i was driving back home from a friends house today, and my car was having trouble getting uphill. when i let the clutch out to go up like i usually do, to engine stalled. In started it up again and it died again, so the next time i started it i held the gas down. As i was driving it felt like i had 1/2 the horsepower it usually does. like at 6000 rpm in 1st i was only doing 20mph. Sometimes it jerked and i felt power come back but it went away again. felt like it had half the exhaust pulses at idle too.



my motor was overheating (it was a tiny bit more than halfway) today, would that have been a cause? I checked the coolant and filled it up to the fill line and let the motor cool off prior to driving from my friends house.



is this the feeling of running on one rotor?

Sounds likely, do a compression test to confirm.

A compression test will give you the answer. You may also want to try the steam trick. Start the motor, and if you need to, rev it up to keep it running. Pull off a vacuum line and stick it in a bottle of water and let the motor suck some of it in. If carbon build up is causing your problem, this trick should help to work a lot of the carbon out.



- Hand



:edit: when the motor starts to suck the water in, it will try to die. So you will have to rev it a little bit to keep it going. Don't be alarmed if it dies. Just put the vacuum line back on, restart the car, let it run for a minute to get everything out. If it still doesn't sound good, let it suck some more water in.

[quote name='G2G' date='May 14 2005, 05:03 PM']A compression test will give you the answer. You may also want to try the steam trick. Start the motor, and if you need to, rev it up to keep it running. Pull off a vacuum line and stick it in a bottle of water and let the motor suck some of it in. If carbon build up is causing your problem, this trick should help to work a lot of the carbon out.



- Hand



:edit: when the motor starts to suck the water in, it will try to die. So you will have to rev it a little bit to keep it going. Don't be alarmed if it dies. Just put the vacuum line back on, restart the car, let it run for a minute to get everything out. If it still doesn't sound good, let it suck some more water in.


[/quote]







Is this something you might recommend to an otherwise relatively healthy engine to try to clean some of the carbon deposits?



If so, what vacuum line?





'='

Yes this can be done to a healthy engine, to reduce carbon build up. It is much safer than the ATF trick. As for a vacuum hose, I've always used lines that were originally for emitions that are connected to the intake plenum. But I also had all of that crap removed. If you are unsure of which line to pull off, pull off a single line from the intake plenum and if the car does not stutter or die, go ahead and hook up a longer vacuum line to the nipple that you pulled it off of, and do the trick. Good luck.



- Hand

you heard of people doing this on FDs too ? if so how much water

ive heard using a gallon jug of water.



kevin.

You can do this to any rotary. I wouldn't recomend it with a piston engine. I usually only use about 32 oz. Just use enough until you can tell a difference, and make sure to to let the car idle or run for five to ten minutes after you have sucked all the water in, to make sure everything gets sucked up and taken out.



- Hand

pics, which vacuum line?

Like I said, just pull one off the UIM and as long as the car can idle fine use it.



- Hand

[quote name='G2G' date='May 15 2005, 12:33 PM']Like I said, just pull one off the UIM and as long as the car can idle fine use it.



- Hand


[/quote]



uim?

upper intake manifold..



it works on piston engines also...

I'd just be a little worried about vapor lock on a piston engine. I've never done it on a piston so I can't really say, just speculation.



- Hand

vapor lock has to do with a fuel issue , not water ingestion

well good thing u got that turbo II motor/tranny



Now u have this motor to take apart and play with

THat would be "Hydro Lock".

Sounds like your plugs. Change em. Change the wires while you're at it too.



And you don't need some kind of special socket to remove the spark plugs, use an adjustable wrench/imagination.

errr, yeah I'm not exactly thinking. Hydro lock not vapor. Regardless, it sounds like it is not a problem with a piston, so disregard my previous statement.



- Hand

for a problem like your having, start with the basics. Verify you have no major vacuum leaks, the AFM is plugged in, ECT is plugged in, you have spark on a 4 plugs. Check the color of the plugs, etc.

Honestly, doing the "steam" trick isnt going to do **** if the motor is running as bad as you describe. Don't waste your time doing that and spend some time troubleshooting the actual problem!

i am willing to bet its the plugs and wires. i had the same exact problem not too long ago, it was backfiring like all hell, the power would come on and off jerkin the whole car around and ****. i for sure thought i popped the bitch but actually it turned out to be old plug wires. it also felt like it was runnin on one rotor cause it was. the rear rotor leading plug wire was arcing off the wire boot straight to the block!! i could see the huge arc in broad day light.

i didnt do anything to my car today, started it and it idled normal. i ran it without load from idle to redline, no misses and i ran it in 1st gear and reverse (didnt get to test the other gears though).



so i dont know what the **** happened. i'm stumped. might it be a spark problem? i havent had access to a multimeter so i couldnt check it.

[quote name='drftk1d' date='May 20 2005, 02:03 PM']



so i dont know what the **** happened. i'm stumped. might it be a spark problem? i havent had access to a multimeter so i couldnt check it.


[/quote]



Just get access to a spark plug socket/wrench, or adjustable wrench, and clean out your plugs.

maybe your AFM was being cranky? i had a couple weird problems with my old n/a....

It could be the catalytic you have, might be clogged. If you dont have one, then check all the hoses, might be a good ol fashion radiator problem.