!!

 

only sell the body!!! TA motor fit nicely in FD (you all knew i was going to say it!!!)

 

true, but trying to be optimistic here...


it does sound like a blown motor but there are a few other things it could be.


and don't sell the fbody, build the fbody's motor

 

but you all knew I was going to say it....

And, yes, popping the clutch while cranking only shows that your starter is engaging the flywheel.

A whirring sound with an occasional backfire (in a piston engine, at least) is a definate sound of no compression... ask me how I know.

You can check the apex seals by taking out the plugs, get a small mirror and a flashlight, put the car in neutral, and slowly turning the engine over by hand (turning the main pulley on front). Use the mirror and flashlight to look in the spark plug holes and get a good look at the apex seals when they come into view.

Worse case senario.... it's engine time. But the good news is you got the TA waiting....

 

Ok lets see. 1st go get a new set of plugs. @ the meeet you said you just installed the pfc and it was roughly tuned. Go the unflood route with the new plugs 1st. While you are doing that, with the plugs out car in neutral spin the crank by hand and listen for 6 good ssshhhh pulses. If that is good. finish making sure you are not flooding out. Then check for spark. If no spark look next at your cps (crank position sensor).

Keep informed on whats going on!

 

true, it can have no compression if it is flooded out really bad

surefire way to unflood:
1 pull lower plugs and egi fuse
2 turn over at wot for 10 seconds
3 add a little 2-stroke oil to lower spark plug holes
4 replace fuse and new plugs
5 try to start like normal, it will smoke like a bitch if it does lol
6 repeat if necessary

 

Boy that was alot to take in........

First of all, the spark plugs and the wires are brand new NGK, i replaced them myself. The PFC is not new and has been on there since the first owner. The last time it was tuned is anybodys guess but i was told by the seller that it had been tuned at some point. I checked for spark on 2 spark plugs (1 trailing and 1 leading) and i am getting spark at the boot and at the spark plug itself.

Remember, the car DID die while driving so iam looking for problems that could of happened while driving. Blown motor is one, so i guess i got to read up on how to do a compression check myself since I dont feel like towing the car to a million different places (because as i found out, NOBODY wants to tow it because of the body kit). Could a coil pack gone bad ? And if one did, wouldnt i atleast hear an atempt at combustion from the other plugs?

Also, while iam trying to do all this I need to keep the option open that i might need expert help. You guys know anybody that makes house calls or a GOOD rotary place that is not a MILLION miles away?

 

rx7world.com is in in rock hill witch is not to far from you he rebiult the motor in my FD and I havent had any problems since then give Ernst a call and tell him Mindaugas sent you.

 

cheap man's compression check: take out leading plugs on both rotors. cut off your fuel pump and proceed to crank. if you hear even *puffs* then you got compression. if you hear *puff puff* *wheeze* or just *wheeze* then it's not looking good..

 

What he said...^^^

 

Update?

 

Man i wish i had something to update, i havent had time because of work to do anything....... I am going to try and purchase a compression tester this weekend and try it out, i can get one at any autoparts store i imagine, right?

 

the rotary specific tester is wery costly you can buy a piston tester and do with it I am just not sure exactly how.

 

before you waste money on a compression tester just try the poor mans test like mentioned above. also check if the base hobby shop has one.

 

kinda sounds like my problem, exept mine will turn over but not without backfireing and smoking.

 

A regular compression will do the job. Yeah the one with the gauge on it. Basically you are looking for 3 bumps, even bumps then you know you have a good engine (I belive anything over 90 psi is good... it will read as you crank the engine 90, 90, 90). If you have say 95, 0, 0 or somehing not linear then you have a bad engine and so forth (there is a website that tell you what exactly is wrong if you get a zero "bad apex, water seals, busted rotor).

I almost forgot to tell you to remove the schrader valve located inside the hose (this is on the pressure gauge quick connect... it is hard to see but look for it. If you have any questions send me a message)... this will allow the gauge to bump at differnt compression cycles rather than to hold the max. pressure.

Hope this helps although it sounds like you have blown the engine.

 

Also, all engines regardless of internal damage over time "cranking" will backfire due to flooding. This does not imply good compression. I have seen one backfire with no spark plugs wires attached to the plugs (hard to belive but all I could figure out was that as the metal shavings were being pushed around therefore, generating sparks "metal rubbing agains metal" and mix. of fuel and air being pump then there you have it.

 

you think mine's blown?