Help! New Rx-7 Owner Having Problems!
04-01-2003, 12:25 AM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 11
Hi all,
I just bought a '93 touring edition, automatic w/ 36K (stock, original motor) and though I absolutely love this car. I am having some problems and issues that maybe y'all can help out with....
•the car doesn't 'take off' upon acceleration from a dead stop it feels like its in 2ND gear and takes off very slowly (i have to punch pretty hard before the turbo kicks in)
•It stalls out all the time (i didn't even know an automatic could stall out!)...at a dead stop while in drive mode it idles really rough and the needle dips down to 0 RPM and the engine dies...and I have a rough time restarting too! I found that if I put it in neutral, it steadys the idle, but I shouldnt have to do that...
so what should I do, is the car in serious trouble or is their an easy fix for this??? Where can i go in the Los Angeles area to get this checked out???
•Also it came with a boost guage and a A/F guage thing mounted ion the A pillar and I don't know jack about either....how do I read these things?? what am I suppose to be looking for with these meters?
I'm sorry if this sounds real dumb but this is the first 'sports car' I've owned, before I had a Prelude, so I havent had any experience with turbos, rotaries and all that....
so if you have any input, it would greatly be appreciated, please email me at NSX1Day@aol.com if you guys have any good reccomendations....
thanks!
I just bought a '93 touring edition, automatic w/ 36K (stock, original motor) and though I absolutely love this car. I am having some problems and issues that maybe y'all can help out with....
•the car doesn't 'take off' upon acceleration from a dead stop it feels like its in 2ND gear and takes off very slowly (i have to punch pretty hard before the turbo kicks in)
•It stalls out all the time (i didn't even know an automatic could stall out!)...at a dead stop while in drive mode it idles really rough and the needle dips down to 0 RPM and the engine dies...and I have a rough time restarting too! I found that if I put it in neutral, it steadys the idle, but I shouldnt have to do that...
so what should I do, is the car in serious trouble or is their an easy fix for this??? Where can i go in the Los Angeles area to get this checked out???
•Also it came with a boost guage and a A/F guage thing mounted ion the A pillar and I don't know jack about either....how do I read these things?? what am I suppose to be looking for with these meters?
I'm sorry if this sounds real dumb but this is the first 'sports car' I've owned, before I had a Prelude, so I havent had any experience with turbos, rotaries and all that....
so if you have any input, it would greatly be appreciated, please email me at NSX1Day@aol.com if you guys have any good reccomendations....
thanks!
04-01-2003, 01:20 AM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 4,985
Whoa.. an auto!
Jebus, I wouldn't even know where to begin.
Boost gauge tells you the manifold pressure above 0. depends if it reads in BAR or PSI, but you should see a 10-7-10 PSI pattern on the boost gauge. In the sequential twin turbo system, one turbo comes on, climbs to 10 PSI of boost, then leaks some of it's boost to start moving the #2 turbo. The leaking-over period is referred to as the 'transition'. Then, when both turbos are online and making full boost, you'll see 10PSI again. As for the A/F gauge, that measures the Air to Fuel ratio of the exhaust gas, via the oxygen sensor. Factory oxygen sensors are really only good for relaying a rich or lean mix, and not much else. 14.7:1 is stoichiometric (stoich), anything under (like 12:1) is rich, and over (15:1) is lean. On the rotary, lean is bad.
My suggestion for your idle problem is to check the MAP sensor, make sure it's plugged in. It is a small black box located on the driver's side firewall, under the hood, just near the brake master cylinder and brake booster. I forget, but it says "boost sensor" or "pressure sensor" or something. make sure the hose is plugged into the bottom, and the electrical harness is plugged into the back.
EditL I forgot, welcome to the forum and welcome to the Rotary!
Jebus, I wouldn't even know where to begin.
Boost gauge tells you the manifold pressure above 0. depends if it reads in BAR or PSI, but you should see a 10-7-10 PSI pattern on the boost gauge. In the sequential twin turbo system, one turbo comes on, climbs to 10 PSI of boost, then leaks some of it's boost to start moving the #2 turbo. The leaking-over period is referred to as the 'transition'. Then, when both turbos are online and making full boost, you'll see 10PSI again. As for the A/F gauge, that measures the Air to Fuel ratio of the exhaust gas, via the oxygen sensor. Factory oxygen sensors are really only good for relaying a rich or lean mix, and not much else. 14.7:1 is stoichiometric (stoich), anything under (like 12:1) is rich, and over (15:1) is lean. On the rotary, lean is bad.
