I think my clutch has given up. Last night I went to teh drags and every time I got to 4500 rpm in 3rd it stopped going faster. Kinda like it wasn't getting fuel. Then today when I came back from Tulsa I couldn't go over 62mph. The engine revs fine with the clutch out, but with it in in 3rd through 5th gear it doesn't want to go any farther than 4000rpm. Do you guys think it's the clutch? I don't think it has anything to do with my carb that was just rebuilt. There wre hints of this a long time ago before I got the newer engine, but it hadn't happened again until last night. Anyways. Suspension and any other performance mods are out the door now. Now it' time for a 3-in-1 clutch kit, possibly a new flywheel, and a new transmission. Just shows you how you can think your car is going great and will be the best ride in the town and then it all comes crashing down on top of you. I'm not nearly as sad as I shoudl be. I knew this day was coming. I just hope I don't end up having to sell her. What do you guys think it is?

 

IF THE motor revs then it's clutch. It's a bummer but that is the way it goes. Just yank the trans and pull the clutch. Better to do it now because once the clutch plate wears down to the rivets those rivets start chewing the flywheel friction surface.

I typically find the need to replace performance clutches every 3 years.

 

The engine stops increasing in speed at 4500 rpms?
Wouldn't it keep going up (albeit slower) but the car wouldn't accelerate more if it was the clutch? (correct me if I'm wrong)

 

The best way to tell if your clutch is going is to take off in the vehicle in 5th gear
from a stop. If the engine does not stall the clutch is bad. Also if when trying to accelerate in say 4th or 5th gear and you put your foot to the floor say when your doing 65mph if the rpm's climb and the vehicle does not go, the clutch is bad.
It does not sound like your having this problem. Possible clogged screen in your fuel pump or other problem. Have you done anything mechanical to the car recently? rx7doctor

 

Yeah seems more like a fuel problem or engine problem not a clutch problem.

 

Yeah. I'm just a silly little boy. Tuesday night at the drags I thought it was a fuel problem. Turns out it is. THere's not enough fuel in the float bowls. I'm taking it to a guy who goes to my church who used to work on rotary cars for a living. He is god of all mechanics really. It's fuel. I'm probably just gonna have to adjust a few things. Get it tuned right. Hopefully that's it. I really don't have the money for a clutch, possibly a tranny, and suspension upgrades. I thought I was really lucky not having many problems with my car. Now this happens. Oh well. I don't think it's too serious. I'll find out tomorrow after work. GOing out to do some investigative work on it right now. Laters.

 

Should I be able to see the flow of fuel through my clear fuel filter? I got the droplight under the car and looked at the filter just idling and didn't see any flow. Is that bad?

 

Well, since the fuel is clear, and hopefully without air bubbles, you probably won't see any flow.

You can, however, take that droplight and peek at your floatbowls on the front (and perhaps rear) of the carb to see if the fuel level is about halfway up the sightglass.

Replacing that fuel filter is usually one of the first steps in tracking down performance problems in an RX-7 (and it's less than $5 and 5 minutes to do).
If that's not the problem, I'd be checking float settings and checking the fuel pump flow/pressure....

Good luck :-)

 

The floats are pretty much empty. When I was looking at the carb off o f the car I accidentally pulled or pushed something that made them empty I guess.

 

You had the carb off of the car?

You can adjust the float bowl levels if you take the top of the carb off and adjust the metal pieces on the floats... just be careful :-)
When mine were frequently messed up sometimes all I needed to do was take the top of the carb off, clean in there briefly, and put it back on......