Well like the title says im over from the Dark side. Picked up a 88 turboII in a trade and now trying to get it to run right.

First thing i found from creepin' was the coil packs tend to be temperamental, and they are stupid expensive (thought the guy in advance auto was joking about the price). But, anyway car missfires a tiny bit idling and will rev up to about 3800 and start surging, almost like a 2step. lol. but then start backfiring and just isnt running right. So, i take a trip to crazy rays in MD for a set of coil packs and a distributor.

Found some mint ones in the yard and pulled them, and some other things i needed. Looked pretty kosher and they had a 8/2007 mark on them? is that if you buy new ones? but anyway got the coil packs in and helped a bit, but is still running like feces. so i go to look at the distributor and noticed it was alll the way what seemed like retarded, so i adjusted it by the idle (sounded like a good idea at the time? lol) and it stopped missfiring at idle, so after it warmed up a bit, i took it up to about 6500 and BOOM! the miss was gone! So I hop in to go for a victory cruise, and then it starts missing again at 3800. -_- So i bust out the timing like and all my prior knowledge of engines goes right out the window! so i set the trailing #1 on the first mark on the crank and the leading #1 was on the second mark. From there i brought it up to about 3500 and it advanced like it was suppose to but wouldnt come back? this is where i was stumped. it was about 20* advanced and after idling for a solid 5 minutes, it wouldnt come back to the first mark on trailing #1? and would go back to running like poo-poo over 3800.

If you read that whole thing you are awsome. But this is with the old distributor, its almost like it goes up to about 4K and misses like a 2step (or a 2fail) and then it almost seems like its skipping a tooth or not coming back in time?

thats about it, havent snapped any pics of it yet, as it is in de-ricing process. But Ill snap some and put them up asap.

thanks for any advice!

PS, crazy rays in Laurel MD has a black FC vert all the way in the back of the import section with a mint black dash and some black leather seats that are about 6/10! someone scoop them up before that poor thing gets crushed

 

2nd gen coil packs almost never fail. In fact they are an upgrade for the FD and often used for many 12A and 13B swaps and builds in other vehicles.

Sounds like you have the typical grounding problems:
http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/grounding.htm

 

Listen to aaron!!! he knows his stuff. hes helped me out a lot when i first started.

 

Wow, thanks man, definitely explains all my problems. But, one more thing, would a bad knock sensor cause timing to retard? I have the distributor and the crank pulley lined up when putting it in, and it seems to always be about 15* retarded after it warms up?

 

The t2 has a small amount of timing adjustment in it at full boost. Nothing that will affect what you are dealing with.

 

Are you measuring timing with the timing light zero'd and on the L1 wire? Also you'll need to set the initial set coupler, and idle speed will need to be at the stock 750 RPM -+ 50 or at least below 1000.

 

yeah its zeroed, and yes on L1 wire, even tried using a timing light with the power from the batter (opposing my battery powered timing light) but i didnt have the idle set, its around 1300 idling. Ill try setting the idle to around 750 and try again.

thanks again!

edit: also havent had a chance to check grounds, been super busy, but after i get some time again ill get the grounds checked and adjust idle.

 

The timing will advance if above 1100 rpm or so.

 

well that would explain why my timing is advanced, the idle is above that. ill be able to get at it this week.

 

well got some updates.....

cleaned the grounds i could find, and the dude that had it before me grouped them together and body grounded them. but i cleaned them off and sanded the paint around the area and tried that. Also cleaned the body ground under the trailing coil pack along with some dielectric grease, and it is still missing.

Maybe, the secondaries are not firing? or dirty? from what im guessing the secondaries fire upon boost, via the pressure sensor? someone please correct me if im wrong? try a new pressure sensor?

Also, the timing issue.......

According to haynes manuals to adjust the idle. you adjust the BAC (sp?) which is on the side of the upper intake right? and looking at the side of my intake there is a block off plate where the assembly should be? Is this bad? i found what looked like a set screw on the TB but didnt touch it, due to me not knowing what it was. But, after looking over some stuff, the knock sensor was gooey on the inside? like the center is soft, almost feels like play-doh? Does that mean they are bad? usually they are hard in the center? and could this be causing my timing ussues?

Well thats all for now, im gonna take a stab at it tomorrow and see if i can reground it like the link Aaron posted (thanks again man!) and see what it does.

Thanks again to everyone, you guys are awesome!

 

Did you check the more important ground regarding the 3800 RPM hesitation, the pressure/boost sensor?

If the BAC has been blocked off, someone has been playing. There's no legitimate reason for the BAC to be removed as it is what the ECU uses to regulate the idle. I'd suggest putting one back on, then following the procedure to adjust the idle.

I doubt the knock sensor is the problem. You can just disconnect it and see if the problem goes away, then reconnect it when done.

 

Tried that tonight, didnt change at all, but tomorrow is another day to get to every single ground i can find cleaned, and replace what wires i can find. Also, what do you mean someone was playing removing the BAC? like why would people delete them? lol but im gonna try and find another one in a yard and whatever else i am missing. Also got a boost gauge for it from jegs, but after splicing the T in, and running the tube, i found out the hard way that JEGS forgot so send me the little piece inside the compression fitting for the gauge -_- so looks like a trip to lowes tomorrow for a fitting. But, last but not least i failed inspection for my turn signals being too fast. I'm guessing the relay is bad, but is there any other way people to go to super cool JDM and make them blink fast on these cars?

thanks to everyone, especially Aaron for answering all my questions this site really is awsome!

