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what in the hell is wrong with my car?

Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:14
by REd88GTU
its a non turbo 1988 rx7

first of all this car likes to flood. ALOT. in fact it hasnt started up on the first try in about a month. so to unflood it i usually do a few rounds of cranking without one of the fuses in it. i drive the car across town to work and by that time its usually as warmed up as it can be, and it still floods.

but now ill be in the middle of cranking on it and the cranking will slowly start to slow down and then stop completely. this is the second time this has happened. the first time, i thought i had just blown the starter motor, so i took out the starter, took it to advance auto to have it tested, and the guy tells me its fine. so i take it home, put the same starter back in, and the engine started cranking again. :huh: i still had to unflood the motor but it started eventually. that was last week.

so it did it again yesterday so now im thinking maybe theres just something wrong with the alternator and my battery isnt charging. so i take the alternator out, go get that tested, and that turns out to be fine too. so i pick up a battery while im out just to see if that does something. put the alternator back in, changed the battery, and still nothing.

so just for shits i take out the starter and put it back in again and unfortunately i wasnt so lucky this time. still no crank.

all the accessories turn on, including the lights. (not the sterio though, i think i blew a fuse when i was putting a new deck in. but that was like 6 months ago.) theres no corrosion on the battery connections, and as far as i can see the wires are fine too.

i used to do oil changes after everytime it would flood, but now it happens so often ive given up. in fact the last oil change i did was like 200 miles and 2 weeks ago.


so all this brings me to the question. what in the hell is wrong with my car?
it runs fine when it starts! i just cant get the damn thing to turn on!

by the way this car is for sale. lol. if you anything close to a grand its yours.

Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:14
by RX-7 Chris
I'm not a fuel injection expert but sounds like fuel is getting past the injectors when you shup it off. It could be the return, regulator, or bad injectors.

The cranking problem sounds like wires. Most likally a bad ground but could be either wire. I would replace both. I had wires on my car that I thought were good untill I pulled them off and they fell apart.

Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:14
by REd88GTU
damn i wouldn't even know where to start with all that. as much as i hate doing it i might have to take it to a mechanic. haha.

ill see about getting new wires, i just wasted $120 on a battery that i didnt need so hopefully they wont be too expensive. lol.

Posted: Wed Mar 04, 2009 9:14
by Low Impedance
well if you keep cranking it will drain the battery quick.

flooding can be any of the following including but not limited to:
1. bad injectors
2. low compression
3. bad FPR

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:14
by REd88GTU
<- newb



fpr??

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:14
by REd88GTU
fuel pressure regulator. got it. i dont think its my compression because the car still seems to have plenty of zoom left in it. injectors arent cheap though, and i dont know how much longer the seals are going to last so i really dont want to dump a whole bunch of money into it.

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:14
by RX-7 Chris
Do you want to meet up so I can look at it? A mechanic is just going to make a bunch up to make more money. Most mechanics don't know anything about Rotaries.

Posted: Thu Mar 05, 2009 9:14
by RX-7 Chris
You might be able to look into this:
http://mazdatrix.com/c-bleed.htm

It is a good cheaper temporary fix.

The best place to get injectors and/or the regulator is: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php

looks like you can get remanufactured injectors for about $60 each
the regulator is going to be about $75

Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:14
by Low Impedance
actually, Witchhunter (google it) will refurb your injectors to the tune of about 13 each. Will give you actually flow rates etc. Best way to go really.

Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 9:14
by BRC
the fuel line trick works pretty well as long as your injectors are holding pressure. Mine leaked pressure for years untill they finally completly went k.i.a , then i blew that motor. If you suspect injectors then replace them, there usually pretty cheap for some good ones... much cheaper than a motor in my experience. BTW check your grounds and add more, FC's are notorious for shit grounds.

Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 9:14
by michaelangelofb
You could also Put a fuel cut switch in. Just mount a switch in cab that could manually turn off the fuel pump. But thats just a bandaid though. Your starting issue sounds like most def a ground. Just my input.

GL

Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 9:14
by RX-7 Chris
I think he sold the car.