juan0

so i bought my TII off of this guy that was planning on making it his project car... but he basicly never was able to get it running and he just abandoned it at his friend's shop. when i went to see the car i told him i wanted to see the engine running because it was supposedly a rebuild, i basicly ended up making the car run for him(dumb from my side, but i just wanted to make sure engine was good) so then i told him i'd think about it and get back to him. when i decide to get the car and go pick it up he tells me that the day before he wanted to take it for a spin (no breaks and clutch master cylinder leaking) and when he pulled out of the garage and when he was about to go on the street the car dies as soon as he poped the clutch pedal. so he tryes to start it back up and no no.. there were wires for a fuel pump cut off switch and there was a remote start switch because the car could not be started with the ignition switch. He tells me he might have blown the computer!!! so.... after 6 months of hard work and moneys i finally get the car together and i go to try to start it... and it's a no no again... i rebuilded the engine again, retaped wiring harness, resoldered all lose wires and connectors back on and fixed all the wiring and taped it back up before i dropped the new engine. today i go try to start the car and the first thing i notice is that the usual beep beep that you hear from the CPU when you turn the key on is not going off and then not all the lights on the idiot cluster are lighting up. Also i checked the Knock computer that's on the passanger side and it seemed like it was broken.. i'm not sure if this would cause a no start problem... i waited a while and i tryed to start it again and it tryed to start.. maybe only 1 revolution and after that went back to nothing. i'm not running any emmisions... no solinoids, i only have the emissions canister, BAC valve and purge valve, other thean that, everything is gone and unplugged, i didn't mess around with the harness and all the plugs for emissions stuff are still there.. just nothing is plugged to them. any suggestions?!

farberio

iTrader: (7)

If memory serves me right, sometimes the the switch in the key cylinder goes bad. This may be something to look at.

juan0

today i tryed starting the car spraying break cleaner in a tube on the intecooler and the car started right up but i didn't have any RPM reading on the tachometer, i only have a shorty downpipe so i wasn't able to see or hear if the car was idling rough. i checked the fuel pump at the gas tank with the test light and although it had power going to it, it was lighting up relaly dim. I also removed the return line and nothing came out(this was right after i started the car) but the feedline did have some pressure in it...., what would cause the fuel pump to have low voltage? and the car staring up doesn't prove that the computer is good right?... because injectors may or may not be opening

GeTCrAzYKiD

If your going to start testing, make or get some jumper wires, I know it sounds shitty but give the pump battery power with the jumper wire. Use the plug on the shock tower behind the driver seat dont try to jump it at the pump, spark=fire. should be the blue wire in a 4 plug connector. I purchased 2 rx-7's that sat for 2-3 years and both turned out the fuel pump was bad. if you can find a nonturbo fuel pump to swap it out with it will work to get it home but dont actually keep it in there. I'm not saying go out and buy one but it needs to be checked. For the low voltage, it could be a number of things, like the key switch that was previously mentioned. it does fail. check the solder points and just re solder them, it actually worked for me when I had the notorious clicking problem. Dont worry too much about the idiot cluster lights they fail on there own. As for the injectors, I checked mine by removing the UIM, and jumping them as well, not holding straight power and ground to them but only momentary to see if they are clicking open and closed. Yes it straight from the battery so if they are sticking a little bit, they should come un stuck. I had a GSL-SE injector that I bought off ebay a while back and it wouldnt open, I actually held battery power to it and reversed it and tried it again and it still works to this day.

Try not to use too much brake clean or ether. there's no lubrication in those sprays, you'll end up damaging the motor.

The motor starting up IMO shows alot. Everything is working correctly for the most part. If you can get it to hold an idle for that stuff then its working. But I wouldnt try to hard. cuz of what I said above.

Troubleshooting is frustrating so be paitent with the car

juan0

any other suggestions?

TeeJayHoward

An engine requires Fuel, Spark, and Compression, in the proper amounts at the proper time, in order to operate. (Sorry, not being condescending, I just like to work from the top down. Helps me think.) From your description, I'm willing to bet your problem is somewhere in the fuel area. I'd attach a gauge to the fuel line. If pressure was good, I'd assume the injectors were malfunctioning, and check them out. I'm assuming that the vehicle idled when you started it on brake fluid.

Fuel - Check fuel level, pressure, and operation of injectors. Do you have a fuel pressure gauge attached anywhere in the fuel system? It'd be a useful diagnostic tool, and they're pretty cheap. If you check the injectors, be careful not to lose the o-ring. And as for fuel level... It sounds dumb, but I've forgotten to check that once. Scratched my head for a good long while.

Spark - Check alternator, battery, coils, wires, and plugs. Especially plugs. If the previous owner didn't know what to do with a rotary, the wrong plugs may be in the wrong holes.

Compression - Bah, I'm sure you know how to operate a compression tester.

Amounts - Is it running lean? Rich?

Time - Are the plugs firing in the correct order, at the proper intervals? (If it idles, you can probably cross this off the list.)

These are just the typical steps I normally take when looking at an engine. A "Go/No Go" on each of them helps to narrow down the problem.

If the engine is idling and revving properly, I assume that the problem is with the starting mechanisms. When you turn the key, do you hear a click? Does it crank, but not catch? Does it catch, then die? Exactly what happens when you try to start the vehicle? (A video would work wonders )

juan0

ya i've been doing all kinds of tests on the car, the car did start right up when we sprayed brake clean inside the intercooler, howvever i think there's a short to power in the harness because yesterday i wiggling around wires with the key on the on possition, and the injectors began to click, so imma check that out today i also tryed switching out computers and put in an NA comp, but car still had the same symptoms. DOES anybody know if the knock computer would cause a no start? i've looked at the factory service manual and doesn't talk about the knock computer kicking in until the car starts. the only sysmptoms the car shows is that when it's been sitting for a while and i crank it, it tryes to start but does not even idle, after that i cranked it for 5 secs twice and wouldn't even attempt to start

farberio

iTrader: (7)

When you say, 'all kinds of tests'...that tells us nothing.

Stop looking for a one shot problem and diagnose this thing one test at a time.