aragami78

iTrader: (3)

lol Sorry dug out some classic cartoons for my neice and threw in some rocky and bulwinkle for her and shes freaking out lol, shes never seen a VCR or tape before and thinks there both new lol. Anyways back to the topic, I actualy have lots of clues and things to check which is kinda the problem, there to many possibilities going thru my head from reading all the diff threads on here that kinda have the same issue as me. First........


its a
1983 Rx7 GS
12a engine stock internals, 130700 miles on clock

Mods--- MSD 6al wired in place of leading ignitor run to 2 MSD blaster 2 coils tied together to fire at same time, wires strait from blaster coils to plugs, trailing side was left stock setup but replaced old coil with a new stock coil, accel 8mm super stock spiral core wires. Rats nest has been removed along with airpump and all emissions related components. Cat has been cut out and replaced with a strait pipe, exhaust is aftermarket but not performance just a universal replacment muffler that was put on before I got it. Coolant ports to intake have been plugged (JB weld and quarters FTW) and shutter valve has been removed and holes plugged. OMP has been blocked off and running 2 cycle in gas tank (1oz per gallon).

Repaired/Replaced---- Rebuilt carb and left off junk not realy being used to clean it up a bit more (only thing left on it is choke and and altitude doohicky). New cap and rotor, new fuel filter, air filter, belts and dual alt pully, coolant hoses and ALL fluids have been drained and replaced, synthetic in trans and rearend, gtx 20-50 in oil pan with a qt of lucas oil stabilizer to top it off and a mobil 1 filter. Probably leaving stuff out but rest of stuff ive done was suspension or sterring related.

Ok my problem is when im coming to a stop at a light or stop sign my car dies, no noises or bucking and jerking, the rpm's just drop to the floor, faster than it normaly does. Now I can stop the car from dieing with a quick little heel toe while im coming to a stop, but I have to do it before the rpms hit 1000-1500ish or theres no response when I give it gas and if I catch it right on the edge of dieing the throttle response is delayed , also if im not going very fast and come to a stop the rpms will drop past 750 where it used to stop and rest and drop to about 100-200 rpm and then come back up to about 600-750. Today is the first day this has happend, today has also been the coldest day weve had here in Texas since ive had the car, it was 25 degrees this morning and yes I do have antifreeze in the rad, nice and radioactive green lol. And I never drive this car untill its at the very least halfway to where the needle normaly rides, a little less than 1/3 up the gauge, stock oil pressure gauge doesnt work but I put an aftermarket mech oil pres gauge in and on first start up it would read 70-75 psi and at operating temp in neutral it would read around 50 psi, dont know if that info is nessesary but cant hurt. What do I suspect? Its super cold outside so air is alot denser maybe when I let off the gas its leaning out and dieing but I would think that would be more gradual and not happen that quick, ignition related like maybe an ignitor going out but only have trailing ignitor left and with the msd technicaly I should be able to do away with the trailing right? and not have it make a big diff in anything so kinda half crossed that out, Brakes - maybe my booster has a leak but that would raise the rpm not lower it right? But at idle my rpm does twitch when I step on the brakes, timeing might need an adjustment maybe ater I removed the rats nest and hooked the dizzy vac line to 2nd port from left ( I used mazspeeds tutorial for removing rats nest) Thanks in advance guys and sorry about the book you just read thru lol, and we were super slammed at the shop today and I didnt get a chance to look at anything under the hood of my car just other peoples cars, and I was in traffic everytime the car died this morning so couldnt exactly get out and check my float bowls to see if theyre empty, but they have been holding at halfway since rebuild. Let me know if yall need any more info or pics. Ill update in the morning when I get a chance to pop the hood, my day off got changed to Wed this week.

Siraniko

iTrader: (13)

wow, this is worst than "Reader's Digest."

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

Are you using the manual choke on the nikki? When its that cold out, this will happen
if you don't use the choke until it gets almost to full operating temperature.

Kentetsu

I would guess either a vacuum leak, or general tuning of the idle on the carb. Check out www.sterlingmetalworks.com and read the article on "Tuning the Nikki".

Good luck...





.

aragami78

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for taking the time to look at this guys, and yes t_g_farrell I always use the choke when I start the car and always let it get to at least halfway to where the temp needle mormally rides before it goes anywhere, I was reading thru some posts and found I think it was rx7doctors morning routine that I tried and my problem is still there. It was something like start it in morning with choke kill it 10 min later go in do some stuff come back out about 10 min later and start it up, it might not have been rx7doctor tho read to many threads yesterday looking for my problem.

