Ok so I really wanted to learn about cars and eventually i mustered up the guts to get myself into a mess. I bought a 91 rx7.

the car has been sitting for a very long time.
which probably means its flooded right?

previous owner didnt say much at all but I am a rotary newb and an engine newb so please I know its hard but bear with me because at some point in your life you needed someone to show you the way, there are exceptions to that though.

Anyway what the prev owner said was that the car cranks but doesnt turn over.

I put ngk plugs in today, correctly i hope T=top = lower or bottom
anyway i printed out the spark plug section from the FSM and tried to hook up the wires to their corresponding plugs NOW is this necessary? will any wire fire any plug correctly? big noob question there.

the battery is fairly new and has charge, now when I turn the key the first time the engine cranks but I get no startup, it sounds like there are several small pops to go along with the turning of the engine? should this be happening (im guessing yes)

finally the 2nd time i turn the key (about 10 seconds after first try) It feels like the battery is loosing power and the engine wont turn after about 1-2 seconds.
THe lights get dim in the cabin but immediately after i stop turning the engine it the lights are back to normal.

car is most likely flooded but it may have a plethora of problems.

please excuse noobness and point me to links or please straight up tell me what I should be doing and why

much appreciation on my behalf

 

i would... first things first... drain and refill the fluids...

second... go to a napa/autozone/some sort of auto shop like that and pick up a Haynes book. that will help you through A LOT!

diging through this thread will also help you find answers: https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...55#post5131155

welcome to the world of being a poor bastard

 

First of all the link above will help.

Second, if it cranks = turns over. It may not start but they are the same thing.

As for chasing which wires go to which plug (which is very necessary) do this. Check the coil closest to the battery. If you look close enough it tells you t1 and t2. 1 is the front rotor and 2 is the rear. Follow the wire to the right plug, do the same for the leading coils which is closest to the firewall of the car.


If you need any help over the phone just call me 503 516 2222

 

ok so just want to make sure I did the right thing:
if we have the four plugs in the 4 holes like this:

O1 O3
O2 O4

THE t1 wire goes to the O1 plug? and the T2 wire goes to the O2 plug?

thanks for the generous help guys I will try to pick up a haynes book

 

correct. The ends also might be colored black and blue. Blue goes on top and black goes on bottom.

 

T1 T2
L1 L2

The coils say on them "T1" or "L1"

Make them go to the proper one.

Easy way to remember is T=top L= Lower

He said T1 goes to O1 which is right, but then he said T2 goes to O2, this is incorrect. The T2 would go to O3.

 

oops, long day and I am still at the office.

 

thanks guys much appreciated

 

if i remember correctly the coil pack closest to your battery is going to be your trailing plugs and the one next to your firewall is going to be the leading plugs...leading being the top plugs....also if the lights start to dim while cranking then your battery is loosing to much juice...if you think it is flooded then take your plugs out and clean them up...put some oil in the trailing plug holes then replace the plugs...and then crank it over again and it should solve the problem...may take a couple of tries though

 

www.aaroncake.net has info on taking a car out of storage.

For getting it started, remember you need: spark, fuel, air, compression. First get the plugs & wires installed right of course. On a good battery the voltage will drop while you crank but not much below 10V. Otherwise it probably needs charging or replacing. Flooding is a common problem where too much fuel limits the air. Temporarily removing the EGI INJ fuse will disable the fuel pump, letting you clear out the fuel when you crank it. Other than that, keep trying things and asking questions until you're sure you have all 4 and/or it starts.

Once you get it working, get a Haynes manual, turn to chapter 1 and do everything as if none of it has been done for the last 30,000 miles, unless you know it has. Use only OEM thermostats, and pay special attention to cooling system maintenance. Put the oil drain plug on tight after an oil change (but don't muscle it). Check the oil cooler lines for leaks. Check the fuel pulsation dampener for leaks and replace it if it's leaking or if it hasn't been replaced in 100,000 miles, or if you don't know if it has. Use the forum search function for more info on any of these or for any question at all. These'll prevent or correct a world of problems.

 

Check your oil level every time you pull up to the pump.

