Well im getting fire.... i got it started again. no fires lol. It seems like it just keeps dumping too much fuel into the engine. Im getting white/gray clouds of smoke now, im pretty sure its half raw fuel....

 

Quick question.... what is the fuse marked regulator? Im not positive, but 99% sure that this fuse is causing my problems. Is it an electronic fuel regulator, or what?? What does it go to, when its working properly i can here a click under the hood when i turn the key on, and when its not working properly i dont hear the click..... unelss that click is unrelated to the fuse. whats the click under the hood, I also hear a click when i mess with the fuel pump fuse but its inside the car and seems to be working properly, im thinking its the fuel pump solenoid or something.... im curious as of what the regulator is and what it regulates.... anyone know?

 

THe click was the fan, i got it working but the low speed is out and when its on low and you turn the car on and off it clicks instead of coming on. I dont know. I know the regulator fuse is working now so i doubt that is the problem. THe fuelpump is working, and im getting fire. It has to be the damn carb. When i look down into the carb, what am i looking for to know that the float is stuck?

 

you're not actually looking down into the carb, as in down the venturis/barrells you are looking on the side of the carb, on the float bowls. there are two of them, one on each bowl. if you are facing the front of your car then one of them is facing back at you (easy one to see) and the other is 180 opposite (toward the rear of the car) not so easy to see. you will probably need a mirror or something to see this one. but once you find them you will see an indicator about even with the center of the sight glass, it should look like there is aprox. half fuel and the rest air in side the bowl. if you have all of factory items still on the carb then it might make the sight glasses hard to locate initially.

 

also about the fuse you're talking about, this is for the voltage regulator. which on an SA ('79) rx7, the charging output is regulated by an external device as opposed to an internal.

 

Ok, i cant hardly see the float bowls, im going to have to do it when i have more time. New problem though. the car is trying to start now but as soon as i let off the key it dies. I hold it between accessory power and where the starter actually turns and it will keep running. After it died again, I messed with the key and my fuse box, the only way the fuel pump will keep running is if i hold my key right between the starter running point and accessory power. My fuse is good, although, i think my fuse box is in need of being changed...... or something. I am having alot of issues with it.... I guess i should start by cleaning all the contacts in it.... whats the best way to do that?

 

That sounds like an ignition switch issue; they do wear out over time, and 30 years is a lot of time. If the "IGN" step isn't staying activated when you come back off of "start," both the fuel pump and the ignition will shut off - - they draw power from the same contact.

You can sometimes disassemble them and clean them out, without being forced to replace them. I think there's a thread around where somebody walked through doing this.

 

i was pretty sure that was what was going on. It was working fine until today :-( just another thing to fix. the car sat up for over a year is what i was told. So far since i got it a door handle broke and the ignition switch is messing up. The cd player will stay on though, so i would have thought that the switch was working ok. The only problem is that the dang fuel pump wont stay on but ill make it work :-)

also, i just got done looking at it, the sight glasses on the carb are competely full of gas.... this verifies that the float is stuck... correct?? Im getting another carbeurator tomorrow or the next day... As for the ignition switch, ill have to figure that out another day...

 

The ACC (accessory) circuit and the IGN (ignition) circuits are separate; ACC is on for the first and second click of the key, IGN is on for second and third, and START is only on for the spring-loaded final click. Stero is usually on ACC (so you can listen with the engine off); ignition and fuel pump are on IGN.

A full float glass generally means a stuck needle or bad (or binding) float, yes; Remember that there are two bowls, front and back. The back bowl glass is impossible to see without a mirror; if you put the mirror right in front of the heater hoses and pan it around you can usually get a view of it.

I'm fighting a balky front needle right now, myself; brand new needle, but won't seal when it's on the car. Still working it out.

If the car sat for a year without being started, the carb internals are probably pretty gummed up; the gas evaporates and leaves this horrid glue behind. Might need a carb rebuild to get it all out, but if it runs OK some of the time, then maybe just pulling the air horn off & cleaning or replacing the needles and bowl will get you by in the short term.

 

yup....sounds about like my '79....i'm just slowly trying to get all of them worked out one by one.....

yeah, after sitting up for a year i'm sure your carb is gonna keep your from getting it going or possibly running decently.

Hey DivinDriver, on your float that is sticking did you use a rebuild kit and if so what kind. i rebuilt my nikki with a GP sorenson kit and had one float needle that was sticking. never could get it right so i just threw on a weber setup, but i kind of wish i could put my nikki back on cause it got way better mileage than the 45s..... just curious.

 

The rebuild kit I used was a GP Sorensen, yes. I also have a Black Dragon kit that I opted not to use; it has identical needles in it, right down to the part numbers on the little plastic bags.

 

You have to be really carefull when installing the floats. Otherwise, they can get hung up if not positioned exactly right.