Kornate1

My 87 gxl is running a bit rough, u have to hold the idle up to about 1500 rpm to keep it running, i've been checking the archives and the other forums to see if it might be an apex seal blown, but not sure. it cranks up a lil slow, i know that cant be from the starter, cause its already been replaced, it has fuel fowled the plugs for the longest time, but when it started the rough idle, it would leave one of them be, meaning, i cleaned the plugs a lil and put them back in, and noticed the L2 plug wasnt being fowled anymore. when i goto crank it up, it'll move and what not, but smokes white a lil for a minute or so, the weird part to it tho, is that it feels as if it has a lil more than when it was running fine. I'm just trying to find out what REALLY needs to be fixed.

Icemark

vac leak

WAYNE88N/A

If you haven't taken anything apart that would cause the vac leak that Mark guessed above, you're going to have to start some troubleshooting. You need to verify spark, for starters, since you're having plug problems. Either with an inductive timing light, or a small flourescent bulb (if dark enough), verify spark in each plug wire while running.

If spark is good, proceed to the injectors. When is the last time they were cleaned? Check the connectors at the injectors- are they cracked, loose? Note that the primaries are damn near inaccessible with the UIM on...You can also read the injectors from the ECU, looking for a comparable voltage drop between the two primaries at idle (for instance, if one primary is showing 11.5 volts (to ground) at idle, and the other is showing 13.5v, you have an injector or wiring problem)...

This may help...

https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/troubleshooting-your-car-ecu-340578/

Kornate1

spark has always been good with the gxl, as for the injectors, haven't had them cleaned by a shop or anything since i've owned it, which has only been like a year. would having a rough idle thru all rpms still be a vac leak. it just seemed wierd how the idle problem just came about the day after it was storming pretty bad. I'll check it out and let u know what the verdict is so far.

Icemark

Well a bad idle and a little more power is a classic symptom of a vac leak...

You did say:
If it is a vac leak, it would not be any rougher at all once above 1500-2000 RPM

Kornate1

well, it sputters when u rev it up, shakes like a misfiring engine usually does, but the shakes disipate the higher the rpm's, but as soon as it gets back down its back to shaking like a misfiring v6. what things should i check first for the vac leaks? hoses that go up to the tb or what? just unsure where to look first

Icemark

spray a bunch of starting fluid around the intake tubes and vac lines... if the RPMs increase at any point just by spraying, then you have a vac leak there.

JamesWade2002

Mine acted very much like that when it had a vac leak where the manifolds join each other.

DerangedHermit

I'm not sure if it works as well, but I would prefer water. Not a fan of spraying high flamable materials around my engine bay.

Kornate1

well, i finally got out to check for the vac leak, the only thing that didnt have vacuum was the hose that goes to the fuel rail with the injectors just under the tb i believe, sprayed everything with wd40. it looked like fuel regulator at the end of the fuel rail. found out the cats were clogged tho, but tried the engine without them it still had that same problem of not runnin right. one of them glowing a nice cherry red color , i havent messed with the injectors yet, but would there be anything else that would cause this problem?

Icemark

EKKK WD-40??? You are lucky you didn't burn the car down and melt all the plastic....

I said Starting fluid... NEVER USE WD-40!!!!

In fact there is nothing on the car that you should ever (ever, ever) spray with the sperm of the devil called WD-40.

WAYNE88N/A

Take care of that clogged cat first...

So you're saying that the only vac leak was at the FPR?

How's your TPS?

Kornate1

oops, well i was explaining to a coworker about what was going on, and he mentioned the wd40, and i completely forgot about using the starting fluid. tps? i'm guessing throttle position sensor? not sure, havent checked it yet. how do i go about doing that? not sure on what to do. was the fpr suppose to be like that, when i checked my book it was showing that fuel rail holding the secondary injectors, which i know that they are suppose to open up after the 3800rpm mark. so i was guessing that the vacuum for it wasnt suppose to kick in quite yet.

Kornate1

well i got the LED assembly put together and checked the codes, i came up with code 02 so far, the one saying faulty Air Flow Meter. Isnt that the piece underneath the air filter? And one other question, would it be the same as one from a 88 AT N/A?

DerangedHermit