Hello,

I was trying to find some answers on the web when I came accross your post "about Looking for a car that has HOT START PROBLEMS

"https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=499744##

My RX7 1990 convertable has a serious proble of this sort. It starts fine when the engine is cold but once hot and if I shut it down then it is sometimes impossible to start again. The solution described in the above thread listed seems to be the medicine that my car needs, However I noticed today that the ECU is N353 and not N332 and does not have black with blue strip wire on the small pkug. Do you know where I would need to put the 220 oh resistor to fix the problem.

Thanks a bundle


Ali Naqvi
Ali_Naqvi@hotmail.com

 

Hot starting problems are usually a indication of a dying motor.

 

The motor runs strong while it is running and I have a lot of power too.

 

Did you remove the emissions solenoid rack?

 

I have no idea what that is!

 

Hot start/flooding issues are usually a result of a weak compression engine. A rotary can have weak compression but run well once it gets going. Rotaries will make good power right up u ntil the moment the seals break, with no warning. The fact that it runs well once it gets going does not mean the compression is up to spec. I bet if you check it you would see under 90psi.

On the 89-91 engines/computers there is an automatic deflooding feature installed. The owners manual even speaks about starting a flooded engine. When the engine does not restart, depress the throttle fully, and this cuts the fuel injection off during cranking, allowing the engine to "use up" the excess fuel already in the chambers. It will then start on it's own after 2-3 seconds of cranking, after which you release the throttle and it runs normally.

At some point compression will drop enough that even this feature will not be enough to reliably start the engine.

There are times when leaky fuel injectors can cause a flooded engine. It is worth a try to remove the injectors and send them to a cleaning service, or replace them with new ones. The you have less than a 50% chance that this will fix all of the hot start flooding issues, though.

The only true fix for the issue is generally a rebuilt engine, which will raise compression out of the threshold of flooding.

http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/2n...ion_check.html

http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/2n...nflooding.html

 

Wow! I had no idea that my engine might be getting bad. May be its time for a new engine or getting rid of the car. Thanks for the great information.

Regards

 

With the band aid of fuel cutoff (in the form of owner installed switches on 88 and older models and the ecu/throttle cut on 89+) the engine can continue to start reliably for another year or 2 often times. But yes, one day it is going to let go with no warning and you'll HAVE to get a rebuild.

Look at it this way...how many cars from 1990 or whatever still run as well as this one and look as good as this one, for as cheap as this one is? Even if you DO have to rebuild and install the engine at a cost of $2000-3000 (the going rate for a rebuild and install), what other car can you replace this one with for the same money that would be as good?

Look at it another way. Your average toyota camry engine costs about the same $1000-2000 plus installation, so don't bitch too much about the rotary. In fact it's one of the cheaper engines out there to rebuild. Supra guys spend 5 or 6 grand on an engine build and dont think anything about it.

 

I love this car. I am just upset that it is failing on me, rather I should say that the age has failed it. I will get it working again soon I hope. But needless to say I was not complaining about the cost. I will buy a rebuild and put it in. While I am on it shoudl I get is suped up (I mean the engine) while I am at it. Like street porting 2 or so.

 

Eh, not much is going to help a convertible other than a turbo swap. IF you want to make it loud and drive it hard, you can do standard intake/exhaust/streetport and pick up 30-40hp over stock, and that's about the limitation of what you have without spending major money and mods to affect driveability.

The choice you need to ponder is, do I want to rebuild (and modify) before it gets go, and try to cure my flooding issue now, or do I want to take my chances and bear with the flooding until the engine lets go months or years later? The rebuild may cost 3 or 400 extra if you let it break, but that may not happen for a while. It just depends on your situation, most people would elect to get to it before it lets go on it's own.

Of course you can save up 4 or 5 grand for a rebuilt TURBO swap and double your hp output with ease, to really make the car into what it should have been. It still wont be a rocketship or a racecar, but it will be more fun and interesting.

 

i am having the same problem except now its even harder to start...dont tell me that its my engine because its a rebuilt one and i've put 225 miles on it already and its still hard as hell to start...

 

Fresh used housing rebuilds are often a bit weak on compression for the first 1-2000 miles or so, depending on how exactly the housings looked. You need to put lots of miles on the engine to get it away from the flooding stage, and road trips are a good way to do this (it's hard to city drive a car that won't restart when you come back to it). Also, 88 and older cars will tend to flood more than 89-91's due to differences in the computer.