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rx7 backfiring! air flow/ignition issues?

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Old 05-07-11 | 02:29 PM
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Angry rx7 backfiring! air flow/ignition issues?

Ok so im trying to figure out what could be failing on my rx7. i got other post about other things about it. but i got it running. its just running like crap! basically if i dont lean the adjuster screw out by the passenger tower it doesnt run. when i give it a small amount of throttle slowly it bogs down and starts poping out of the exhaust and wants to cut off. when i give it full throttle quickly it tries to clean itself up. i have replaced everything ignition wise minus distibutor. i have even replaced the air flow meter. what could be causing this? also spark plugs arent brand new but i doubt thats it. i have a video i will attach for reference.

Thanks
Old 05-08-11 | 12:34 PM
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anyone?
Old 05-12-11 | 05:50 PM
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anyone??
Old 05-12-11 | 09:47 PM
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brappppp brappppp
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put plugs in it...........try again
Old 05-13-11 | 11:18 AM
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Does idle fairly well? Only sounds bad when you add throttle?

Maybe pop the distributor cap off and have a look inside for signs of arc-ing between the cap and rotor. Pretty cheap to replace if they are looking rough.
Old 05-13-11 | 11:19 AM
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Post the video!
Old 05-13-11 | 11:05 PM
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couldnt get the video to post. i bought a fuel pump but havent installed it yet. it has a new cap and rotor and i swapped ignitors and its still doing it. i did hear some kind of arc by the 2 coils. ive even swapped them around and i had the dlfis 2 gen for leading and it was doing it then as well.
Old 05-13-11 | 11:05 PM
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good plugs are in it
Old 05-14-11 | 11:12 PM
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You definitely want to check your chassis ground on the shock tower on the drivers side. I relocated my battery, thus changing the chassis ground completely, seems to be working well for me. Rebuilt my carb (took about 4 or 5 attempts/fixes but finally got it where I wanted it), changed my secondaries to mechanical operation, removed emissions, and cleaned out the fuel system the easy way with seafoam and Marvel Mystery Oil.


This is why:

burned through coils every 6 months roughly.

would stomp the gas pedal and actually start to slow down, when I let off it picked up a touch of power (carb passages were clogged)

backfired like crazy unless I made the fuel mixture RICH (you probably have to adjust it...then rebuild the carb if its not cooperating)

How many miles on the car? My advice would be get familiar with your 7 by working on it....freshen up the carb and fuel system. I couldnt go over 70 mph.....if I was lucky I would hit 70.

Now I can hit 70 on just the primaries. If I would hit the throttle all the way before: I would actually max out around 5k rpm and misfire/shake like a mother! (clogged carb)
Old 05-15-11 | 11:26 AM
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yea see thats the thing. it will not even move when i stomp the gas. it bogs down. and its an se. so fuel injected. i can hear the coils pop and fire. not sure how loud those are suppose to sound. i will check my grounds
Old 05-19-11 | 10:36 PM
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anyone else?
Old 05-20-11 | 07:56 AM
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You didn't mention replacing the fuel filter. You can also remove the fuel line at the engine and test the fuel pressure. Should be 50-70 psi.
Coils should be silent. Nothing should be popping when the plugs fire. Look under your hood after dark. With the engine idling, look for arcing around and between the plug wires and around the coil and distributor bodies. Might not be real bright, probably a dull blue tracer.

Don't reach in and grab the wires if you do see arcing.

Last edited by 74RX4; 05-20-11 at 07:59 AM. Reason: safety
Old 05-20-11 | 09:03 AM
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Originally Posted by 74RX4
Don't reach in and grab the wires if you do see arcing.
You spoiled the fun.

Seriously, if your hearing the ignition doing its thing, then you have issues. I
wouldn't be surprised if you see arcing in the engine bay.
Old 05-20-11 | 05:42 PM
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ok can someone post what wire is suppose to go to the positive side of the coil and which wire to the negative side of the coil. i think they got mixed up. also which one is leading and which one is trailing. thanks
Old 05-20-11 | 07:46 PM
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ok i think i finally found my problem. the coils are arching like a ****. i tried to put some sort of seperator between them and that stopped one of them. they are arching from the pos and neg terminals shooting to the spark plug (coil connection). i also noticed that the wires are arching with the atcual spark plugs at the side of the engine! wtf is going on?
Old 05-20-11 | 09:40 PM
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I would guess that you got a bad set of wires.
Old 05-20-11 | 09:43 PM
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yea just changed them out. dont really see them arching anymore but its still backfiring some
Old 05-23-11 | 01:00 PM
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where can i get a factory fpr?
Old 05-23-11 | 01:19 PM
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Originally Posted by Detriuch
ok can someone post what wire is suppose to go to the positive side of the coil and which wire to the negative side of the coil. i think they got mixed up. also which one is leading and which one is trailing. thanks
Yellow/blue to Leading (rear) coil +
Yellow/green to Trailing (front) coil +
Black/white to coil negative, doesn't matter which.
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