After swapping out to my new alternator belt, I opted not to put on the third belt; the one that wraps around the A/C pulley. I started the car and let it warm up a bit and was suprised as to how easy it was to get the idle adjusted to 750 rpm.

Unfortunately, now I had some odd smoke bellowing up from the bottom of the car. Upon a quick check, there is an area just beyond the collector, within the heat shields that was glowing red....and shooting smoke forward and up through the engine...a lot of smoke! Is there something I need to cap or a vacuum that needs attention since I didn't put on the A/C belt? Do I need to put that back on?

If needed, I can acquire photos in the morning of where the smoke is coming from exactly.

 

are you sure you didn't cut off the belt for air pump? That would nuke your thermal reactor.

 

If thats not the culprit you could have the carb adjusted way too rich or too lean that would cause things to get hot in the exhaust region. Idk about at idle tho. I know too rich can make the cats glow red hot.

 

Yeah, if you accidentally removed your air pump belt instead of your AC belt you possibly fried your thermal reactor as already stated.

 

Pm me for a new tr if ya need it.

 

Thermal reactor? I'm not driving a neuclear reactor. Lemme reattach that belt, then start it. It only ran 10 minutes last night.

 

Checked it out, the only belt I haven't put back on was for A/C. Lemme jack this thing up, toss some stands underneath and take some pics of the area.

 

Your car shouldnt have a thermal, its not an SA? 82s should just have the normal box exhaust manifold flow inhibitor lol. Orange glow was probably coming from your cats. Was your choke on?

 

I didn't see and smell smoke until after the choke was back in. While we are speaking about running rich or not, what is the average amount of turns outward for the mixture screw?

 

Before I go to garage, as per Haynes Manual...the glow was coming from the no. 2 pre monolith cat...now cover me, I'm going in!

 

Could always be clogged as well. Cat delete time! lol

 

starting point is to gently tighten it, gently, and then unscrew it 2.5 turns. from there, you should be within 1/2 - 3/4 turn of best idle, assuming the engine/intake/exhaust is stockish.

leaner is screwing it in, richer is screwing it out.

if you need to smog it, find the best idle, and go 1/8th of a turn richer.

 

I'm not doubting what you say, but as logic dictates (via the Haynes manual), screwing it out should let more air in. Let's leave this statement be for a sec.

How many screws are there on an '82 with the Nikki for air and/or fuel mixture?



BTW...It doesn't seem to be bellowing smoke anymore.

 

Thats the mixture screw. The idle air screw is to the right of that in the picture (you cant see it, its behind a hose) but its just to the left of where the throttle linkage goes. Its way back in there so get a good light and peek at it. If the smoking is gone though, leave it be. Could very well have been because of the choke being out

 

Well, now that makes more sense. I thought the one on the right is just for idle and the one that I am pointing to was a fuel/air. Are there anymore I should know about?

 

Theres a couple nuts to adjust the accelerator pump timing as wel by the idle air screw, but you shouldnt need to touch that lol

 

In theory, if I have had the mixture screw too far out due to my own stupidity (yeah, if I say it I don't feel so bad) and the confusion of the Haynes Manual, then that may be the reason why the float bowls are full? Also, when I pump the accelorator, the car acts like it wants to bog down....maybe the same reason?

BTW guys...thanks for the help!

 

OK, I went in and turned it in, then turned it out 2.5. Started the car and let it warm to the point I could push in the manual choke. I adjusted the air/idle to a smooth sound, but that was at 1200 rpm so I brought back to run at around 900 rpm. All the while, the car is sputtering, and you can hear it really bad down at the ground. I turned the screw in 1/2 turn, but the cat was starting to glow red again so I turned the car off. Am I doing something wrong?

 

when i had the underglow problem on my car everyone was saying "check your leading coils" all i did though was get the cat removed. my car is now quieter and sounds better (my cat was melted strait through)

 

Well, it sounds like a twanging bubble machine underneath. You know how if you look directly to where a noise is coming from how much clearer it becomes...the noise is coming from the huge flat box under the car...I am think I am giving in to the fact that it is a huge problem but I don't have the means to take care of such a problem at the moment.

 

Not a huge problem. Get it to an exhaust shop, have them put in a cat delete pipe. Shouldnt cost you more than a $100 all said and done.

That "huge box" is your main cat. I'd say just get rid of all the cats. That is of course assuming you dont have smog to worry about.

This might help:

"Something is causing raw unburned fuel to be sent down the exhaust pipe where the cat "burns" this fuel. The cat is designed to burn the tiny amount of unburned fuel that comes from a normal engine. Now, if you pour excessive hydrocarbons (fuel) in the exhaust, the cat will burn that too and since it's burning too much fuel it glows red hot. This won't last very long, this is very damaging to the cat. The catalyst can get hot enough to melt. And that won't take long! And when it melts, then you will have a blob of molten metal blocking the exhaust pipe (now it's clogged!) and the engine will stop operating. At that point, the only fix is replacement of the catalytic converter.

However, if you find and fix the problem now you can avoid that expense. You have to find why raw fuel is going through the engine. The most common reason would be a bad spark plug or bad spark plug wire. If the spark doesn't work, there is no "combustion" in that cylinder and the raw unburned fuel goes out the exhaust pipe."

So check your ignition, and plan for a cat delete pipe since youve gotten it hot quite a bit.

 

Well, if I were employed, this would be a simple fix. However, I am on my 2nd month of unemployment, so the RX7 will have to sit and wait.

Thought --- if I am to essentially change all mentioned in your post, should I opt for a different exhaust manifold? (I'm thinkin yes, but await your well needed response). I have considered it anyway.

 

Oh, preferred muffler for the 1st gen.

Next thought...I was talking with another member awhile ago (aka Rotary_Inspired) and we had talked about exhaust systems. He said that the 1st gen with one muffler is really loud. My brother had a '84 GSL-SE years ago, but I don't remembr it being loud. That being said, a header, no cat, and a muffler should sound fine, correct?

 

If you want the most preferred muffler, you can't beat the Racing Beat Universal Mufflers, i personally have a RB header, Ebay Pre-silencer, and this RB muffler

http://www.racingbeat.com/RX7-1975-1...rts/16431.html

It isn't overly loud, but i have been cited once for a loud exhaust under throttle.... Some people might suggest using two mufflers in series to quiet the rotary

I origionally had the stock system, and this is quite a bit louder

 

if you are somewhat handy with a welder torch or a saw and have enough to buy a small section of pipe (the size of your cat) you could chop the offending restriction out of there and replace it with a piece of pipe. that is given you dont have a smog test in the near future. shouldent cost more than $20 for the pipe and welding wire.