heya i have some problems with my car (1980 mazda rx7 12a) at the moment and need some help to fix it.



the car idles really rough early in the morning and when the engine is cold. when the car is like this it also lets out white smoke when the gas is applied. this happens for a few minutes until the engine warms up. im aware that this is relatively normal for an engine this old. however, i have also noticed that when the gas is applied, the headlamps brighten up. im also aware that this may be a problem with the alternator, however, i have a s4 alternator in the car with new fan belts.



what could the problem be? is it simply a case of allowing the engine to warm up a bit more before driving the car or is it something more serious? at the moment this is my only bug bear with the car and it is making me begin to give up on the project and seek a new one as this car is also my daily drive. any help would be much appreciated.

Check the connections at the battery and at the starter. Make sure they are clean and tight...

ok thanks mate, sorry for the noobish thread

white smoke is usually a good indication of coolant being introduced into the combustion chamber. Check you coolant make sure its up to level.

yeah ive been told that before, but the thing is, i dont ever have to fill up the coolant. the level has stayed practically the same since i got the car back in january

If your coolant level never lowers I would not worry about the steam coming from the exhaust. It is prolly just some water vapor that forms in the pipes when the engine is shut off.

yeah, its seriously a ridiculous amount of smoke this thing belts out. makes it look like theres a bon fire going on, not even kidding.

Humm... If the coolant level does not drop, And if there is to much "smoke" belting out of it to be water bulding up in the exhaust system as it cools down. maybie it could be somthing else like oil getting past the oil seals when the engine is off.? Then it just burns it off when you start it up??



What does the smoke smell like..????

the car generally smells very fumey, particularly oil and petrol. do you think that perhaps the rotor seals need replacing??? what happens if they do need replacing and i dont replace them??

For how old they are I could almost guarantee they need to be replaced...



I had a 79 12A that did just what your discribing. The oil seals were old and leaky. they got to the point that one morning I fired it up and the landlord came running over to the house because he thhought the house might of cought on fire!



It started eating oil and foullng plugs. Then it just started blowing smoke all the time. So I pulled it and got a JDM S5 13B Turbo to put in it's place.