My suggestion for your idle problem is to check the MAP sensor, make sure it's plugged in. It is a small black box located on the driver's side firewall, under the hood, just near the brake master cylinder and brake booster. I forget, but it says "boost sensor" or "pressure sensor" or something. make sure the hose is plugged into the bottom, and the electrical harness is plugged into the back.
EditL I forgot, welcome to the forum and welcome to the Rotary!
04-01-2003, 08:07 AM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 563
Originally Posted by Sinful7' date='Apr 1 2003, 02:20 AM
On the rotary, lean is bad.
My suggestion for your idle problem is to check the MAP sensor, make sure it's plugged in. It is a small black box located on the driver's side firewall, under the hood, just near the brake master cylinder and brake booster. I forget, but it says "boost sensor" or "pressure sensor" or something. make sure the hose is plugged into the bottom, and the electrical harness is plugged into the back.
EditL I forgot, welcome to the forum and welcome to the Rotary!
My suggestion for your idle problem is to check the MAP sensor, make sure it's plugged in. It is a small black box located on the driver's side firewall, under the hood, just near the brake master cylinder and brake booster. I forget, but it says "boost sensor" or "pressure sensor" or something. make sure the hose is plugged into the bottom, and the electrical harness is plugged into the back.
EditL I forgot, welcome to the forum and welcome to the Rotary!
Welcome to this site and to the high hp world of the RX7
automatic?
04-01-2003, 08:51 AM
#5
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2002
Posts: 437
Does your boost gauge read vaccum as well? look for a constant vacc reading at idle, irratic bouncing will indicate a compression problem. (btw your problem does sound like a compression problem = rebuild) It also sounds like your primary turbo is not functioning. check all the vaccum hoses to make sure you dont have any boost leaks.
If you do not know how to do this tell me where you are so I can recommend a rotary shop for you to take it to.
Do you have problems starting the car after it is warm? I've seen motors with blown apexi seals that will crank when it's cold, but then they stall and it won't crank again until the car cools down.
You can try to pull the egi fuse press the accelerator to the floor and crank it a few times, then re install the fuse and try to crank it.
anyway it could be a lot of things... let me know
If you do not know how to do this tell me where you are so I can recommend a rotary shop for you to take it to.
Do you have problems starting the car after it is warm? I've seen motors with blown apexi seals that will crank when it's cold, but then they stall and it won't crank again until the car cools down.
You can try to pull the egi fuse press the accelerator to the floor and crank it a few times, then re install the fuse and try to crank it.
anyway it could be a lot of things... let me know
04-01-2003, 12:39 PM
#6
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 11
Thanks guys, I checked out the 'sensor boost' box and everything looks fine. So its not that...as for the compression issues, the car was checked out upon purchase so and the compression was fine....I started her up this morning and she was running fine...so i dunno....I'm gonna take it in probably next week and get it looked at.
U guys weren't kidding when u said this car has 'quirks' LOL
BTW,,,how much would it be if I needed to rebuild the engine? or fix the turbos or whatever....
I figured the car only has 36K on it...it wouldn't need a new engine rebuild yet....and all the components would be running fine...but guess not...
U guys weren't kidding when u said this car has 'quirks' LOL
BTW,,,how much would it be if I needed to rebuild the engine? or fix the turbos or whatever....
I figured the car only has 36K on it...it wouldn't need a new engine rebuild yet....and all the components would be running fine...but guess not...
04-01-2003, 12:41 PM
#7
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 11
OH where should I take it to? I heard Rotor Reliability in Orange County was good...there was another place in Temple City in the San Gabriel Valley (I think)....but I forgot the name of it...if you guys have any reccomendations on good people in the SoCal area...please let me know!
Thanks guys!
Thanks guys!
04-01-2003, 01:13 PM
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Orlando, FL
Posts: 208
04-01-2003, 09:33 PM
#9
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: the windy (cold ) city.
Posts: 588
hmm check cables ( i know its stupid for me to say ) but when i bought my car it wouldnt idle at all, we adjusted the throttle cable and it idled fine. but you say it does fine in nuetral, now thats just odd....
welcome to the rotary, i am glad to see someone got an auto, all i can say to you is.... STALL
welcome to the rotary, i am glad to see someone got an auto, all i can say to you is.... STALL
04-01-2003, 10:22 PM
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Panama City Beach, Florida
Posts: 993
eh, i still think its the map sensor.. does it spit black smoke while idling or driving? there is a vacuum hose that runs from that sensor box to the upper intake manifold.. are you sure you checked the right sensor?