Oh yeah just another quick question, when you do an advanced search or any search for that matter does the search function look in the archives? I always assumed it searched thru everything in cluding archives, but was looking thru it last night and saw a bunch of relevant threads that ive done searches for in past and never saw b4 so just wondering if maybe the search function doesnt look thru archives?

aragami78

iTrader: (3)

Thanks Kentetsu, and hows that new ride of yours doing? Im honestly leaning towards the carb needing adjusment to, I did rebuild it and needle went back exactly the same way it came out, is there any way to tell if im running lean or rich without a a/f gauge or is pulling a plug and examining it the only way? Only reason I havent tried to adjust carb yet is im trying to knock out all other possibilities first, I ahve read thru sterlings site many many times and im going to go thru it again real quick here in a min as well as go thru the fsm manuals I downloaded from sgt fox and get the carb adjusted to factory specs and see how that goes, ill get back and let yall know the results. Thanks Kentetsu and t_g_farrell and yeah it is pretty bad WackyRicer was being pulled away from comp every minute by neice and kept getting side tracked sorry about it being all over the place guys lol.

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

It could be icing up, but I haven't had a nikki in 20+ years. I know my Dell will ice up
and die on me when its below 40F outside, unless I sit there a baby it along until
it gets really warmed up including the intake. You did say the coolant ports are
plugged and thats how the stock intake and carb get warmed up.

aragami78

iTrader: (3)

You probably nailed it right there t_g_farrell, those coolant ports are blocked off and not warming the intake up. It doesnt feel to cold toaday outside maybe high 40s low 50s, do think thats to cold out to test this thought? Or should I wait till its warmer out to drive it and see if problem is still there. Would a simple adjustment on carb to richen it up in cold weather clear this up and then just knock it back down after the winter months? Or would I be better off pulling the quarters out of the ports since this is a daily driver?

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

Not sure. Does this happen only in cold weather and go away once its good and
warmed up? If so it may be the problem.

aragami78

iTrader: (3)

Well just got back from a good long warm up and test drive, and I think you nailed it t_g_farrell, my idle still drops below what it should but I couldnt get it to die. Its alot warmer today than it was yesterday, when this problem started it was mid 20's F outside and its upper 40's low 50's out now and problem still there but not as bad. So I guess whats happening is when im letting off the gas the intake air temp is so low making the air charge denser than normal and without the coolant going thru my intake warming it up its to much air for how the carb is adjusted and jetted. Air still going thru at same speed pulling sucking same amount of fuel out but since its colder and denser its leaning me out to the point of stalling the car when I let off the gas. Do I got it right? Is this why alot of people put away there 1st gens for winter? Always assumed it was just because of salt put on road to deal with ice.

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

Well almost. What may be happening is moisture condenses out of that dense
cold air and the intake is so cold from fuel/air moving thru it that it forms small
ice patches inside the intake which ruins the flow and causes a lot of issues
until it warms enough to melt it away.

I've found it takes a fairly high humidty level and around 40F degrees or lower
to actually cause this but if you wait it out and get it warm it behaves after
that.

aragami78

iTrader: (3)

That makes more since that what I was thinking was happening and explains my new discovery. Been outside looking stuff over and cleaning grounds and terminals with a wire brush and checking fluids. Popped my oil fill tube off and found some motor snot/lung butter in there, had been perfectly clean since rat nest removal and carb rebuild and have the breather system hooked up still so alot of moisture must have gotten in the system somehow. Your explanation explains the how no? Dont know why the breather system didnt take care of the motor snot tho.

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

A breather alone may not be enough to get the moisture out.

I connect the breather tube on the oil fill tube to PCV valve connected to manifold
vacuum. Never have problems with gunk in the tube then.

aragami78

iTrader: (3)

Thanks t_g_farrell, ill have to look over the system, I have the line from the filler tube going to man vac, carb vent tied into evap canister cant remember where I put other line I wanna say another vac line but ill have to check in morning. Do you think that could be problem? I coudnt find pics in any of the threads I found on it, just a bunch of ms paint drawings of what to do. Im about ready to dust off the ole 79 camaro throw the tranny back in and start using that pig.

aragami78

iTrader: (3)

Ok today my car died and wouldnt start back up. After I got it towed back to the shop I was looking it over and couldnt see anything out of the norm, pulled leading plugs thinking it might be flooded, pulled fuel pump fuse and cranked nothing came out. Took oil cap off to see how bad the motor snot was and got a real bad gas smell out of the oil fill tube, something has to be wrong with the breather system. Dont know what but here is how I have it routed.

-oil tube nipple to the vac nipple just to the right of the idle mix screw
-iron nipple just under the oil tube nipple I spliced into the line that goes to
char canister
-fuel bowl vent spliced in with nipple on iron and char canister

Does that sound right? I just did my oil change last week so hasnt been in there long. Also topped my gas tank off this morning on the way to work, took 10.5 gallons and I have 105 miles on the clock, thats 10 miles a gallon something aint right at all and everything I try doesnt seem to help anything at all. Anybody have any clues or suggestions? This has to be related to my other problems. Its kinda pissing me off, ive NEVER put 1200 into a car fixxing **** and had it run worse that it did before all the new parts

aragami78

iTrader: (3)

Also forgot to add that it was mid to upper 50's today and starting to lean away from my carb/intake icing up as being the problem.

zeaone

Do you have the big vac off top plugged?

zeaone

the big vac just let vent along with oil and get new plugs and bounce

aragami78

iTrader: (3)

