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Well, people. I bought my first RX-7 yesterday after years of interest. A '91 2nd gen with a stock, non-turbo 13b and an auto tranny (127,000 on the odometer). I've spent the day tuning it up... (changing the oil, new plugs, fuel filter, fixed an exhaust leak, etc) and it was shaping up nice. Just now I went to crank it up... the motor turned over a few times and there was a "thunk". Now... I can hear the starter engage (not just the solenoid, but the drive engaging) and the lights dim... but the engine does not turn over. Anyone have a clue? Think the engine locked up on me maybe? Know a good way to troubleshoot it? I'm new to rotaries, so any help would be appreciated. I'm in love with the way this car drives, and I'd LOVE to get it back on the road. Many thanks!
Phil |
Originally Posted by lunarwynd' date='Dec 23 2004, 06:18 PM
Well, people. I bought my first RX-7 yesterday after years of interest. A '91 2nd gen with a stock, non-turbo 13b and an auto tranny (127,000 on the odometer). I've spent the day tuning it up... (changing the oil, new plugs, fuel filter, fixed an exhaust leak, etc) and it was shaping up nice. Just now I went to crank it up... the motor turned over a few times and there was a "thunk". Now... I can hear the starter engage (not just the solenoid, but the drive engaging) and the lights dim... but the engine does not turn over. Anyone have a clue? Think the engine locked up on me maybe? Know a good way to troubleshoot it? I'm new to rotaries, so any help would be appreciated. I'm in love with the way this car drives, and I'd LOVE to get it back on the road. Many thanks!
Phil Since the lights are dimming when you try to start it, the starter may be drawing too many amps.(I've seen bad starters do this) See if you can jump the car and start it, if not take it out and any auto parts store can benchtest it. If it's a bad starter, at my work (Napa) they run $82.66 and are factory bosch units. Good luck to ya! |
Originally Posted by forcedinductionz' date='Dec 23 2004, 06:36 PM
Since the lights are dimming when you try to start it, the starter may be drawing too many amps.(I've seen bad starters do this) See if you can jump the car and start it, if not take it out and any auto parts store can benchtest it. If it's a bad starter, at my work (Napa) they run $82.66 and are factory bosch units. Good luck to ya!
https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...withstupid.gif just sounds like the starter man, get it tested, maybe get a new batt if its been in the car for a while, and you should be set |
low batt
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well... as of this morning... I've tried boosting it. The batt has plenty of power... and the starter is trying to turn the enginge. You can see the engine try and move. I tried getting it to move by hand and nothing will turn. It's really looking like it's siezed. I certainly hope not. Anyone have a good way to check for engine siezure?
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take out the starter, there is no reason the engine would have seized under the circumstances you described
unless you forgot to put oil back in it |
fantastic! That's all I wanted to hear. I'll try and get the starter off right away and check it out. Thanks again!
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btw- its pretty much impossible to move the engine by hand
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If you really want to know if its locked up try turning it over with a ratchet from the main pulley.
Hope its the starter! |
Okay... cool. The way people have been talking in the FAQs and such, I thought I was supposed to be able to turn it. I think it has to be the starter. Just waiting for a slightly warmer day. It's a little cold out there to be under that car under just a carport. And I have a little time. Thanks for everything, people! I was scared $#!+less. Now I feel a lot better. It ran SO great after the tuneup... I can't wait to get it on the road again.
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Originally Posted by Rob x-7' date='Dec 24 2004, 11:13 AM
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you turn the main pulley or you get some accessories to spin without the belt?
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regardless it's not moving. I'm thinking maybe the bendix is hung in the flywheel... or maybe the starter housing cracked and it's not meshing properly. Once when I tried it last night, it didn't engage and the starter DID spin. The rest of the time I can just hear it lock and "hum". I'm really hoping it's just a starter problem. I'll find out Monday, hopefully
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i had something kind of like that happen with my pickup, the starter had actuly started to fall out of the houseing, the bolts were all loose and it was only partialy engageing, then it started not starting, i went under the truck and the starter was almost hanging by the wire's, i was amazed i hadnt seen this earlier, 5 min's later it was fixed https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/happy.png but yeah it just sounds like a starter prob since it doesnt seem that your batt has a hard time keeping a charge or provideing enough power to engage the starter
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Feelin better all the time :-) I just knew I'd dropped a buncha cash into a car I couldn't keep going right now. I used to repair starters and alternators so.. I should be able to handle a starter problem with ease
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If the car is parked where you have a few feet of room, put it in 4th & roll it backwards & forwards a foot or two.
That will tell if the engine will turn. |
Ah... I wish it were a standard. Unfortunately, I have an automatic. I guess I could put it in 2nd. Don't know how good an idea that would be though. I'm just getting another starter this morning. I hope that's the problem and, if not, at least I'll know the starter is good.
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also... on a totally different note... this car has the typical rusted window rails on the doors. I heard there were some plastic replacements I could get. Anyone know a good source?
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Well... I got the starter off today. When I tested it, it spun fine... but didn't seem to be kicking out properly. Maybe under load it just wasn't handling it. Although I couldn't get the ring gear in there to turn. Still... I have a new starter showing up in the morning. Fingers crossed that that fixes it.
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This may be a stupid question but what type of plugs did you use?
Can you turn the motor counterclockwise by hand, Maybe half a turn then it locks up again? chuck |
Originally Posted by lunarwynd' date='Dec 27 2004, 11:46 AM
also... on a totally different note... this car has the typical rusted window rails on the doors. I heard there were some plastic replacements I could get. Anyone know a good source?
dealer, victoria british, mazdatrix |
thanks for the sources, Rob X-7 :-)
I put NKG plugs in. Two leading and two trailing. Had the parts house mark them for me as to which was which. Even had the shop put them in for me after they lifted it up and put on the new fuel filter. It drove home fine afterwards... was running MUCH more smoothly. As far as turning it... no... I can't get it to budge by hand... but I haven't pulled the plugs again either, so I bet I've got compression working against me. After I renoved the starter, I even got a large screwdriver (tire tool with a flathead end) and levered it against the casing to try and move the flywheel. No budge. But I do weigh 125 lbs dripping wet so... I'm not the most powerful guy. |
the plugs are actually marked, if you used BUR7eq and BUR9eq one of them are marked with a T or a L, I cant remember which one is marked but only one is marked not both of them, it tells you if its a trailing or a leading plug, the coils are marked as well, T1,T2 and L1,L2
trailing is the top set of plugs, leading is the bottom, 1 being towards the front of the car and 2 being toward the rear. T1 T2 L1 L2 |
I turn my engine over by pulling the upper part of the powersteering belt, works every time. The rotary is not hard to crank by hand, as opposed to piston engines
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It could be carbon locked. The exact symptoms you describe happened to mine. A small chunk of carbon buildup drops down from the intake area & gets wedged between the rotor & housing making the motor impossible to turn. Some Mazda dealers actually had a tool that fit into the starter housing to turn the motor backwards. There's a great write-up at the atkinsrotary.com site dealing with carbon lock. Their instructions worked for me, however, it takes a lot of patience. Follow the instructions exactly. A big MISTAKE I made was trying to crank the motor in a clockwise direction by the bolt on the main pulley. If it's carbon locked it will just make it worse. Try turning it backwards.
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Well... everyone seems to have been right. Bad starter indeed. Now the only problem I have is... apparently it's flooded. No suprise there. But just pulling the EGI fuse, holding down the accelerator, and cranking it over dosen't seem to be clearing it. Looks like plug pulling time for me. But after all morning under the thing putting the starter on... I'm taking an hour or two break. Then I'm taking back my RX-7 :-)
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