lunarwynd

Alrighty... first off, I'm in love with this car. It's a red '91 non-torbo coupe with an automatic tranny. I'm interested in any helpful hints to make my rotary experience as painless as possible :-) Here are the facts about the car.

Bought it off a carlot, so I don't know its history.

127.000 on the odometer, but the engine seems very clean inside and out... I suspect it's been rebuilt at some point. Ran nicely once I got it off the lot (it had obviously been flooded there... probably moving it around the lot. Also probably why I got it for such a low price) Ran great after the tune-up until the starter went and I flooded it... oops.

It's missing/sputtering a good bit now and cranking hard. I think it needs some new plug wires. I pulled the plugs to unflood it... may have damaged one.



Here's what I've done to it so far:

New air filter

Oil and filter change wirh Castrol GTX and fluid check

New catalytic converter (old one was split open causing an exhaust leak)

New fuel Filter

New set of NGK spark plugs

Replaced starter with rebuilt unit

Checked battery, battery cables, and the alternator... looks good

New plug wires (first thing in the morning)



Anything else you'd recommend in particular before I get this car off in Dallas away from the carport and tools here? Any aftermarket parts or modifications you'd recommend to improve the reliability? I was considering an aftermarket ECM that would, I presume, solve the short start/flooding issue. Just no idea which one would be the best option. Not trying to build a race car here, ya know. Just a daily driver with more zip than my old 4 cyl.

Also... is it a good idea to run some fuel injector cleaner through this every now and then? I presume it is, but I wasn't sure how the rotary would like that :-)

Thanks in advance for any input. And thanks to everyone who helped me diagnose the starter problem. I love driving this car. The RPMs are music!



Phil

lunarwynd

btw... I've been through the 2nd gen FAQ and most of the related threads. Not trying to repeat here :-) Just looking for advice on my specific situation if anyone has any. Thanks again!

nightwolf_4_98

from the post's i've read, injector cleaner is pretty useless, most gas already has stuff in it to help with cleaning the fuel system, all that cleaner will do is take the oil off the houseings and create more problems for a while. people say pre-mix for reliability, some say its not worth it, personaly, i did with my 90 vert and i could feel a slight diffrence in the way the car ran, was smoother all through the RPM range and idled a bit better as well. again this is just stuff i've read from other post's, so if im wrong, be gentle but i recommend pre-mixing, it helped mine out a bit, i'd suggest doin a little more searching for more specific thing's like that to see if that'd be something you'd be interested in

banzaitoyota

Get a Compression Test

Pull the injecotrs and have them professionally cleaned

Shane.Trammell

start saving for a rebuild of the tranny and dont take it to aamco. you might want to find a cheap dd and swap it to manual when the auto goes.

adc0642

My 2 cents:

run premix and change the oil every 2k. Use dino oil. Clean spark plugs every 5K, change every 10k. Consider a nice aftermarket exhaust, rotaries run hot, the exhaust tends to fall apart, and a nice aftermarket system can free up some hp also.



As far as flooding goes, it's easy to instal a fuel cut-off switch under the rear carpet to aid unflooding. If you mount the switch in a hidden location but within reach from the driver's seat, it's a great anti-theft device also.



run some auto-rx through the tranny, research it at http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi and http://www.auto-rx.net/. It works well.



Have fun. rotaryies are cool. Try one with a manual sometime.

lunarwynd

Wow... thanks everyone. Some good tips there I'll surely look into. I went ahead and put mine in the shop today. Ever since the starter went it hasn't been cranking right, as has been running likr the timing was out of whack or something. So hopefully I'll hear back on it tomorrow.

As far as the transmission... yeah... I love standard. That was my one regret about the car. But I figure I'll just keep this one an auto and, later when funds allow, I'll get a 3rd gen with a standard to go with it. You know... it always helps to have at least one car your girlfriend is capable of driving when necessary. Not to mention, I've heard horror stories about the tranny swap operation, and I think it would be beyond my mechanical expertise. So I'll just satisfy myself with the "HOLD" button for now :-)

nightwolf_4_98

that's the main reason i DO get standard she'd kill me for that but i'll probably teach her how to drive stick soon, she doesnt seem fond of learnin tho

venomrx7

I'll teach her with my stick if you don't want to.



j/k



like others said, get the injectors cleaned, premix is great, tranny swap isn't really that difficult. run a little marvel mystery oil through the fuel system one time.

lunarwynd

Will do. I think I may have figured out the running problem tonight too. When we checked the spark today, I noted it was more yellow than blue... and a bit weak. I think maybe I have a bad ignition coil on there. That would explain the missing and hard cranking problems I've had. Also... my mechanic said it was mainly the front chamber that was flooding. Mayne that's normal... or maybe I'm not getting enough spark to the front plugs to burn up the fuel, eh? I'm glad there's so much great info about this car on here... otherwise I'd have given it up for a hopeless cause a week ago :-)

Also... I've noticed I don't seem to see a lot of 91's around... even online. Was that kind of a rare year for the RX-7, or an I just not running into them?