yesterday my husband was driving home from work, when his car started acting like it was running out of gas, it then bogged out and shut off, he was close enough to coast into the gas station. He then checked the fuel pump, it was working, so he tried to crank the car and it would turn over and start but then would die again within seconds of cranking. ??? So he then changed the fuel filter and attempted to crank it. After several attempts (and jumping it off) we got it to start and stay running so that we could get it home. The car when running now seems to run very rough, backfiring even. It seems to be firing from only one cylinder??? we checked each coil one by one and 3 of them when we disconnected them there was no change in the engine but one of then when it was disconnected the car bogged down and shut off. By the sounds of it, i believe that the engine could possibly be flooded and in turn fouled out the plugs. but im not sure?? So Im thinking we might could deflood the engine to solve these issues, but i might be way off base........ please help if you can

 

Well, to start, a rotary engine has no cylinders. 2 rotors. The 2 coil packs send current to the leading and trailing spark plugs (Each rotor has 1 lead & 1 trail). If you pulled the plug wires off of say L1 & T1 (front rotor), and the engine did not react, then there is no combustion happening in the front rotor. The same is true for L2 & T2 (rear rotor).

Pull all of the plugs and inspect them since that's simple enough. You can put a timing light on each plug wire to check that current is actualy making it to the plugs too.

Another thing to consider is the sock (filter) on the fuel pump. If the gas tank was emptied, then rust or dirt in the bottom of the tank would have been sucked in. This will clog that filter long before the fuel filter located near the engine. Pull the fuel pump assembly (easier than it sounds), and clean out/replace the sock.

 

Ok, to update the situation: Pulled all the plugs and cleaned them then placed them back. Then also i replaced the battery and replaced the sock.... It seems to be running just fine now....thx for the help

 

Okay you caught me......lol... i don't know all that much about rotary engines... thats my exact reason for joining this forum. : ) My husband fell in love with this car about 1 year ago and bought it for 2000 bucks. Its ran pretty good for him since then ( surprisingly, since it had sat up for awhile). Another reason for coming here is that so I can learn more about these cars and the engines. Maybe save some money in the long run by doing it ourselves.

 

Everyone's got to learn sometime. Since 99% of all mechanics have no idea how to work on rotaries, learning how to fix things yourself is a must. Not to mention, repair costs will easily exceed what you paid for the car if you're always paying for labor.

Spend some time searching old threads, and you'll be able to find answers to anything else that comes up.