 

That's exactly my point; people delete them because those people are stupid, or misinformed. There is a strange trend in the RX-7 world to remove parts off of the engine under the guise of "reliability" or "cleaner engine bay" but I think the truth is that people just don't understand what those parts do. Should be easy to find a BAC since people pull them off all the time.

You may just have a bulb out on the signals. Clean all the sockets and bulb connections. Maybe someone used the wrong bulb somewhere. The flasher is inside the CPU at the drivers kick panel and often needs all the major solder joints resoldered. Doing that may fix it, as well as other little gremlins.

If you have an analog ohmmeter or a scope, run the TPS through it's range and make sure it is smooth.

 

O god, i hate that trend, its nice to have a clean engine bay, but god damn you shouldnt take **** off you need lmao. Yeah the kid i got it off of didnt know what the hell he was doing..... idk if its true but he was telling me to always run 2 stroke mix with the gas, and that removing the cats, will make it blow up?? It also had a gawdy body kit on it riveted on and half assed. So hopefully i can resurect this thing into a clean OEM look again. Back to the TPS, i have a meter and ill try that next. after i put a vapor canistor back in it.

As for the turn signals, I have all of the lights working, I think he might have done the fake super cool JDM "mod" where you take a signal from each side and splice it to a bulb port and back to the other light and leave the bulb out of the spiced in port (if you get what im saying?). Ill be getting to ripping the interior out and cleaning everything hopefully sometime this week and try to figure out some of these gremlins that are living in my car lol.

 

ok i snapped a few shots of the bay, showing some vacuum ports blocked off, and other block off plates here and there.

not too sure what this block off plate is for?

this is where some of the grounds were grouped together, i tried taking each one off and hitting it with a wire wheel on a dremel, and took them off the body and sanded the paint off around the connection, and chased the threads going into the body, and replaced the bolt

aluminum rad

cleaned this ground and noticed i got some oil on the housing? gonna replace the filter and see if the o ring might be bad.

everything has been ditched

something need to be plugged in there?

here is the block off plates on the manifold

fml red X's here the link to my flickr page
http://www.flickr.com/photos/4060052...n/photostream/

 

Very nice red Xs.

 

Thanks man! Is this site not Flikr friendly? lol

 

I'm just guessing based on the pictures I saw:

1. Blockoff plate is the metering oil pump. I'll cover that below.

2. Looks like someone installed a lame and unnecessary grounding kit instead of just fixing the stock grounds.

3. Yep. Hopefully that e-fan is wired properly to a thermoswitch.

4. Very common for the o-rings under the oil filter pedestal to leak. Also looks like the crankcase is open vented because I see a nipple connected to air, and not the purge valve like it should be.

5. Yep. I see a lot wrong in that picture. Lower heater hose is wrong and unsafe, it should follow the frame rail and not be just wiggling around. Charcoal canister is missing, meaning the fuel tank vent is just open to the air or capped (both are bad). Single belt on your water pump left over from air pump removal: the alternator needs a dual belt pully so that there is adaquate beltage on the water pump to avoid it slipping. Metering oil pump is removed, so you must run 2 stroke oil in your fuel as premix (1 ounce per gallon). There's a poorly set up oil catch can which seems to dump oil through a hole in the drivers wheel well?! What is that blue thing up and to the left of the engine on the firewall?

6. Got a better picture? That connector doesn't look like a stock connector.

7. BAC valve blockoff plate. Ah, and the at blue thing is a fuel pressure regulator. Love how the BOV is just hanging free to swing in the wind...

 

1. definitely going to put a OMP back on, from what ive read it lubricates the rotors? Which seems completely idiotic to remove?

2. yeah that is what i was thinking too, and judging by the rest of the car im gonna assume its a hack job.

3. nope, lol it just gets better and better, the kid has the fan running constantly. I already planned on hooking it up to a thermoswitch.

4. It might have been hooked up to the catch can, as of now the can isnt hooked up to anything. which after looking over everything on this car, it doenst suprise me at all.

5. I have a vapor/charcoal canister just havent got it hooked up yet, gotta run the hoses, that will be going on soon. As for the belt, I always questioned it when i got it, it just doesnt look like the belt has enough tension on the WP to spin it, but ill get another belt for it. The whole OMP assembly will be replaced, so as for the tank of gas i ran without 2 stroke mix, just makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. The blue thing i think your talking about is a SARD FPR. which was all the way out when i got it (you really dont understand how much of a ******* idiot the kid i got it off of was.....)

6. Yeah ill snap another picture.

7. yeah thats what i thought about the block off plate. Awesome. The BOV issue....... its to the point now, i just expect everything to be hacked.

Well this resurrection will be a lot tougher then i thought. But, im still up to the task, but thanks again for answering all my n00b questions. Ill start a build thread here soon.

 

ok quick question, if i have an aftermarket bov, why would i need the OEM BAC valve?

 

They do two different jobs

 

The BAC is the idle valve.

 

O ok, thats what i thought, but when i was looking at the glossary sticky, it said the BAC is like a BOV?

edit: wow reading > me the ABV is what is like a BOV not a BAC. sorry lol it was late

 

no vtec needed just press the gas pedal down farther

 

I don't have vtec but have a honda as a dd