And print this out and keep it in one of your storage bins...

http://www.rx7.com/tech/unflood-fc.html

 

ok can i just say this: I have lurked on alot of car forums and this is BY FAR the most helpful and most receptive forum to my threads/posts that there has been.

thanks guys

 

Welcome to rx7club. one of the better reasons to buy an rx7. The community....that was mushie huh.

 

Since the OP's car is an S5, holding the gas pedal to the floor while cranking will also disable the fuel pump. This can make the unflooding procedure a little easier.

 

No put oil in the Leading plug holes (bottom) if you put in the top it'll possibly clog up the leading plugs right after.... purpose of the oil is to build compression

as said above hold food down (after trying to start with clean plugs/oil in bottom holes) this will stop the fuel delivery and clear out the engine (always worked for me) once the car does start be easy on it if it sat for awhile...

 

dont kill your battery... get a battery charger/car starter

 

the voltage on the battery meter in the dash read below 10 at all times, so that means I have to charge right?

several people have mentioned to me that putting some transmission fluid in the plug holes would get it up easy., I disconnected the egi and cranked yesterday but still nothing.

I will have an opportunity to charge the battery this weekend which might be one of or the problem.

thanks guys

 

those voltage gauges arent very accurate but below 10 is not a good sign anyway

just go to walmart and get an electric car starter that way you are not always running down your battery... thats a good way to kill a new battery... even a new deep cycle one

are you getting fuel? how bout spark?

 

also, putting the transmission fluid in the plug holes is a pretty hotly debated topic here, I'm part of the school of thought that disagrees with this practice.

Also, use the search function a lot, and look at the archives and the FAQ at the top of the 2nd gen forum page, there is a ton of useful info in those areas.

 

Don't put anything but engine oil or ATF fluid, which ATF fluid is only good for building comp and then starting, not storing in the engine

you can store oil in the engine chambers and it revives the life of the seals supposedly. I personally use atf fluid when I had a fc

10 volts is fine, should be near 11 ish at the least, when starting below around 8-9 the computer wont work so no start

Mine would start what appeared to be way lower then 8, no idea why that was lol

 

the fuel pump is on when I try to startup but I dno about spark
how do i determine if I have spark besides listening >?

 

10V is fine while cranking. But if it's 10 all the time you need to charge it up to 12. www.aaroncake.net has info on putting ATF in your engine, basically says don't b/c it could damage seals, or if you do then run the engine for a bit then change your oil to clear it out. www.aaroncake.net has info on a few other problems too. Don't remember if it covers this. I think you can remove a plug, reconnect the wire and just look at the plug to see if there's a spark, but you may want to search the forums or aaroncake or somewhere to verify that. A timing light would also work b/c it'll flash whenever power goes through the wire.

 

you dont need to change the oil after ATF it wont get much at all in the oil system to **** **** up

ATF = bad to the seals in the rotary engine

ATF = Gooood to the Automatic tranny rubbers and bands

Rotary guys have done it for years and years, it's just unsafe to keep in there for a long period of time which ='s longer then the deflood procedure

Seemed to work better then oil, after a flood (I had bad plugs) with atf it'd start the first shot.

take a spark plug out and connect it (disconnect the rest and pull the EGI fuse

Put the plug next 2 the shock tower

If you see a nice spark hit the body of the car, you're good, proceed for each plug wire to ensure each are strongly sparking.

or you can have someone hold it by the plug boot next to the body of the car close though it'll only spark maybe a half inch or so, iono my brother wouldnt hold it so I just laid it on the shock tower of the 1st gen

 

thanks cmanns and ericgrau

so i just went out to the barn to try again and make sure things are setup

battery volt gauge reads above 10v
i connected all of the plug wires to the correct terminals and spark plugs.

i disconnected the egi fuse and floored the gas. it turned for a little while and then stopped

i let it sit for a little while and tried again.

The next time i tried the engine didnt turn, all i heard was several clicks and then if i kept the key turned it would click alot and the lights would flicker? what does this mean?

also the volt gauge goes way down with each try, however it will eventually go all the way back to 10 or above

thanks

 

remember to keep it simple, if the car has been sitting for a while, do yourself a favor and take the battery and get it tested, simple easy test, easy to change, and to me it sounds like you will need one, most autoparts stores check them for free, do that and let us know how it goes