If your talking about the highest nipple besides the fuel lines, I think thats what im calling the fuel bowl vent. And yeah after smelling gas in my oil, I did unhook the line I had going to that and plugged it up, dont know if it helped anything tho. I left the car in the shop at work, with the oil smelling like that I didnt want to risk driving it not knowing exactly how much its diluted. A quick question tho, does anyone know If I should switch to different plugs? I have NGK in there now and was reading about guys using the msd direct fire mod having good results from the autolite plugs or should I just stick with whats recomended from factory?

zeaone

no don't plug it let it vent no plug and go ngk9s all around you will need them also when before you put new plugs in pour 1oz 2cycle down each housing this will help boost compression since you washed it out just do that and tell me what happens

85TIIDEVIL

iTrader: (2)

Is the fuel bowl vent solenoid hooked up ...?? The one wire coming off it needs 12V when the ignition is in the ON position. This thing had me chasing my tail for a few months, made the car act all kinds of CRAZY to the point I was ready to drive it off a cliff. The nipple that vents it should be routed back to the engine via vacuum source not into the nipple off the iron. That's why your oil smells like gas.

zeaone

Oh and dude i don't put autolite's in my mower and i don't care what anybody is doing never in a rotary.......... mind you im 40 years young and Hispanic i know my rotary lol

aragami78

iTrader: (3)

DING DING DING lol, like JUST finished finding that in a sterling article on flooding issues on the nikki on page 6 of the archives. It is hooked up tho, im thinking when I unhooked it from the conector when I took the carb off for rebuild maybe the wire being old broke inside or solenoid not working. I can bust out the power probe tommorow and check all this out and trace power and what not.

Man I hope this turns out to be the problem, with gas hittin $3 a gallon me getting 10 mpg is hittin the pocket book a bit hard. On the flip my shifting and heel toe have improved a ton as thats only way I can keep it from dieing when I come to a stop. Ill deff keep yall posted and get some pics of before and after vac line routing up tommorow to clarify. Thanks guys I appreciate the help

aragami78

iTrader: (3)

I probably will stick with them, but I was reading Yaw had good results with msd directfire on leading (which is what I running ) using a autolite race2594 I think. It might have been wackyricer using those, but were crap on stock ignition cause they foul out quick but the msd helped with fouling but the plugs still didnt last long. I am gonna try the single ground plug tho and do the side fire mod and see how that works, but with a better plug some NGK for harleys I think. After I get it running better with the normal plugs of course.

aragami78

iTrader: (3)

Alright got my breather lines rerouted, changed out the fuel/oil in the oil pan and checked the vent solenoid. Vent solenoid was infact stuck open but not all the time, ohm tested the wire and sure enough there a break in it somewhere. Replaced some wire and its working like it should now but my idle is still droping below what its set at and then coming back up to rest at 750-800 but its not quite as bad as it was before. So started reading through SMW site some more and decided to start with my accelerator pump adjustment. Made an adjustment went for test drive rinse and repeat about 7-8 times and finnaly started seeing a differance but mostly with starting from a stop, there still some hesitation but it isnt nearly as bad as it was. I dont really see this helping my issue with coming to a stop and rpms dropping below normal tho, as accel pump only works when you step on the gas and my problem is when I let off the gas.

Could a restricted idle circuit cause this, sat down and went though it in my head trying to think of possibilities and kinda grasping at staws here. Also dont know why but my mind keeps telling me to check my grounds. Other than that all I can think of is the magnetic pickups in the dizzy but havent checked anything under the cap yet, which is about all thats left of the original ignition besides the trailing ignitor. All coils are brand new, wires, plugs, msd 6al in place of leading ignitor. Could a bad trailing ignitor cause idle to drop below norm from a high rpm (5000ish + and it seems I have to be moving for it to be a factor, a free rev to 5k in driveway wont duplicate the problem)? Id say im 95% possitive I dont have a vac leak, spayed brake clean all over the motor with no changes. Checked the one adjustment screw on front of carb and its was just shy of 3.5 turns out. The adjustment on the linkage for the stop was set right, all 4 barrels closed when off pedal and when at WOT all 4 are fully open. Im kinda stumped on what to check next. Its starting to look like im going to have to pay someone to do it for me which I really dont want to do as the only rotary guy I know of around here is in Garland ( Ari and Chris at Rotary Performance) and I absolutely will not trust a piston mechanic with my girl. If I cant get this figured out by Monday im going to park it in the back yard till god knows when, I might just take Sunday to get the camaro up to snuff. At least I know if I put a grand into that thing it WILL run better as opposed to worse, not to mention better gas milage out of the 350 and thats with a BG 750 on it. Deffinatly not getting rid of the 7 but im just out of ideas. Heres some pics and a short vid ill get a better vid tommorow when it lighter outside, let me know if yall see something that jumps out at you I guess. And sorry about the quality, the fan was messing with the sound. And accidentaly forgot to switch camera to VGA and took vid in HD. Still waiting on vid to upload to photobucket.