I picked up an 87 Rx-7 last night. Drove great, until today. Apparantly it has developed what is referred to as the "3800rpm issue". I'd like to fix that asap, as this is my daily driver. I was thinking maybe clogged injectors? The car sat for about 2 1/2 months before I got it. Could I just pick up some injector cleaner from autozone and run it through the system, to see if that works? I've heard bad grounds cause this problem as well. Where are all the grounds located?



Also, theres a strong smell of gas in the engine bay. I'm going to replace the fuel filter tomorrow, hoping that's it, but I'm afraid it may be one of the lines.



The add coolant idiot light went on while I was moving the car in my driveway. I shut the car down immediately, and just pushed it into its spot 5 feet away. There's coolant in the reservoir and in the radiator. Any clue as to what would cause that light to come on? I noticed that the engine temp gauge barely moves off of cold, even after I drove it 30 minutes straight.



The voltage gauge is reading at 16V, the max. Maybe a bad voltage regulator?



Is it normal for the motor to go up to around the 2500-3000 rpm area upon start up?





If I could get any help at all on these issues, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Ok....................



So I'm pretty sure my coolant seals randomly decided to go out between 10 last night and 8 this morning, while I was asleep. I turned on the car this morning and white smoke was pouring out from the exhaust tips, and the coolant buzzer was going crazy.

 

Does white smoke absolutely mean coolant seals are bad?



Because the car ran perfect up until yesterday mid afternoon when it started doing the 3800 thing. This is a complete surprise.

 

1.Dude normally operating voltage is 14.6, yes bad voltage reg.

2.Sounds like your engine is hunting (high idle)..could be a vacuum leak, could be a problem with the throttle body, could be a bent cable or damaged spring preventing normal operation.

3.White smoke yes is a bad coolant seal, not sure the process of fixing it in a rotary but after you do, make sure you get it pressure tested to see if it worked( thats what you would do with a bad OHV head off a piston engine).



Worst case scenario, your ECU is fucked and needs to be tested and or replaced.

 

Well, today the car ran perfect. No smoke. No lights or buzzers. No 3800 stumble. Nothing.



I'm confused as to why, but yea...... It's going to the local rotary shop tomorrow for a full diagnostic.

 

Well good luck, better hope its not an ECU issue they're costly to repair and replace.

 

Not really, they're like 25 bucks used...

 

No **** they are cheap!! Sometimes you can get them for free. Gotta loves noobs spreading misinformation.



The white smoke could have been signs that a coolant seal is going bad, just keep an eye on the level.



One way to check (this works 90% of the time for me):

1) Start car

2) open radiator cap, or coolant tank

3) watch for bubbles to appear



If they do, you have a coolant seal going bad. You can try to band-aid it by using block seal (go here--> www.rotaryresurrection.com), or rebuild time.



As far as doing a 'test' of the coolant seals after replacement........dude stick to piston motors.





I will say that your problem sounds like what a friend of mine was having. Over night or prolonged rest, the coolant seal would leak a little into the housing. When he would start it up it would smoke a little, and sometimes only run on one rotor until it was all blown out. The engine ran for 2 yrs this way, using block seal every 6 months to help it survive.



Good luck.

 

This is the pulsation damper going bad.



FIX IT ASAP. DO NOT DRIVE THE CAR UNTIL YOU DO!!!!!!!!



Engine fires are not fun.

 

Yeah, this sounds about right, search "banjo bolt mod" this isn't the best fix, but it does work if you don't want to spend the $180 on the pulsation dampener.