N-Bomb

Hey all. My FC has been sitting in the driveway now for about 2 years this month. It kind of died of an unknown engine ailment then, and long story short, it's been sitting in pretty much one place for the past two years, with occational moves forward and backward by hand. I'd been without the money to think about it until recently, but now with this beautiful weather... argh.

My question is this - I've been thinking it might be time to get it running again. All things considered, it seems to still be in great condition, mechanically... would need new tires and exhaust in addition to whatever was wrong with the engine. Okay NOW to the question. What are the chances that after sitting for so long, that the engine and other assorted underhood components will still be in servicable condition? Is it worth getting it fixed? The car has under 145,000 km on it... not bad for 16 years.

Been a long time since I got off the old RX-7 mailing list... eager to hear your opinions!

ddub

My friend got a free TII that had a "blown engine" according to the owner. It had sat under a tree for about 3 years, was covered in mold and ****, rat droppings all under the hood, etc. Long story short he got it running with that original engine and everything seems to work. It has low compression and leaks some coolant and oil, though (possibly turbo) but it runs and works.

andrew lohaus

depends on what happened with the engine before it got parked.

worst case scenario: blew a coolant seal and now the whole thing is rusted solid.

middle of the road: low comp, needs a rebuild, but internals good for the most part

best case: something silly like a sensor or grounding issue and then an unflooding (its baisically gauranteed to be flooded after this long)

only way to find out is to just get in there and start working on it. at least pull the spark plugs and tell us what they look like if you dont know where to start.

N-Bomb

Yeah, there is that... lessee...

Took it to the rink one day to play roller hockey, and everything was fine on the way there.

We played a bit, maybe 30-40 mins and came back to where the cars were.

Started it, it ran really rough and loud (yes, the exhause was REALLY bad by that point, should've been replaced before that) but anyway, it was really rough, and I figured it was just a wierd start so I let it idle a bit hoping it would smooth out, but the engine stalled and it wouldn't start up again until we got it push-started through the small intersection there, where I had to keep the revs up. After that, my friend followed me in his car while I limped it home.

I know what you might be saying, blown apex seal, but the reason I don't think that's it (from what I remember from my days on the mailing list) is because it didn't have that lumpy, off-kilter idle I remember hearing about a blown seal... it was kind of rough in a... what's the word, a stable or constant way. Also, the exhaust was REALLY hot coming out, I remember seeing a small wisp of smoke or something coming from around where the exhaust header leads into the pre-cat, and the area was actually glowing reddish - this made me think that somehow the timing had gotten really wonky retarded or something? The plugs weren't too old, nor the wires, and the only mod there was an MSD box, and testing out the ignition coils, they read fine according to the manual.

So I'm thinking no coolant leak (never had that problem) and no compression troubles (but maybe I'm wrong on that), hoping it's an ignition fault and that sitting there hasn't screwed it up.

Thanks for the help, guys.

WonkoTheSane

iTrader: (2)

It sounds to me like you parked your car for two years because you didn't cut the cat out of the exhaust. I'm guessing your cat clogged, which caused it to block your exhaust path, making your car idle like crap because it had to work to push the exhaust out. Try taking off your exhaust from the cats back, and see what happens.. you're going to need to do that before you even try to start it up again, or else you'll have the same problems (well, that and any additional problems that occured while it was sitting)...

N-Bomb

Heh, I didn't think of that. Pre-cat is gone, the cat looked to be in good condition when we checked it a year before or so...

Also, any tips for pre-start prep on an engine that's been sitting this long?

xtremeskier97

I would make sure that you can turn it by hand first to make sure it isnt seized. Rotarys dont like to sit for long periods of time. If you cant turn it, then I wouldnt try forcing it, as you may break the apex seals if they are stuck. I would pull the engine and tear it down and rebuild, cleaning all the parts thoroughly.

sub9lulu

iTrader: (7)

adjust the idle screw
probably shitty gas in the tank change the fuel filter, the sock in the fuel pump

vicious525E

as said above, try to turn it by hand, make sure you empty your old gas out, put new gas, fuel filter, oil and a new oil filter in. and i would say the atf trick would help alot, thats what we did to get mine going, oh ya and new plugs of coarse.

N-Bomb

Excuse the newb question, but I've been out of the loop for quite a bit, and couldn't find any info in any FAQs or anything - how would I go about turning it by hand?

The Spyder

iTrader: (8)

https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/faq-fc-frequently-asked-questions-2nd-generation-rx-7-a-181219/

xtremeskier97

Take it out of gear and use your hands. It should turn without problems. You should not HAVE to use a socket to turn it manually. Just grab a belt and pull it so the engine rotates.

N-Bomb

Welp, I grabbed the pully behind the fan and tried turning that, it seems to move fairly smoothly. Problems are that the battery is probably a fossil, and... I'd love to have a hoist, heh.

Actually, I wish I'd known of this forum sooner, I would've tried to bring my problem here when it died, rather than waiting for now

When did this forum open, anyway? I see a bunch of people I remember from the FC3S list.