1987 Mazda RX-7 - Answered Questions & Fixed issues

in blower motor box.

With the FC3S platform you first need to make sure the battery and wiring are good. If the lights dim when using the starter there is an excessive draw which would indicate a bad starter. if there is clicking or no clicking at the starter voltage needs to be checked going to solenoid. If starter works by bypassing the solenoid, it is a bad solenoid.

Give the engine some time to acclimate to the change in viscosity.

It would be a fuse or wiring issue not starter if there is no power to the ignition switch. Ignition switches were not high failure items. The 86/91 RX7 had electrical issues. Check fuses, grounds, battery cable ends(for corrosion in wire at connecter, swollen looking wire) look up all the TSB's for the car. If you like working on the car yourself, get alldatadiy well worth it. And go to foxed.ca to download the FSM. (mazda factory shop manual)

check if you have good clean fuel in the tank, has it been sitting for a while?

public library...Chilton or Haynes auto repair manuals or collisionrepairadvice.com


many of your questions can only be answered when the engine is apart and after visual examination.   Sorry I can't help more.

Hi Ross,

As a rule:

• Black Smoke = Unburnt Fuel, incomplete combustion, bad mix
• Blue Smoke = Burning Oil
• White Smoke = Water Vapor, Water getting where it shouldn't be.

White smoke is common in cold weather when you first start your vehicle. It's from condensation. But it should stop as the engine warms up. If it doesn't, the moisture is from another source.

Questions:

1. Are the smoke episodes accompanied by a loss of power?
2. Was your coolant level low before you changed the coolant?
3. Did it overheat? Badly?
   

I'm leaning toward a partial failure of the head gasket. Here is some info, things to look for and tests to confirm.

Symptoms:

• Uncontained compression in one or more cylinders = lack of power
  
• Coolant seeping into cylinders through the gasket breach creates white smoke
• Oil seeping into cylinders creates blue smoke
  

Things to look for:

• Coolant levels low. As the coolant is burned off, you'll notice the levels are lower
• Oil in the coolant. If oil is present in the radiator, it's coming from the engine. Another indicator of a failed head gasket. Only a confirmation though, lack of oil does not rule out the possibility.
• Water in the oil. Pull the oil dipstick. Is it milky and frothy, like it's been whipped? If so coolant is getting into the oil. Again, an indicator, not a confirmation of a blown head gasket.
• Is the oil level dropping?
  

The quickest, easiest and (most importantly) cheapest confirmation of this is to run a compression test on each cylinder. I'm surprised your mechanic didn't suggest it.

The test should show high and fairly close compression (100psi or more) on all cylinders. If any of them are significantly lower, something is allowing the gasses to escape. Since piston ring failures would produce blue smoke, not white, that leaves the head gasket.

If you feel comfortable doing it yourself, testers are available at any auto parts store for under $30.00. If you don't, any shop can do it in under half an hour.

All this is to pin point the problem. Then you know what you are dealing with.

Comment me back with your findings.
Mike

Well the most common swaps are putting in Small block ford's and Chevy's. The one I see mostly is the 5.0 Mustang motor swap. There are numerous kits for motor mounts and relocation brackets that make it a fairly straight forward swap. Do a little research and you will start seeing quite a few results that will answer your questions on How to's and so forth.

Sorry champ, you need to be more specific, what is wrong with your fuel system?

The side seals for the rotors are bad. the only thing you can do is pull the engine apart and replace the seals IF the side housings are good. If they are bad, you cant machine them, they are JUNK. Find a shop that rebuilds Mazda Rotary engines. Mazda may be the best place to get a reman engine.

if the starter is good then you could have a problem some of these had and that is the rotor tips stick to the cylinder wall due to different things.this does happen just the way you discribed your situation.you can try to put some oil into the plug holes and let it sit then try to turn the motor over,you can also try turn the motor over with a wrench or johnson bar and socket.if this won`t help you can try pushing the car and engaging the gear to see if it will break loose.these are some things that have been done by techs to get these rotory motors unstuck.

Hi,

Thank you for contacting fixya.com.

The best solution to this problem is to give your vehicle a little time. Prop up your hood and wait for a few minutes before you attempt to start your car again. This time, be careful of how much fuel you're sending to your engine system. In short, don't depress the pedal too much or too often.If this doesn't work, then you may need to actually open your vehicle's carburetor and you will need to use some WD-40 or ether-based spray to dry up the excess fuel before you can start your vehicle again. WD-40 and ether sprays are highly flammable, so use them with caution. And please don't leave your vehicle running and don't smoke while you use these flammable products. If while doing this you find out that your carburetor is no longer in good working condition, then do replace your carburetor with a high quality replacement part.

Also check this article to get an in-depth idea related to your issue:-

http://www.freeengineinfo.com/engine-flooded.htm

Please get back to us if you have further query else please accept the suggestion.

your engine is blown. either find a replacement engine, or have it rebuilt by a reputable engine rebuilder. sorry for your loss.

Have you checked your ignition fuse yet?

try to get the sunroof manually at the end of the rail and try to force it on the rail

very hard you better think twice.

Hi

You say no electrical power to switch??? do you mean the car will not even light up the dashboard or just no ignition? it could be a number of things, did you have any battery lights on?? also does the car battery have good connections as a poor connection will cut the car out. make sure that the earth / ground end to the car body are secure as this is often the cause, poor battery terminals or poor connections.

Get back to me with more info
Regards
Dan

Hi,

Check the vacuum hoses and valves in your engine.

Sounds like the EGR valve, but but check the vacuum hoses, it is connected to all the valves in the intake system.

Then tell us afterwards if there are changes in the rpm!


Hope that helps you out!

is it losing coolant? what does the smoke smell like? sweet? like burning anti freeze? if so it needs a new engine. I have found the dealer to have the best engines.

See if you can find another engine, it takes a lot of expertise to fix your problem.