When I start the car it idles lumpy. Sounds like a ported motor - as if it\'s \'skipping\' one chamber if that makes sense?
If I push the clutch in, it idles fine (not lumpy)
When the car is warm it idles fine (not lumpy)
When driving it feels fine, still making good power, etc. But when I come to a stop (even if the car is warm), I get lots of white smoke out the back.
I\'m going to investigate tomorrow, but thought I\'d check with you experts first. :god
Thanks for your patience with my requests - I\'m still getting used to the rotary!
When did it start this behaviour?
DOes it rev freely?
Have you checked the coolant top up point and expansion tanks to see if there is mayonaise?
Hi Brett,
It idles rough from initial start up (does a rythmic jump from 1k to around 1.5k rpm at tickover)
edit - re-read your post - it started this after I spent ages trying to get it to start (see other thread, essentially I was doing the fuse-pull incorrectly. Got it started and the next long journey (into London), it started smoking heavily. Then stopped doing it and it did it again today) The lumpy idle only happened after it started smoking that first time)
Still seems to drive fine. It revs freely, sounds and goes no differently
I will check for \'mayo\' in the morning.
It\'s definitely a problem that only occurs when it\'s cold. When it\'s up to temperature the idle seems much better. The lumpiness is acompanied by some weird popping noises sometimes from the exhaust. Fuel consumption seems absolutely terrible! I.e, £15 yesterday got me approx 20-odd miles of 90% low-rpm driving with the occasional squeeze of the throttle.
I think I\'m going to change the plugs for another set I know were fine when I removed them (MoT tester thought it might help emissions, which it didn\'t)
After doing some searching the only thing I could find similar, is the possibility of the blanking plates for the air pump, etc, not sealing properly??
If its running that badly I\'d say you are right to suspect the plugs.
plugs or throttle pos sensor needs adjusting would be my guess. you can also try the air bleed screw on top of the UIM to sort out your idle.
if you still have your thermal reactor it could be f***ed and causing some smoking...
Rmaj\'s wife
This sounds very similar to the problem I am having on my little project!! Did you get it resolved?! I am very much new to the Rotary engine and learning as I go.. I got a low mileage secondhand motor.. put new plugs in it before I put it in.. When you first start you get smoke then it clears.. lump tick over then when it\'s warm fine. also experienced the popping from the exhaust but I don\'t have the CAT in with gaskets yet so thought some of the problem may be down to this? Revs fine.. But I haven\'t driven it yet as it\'s only half a car!! Have run it up in the driveway a few times doens\'t appear to use water but then it\'s only been run for a few minutes each time!
Any info gladly recieved!
Thank you
Lee
Hi Lee,
No I haven\'t got it sorted yet. I\'ve fiddled with the adjustment on the MAF sensor and then idle control (the one on top) to minimise the smoking. Bit of a lottery when I haven\'t checked the air/fuel ratio, but it seems happy enough.
However, I still have the same problem. When I start it without touching any pedals it idles high (around 2k rpm) for about eight seconds, then revs drop dramatically to the point where I have to press the throttle pedal to stop it from stalling.
It\'ll smoke a bit on start-up, but once it\'s moving it seems ok. At standstill it idles \'lumpy\' between 1k rpm and 1.2k rpm - then once it\'s warm it idles flatly at 1k rpm.
Power seems ok once warm. It isn\'t using/loosing any coolant and oil usage seems fairly normal (i.e, uses a bit over time)
????
Let me know if you make any progress. The idle control is the scre in the side of the throttle body right? Mine seems to ideal at a fairly steady rpm but just a bit poppy and rough and smokey for a minute for cold.. When it\'s warmed up it sounds fine and idles much better.. Maybe some of this is normal for an FD. I have been told they smoke a bit when cold due to the nature of the beast!?
Where is the MAF adjustment? Not sure I would start playing with that though? I thought they didn\'t have a MAF and that\'s why you have to be careful putting De-cats and induction kits on as they don\'t recognise the extra air flow?
Cheers
Lee
By the way.. you can check the water seals are okay.. I think there is a post on here somewhere. may well be on one of my earlier threads.. you need a spare rad cap and a foot pump basically.
Lee
Lee> I\'ve got an EGi FC3s not an FD I\'m afraid. I didn\'t want to mess with the MAF but I took it to a sh*te garage for it\'s MoT, and the tester fiddled with it to get it through the emissions. It had been running perfect before then. I adjusted the MAF (it\'s a vane sensor I\'m guessing so the adjustment affects how wide the gate is open to begin with I\'m guessing?), and the idel control screw on the top of the inlet/throttle body manifold. Still haven\'t sorted the problem though.
- Rough from cold, as if it\'s ported (from 900 to about 1,200 rpm rythmically), idles perfect when warm
- popping and smoke on initial start-up seem to have stopped
- oil pressure 60 psi driving, 30 psi standstill
- coolant is \'clean\' - not loosing water or oil
- revs freely, decent power when warm
- has started first time every time since the one time I flooded it.
Anyone any ideas? Is this simply a sign of wear on the rotor tips/apex seals?
Also, is there any way of getting rid of any carbon deposits without pulling the engine apart? Some kind of additive or something maybe?
Think I\'m going to get a local \'expert\' to look at it - I think he races rotaries? Any help much appreciated in the meantime. Cheers. :Typing
Hallo,
There is a trick to improve compression and reduce carbon buildup.
-Have a old set of spark plugs to.
-Remove normal plugs
-Put ATF(auto gearbox oil) into a medium size syringe
-Pour a third of the syringe into each rotor face using the bottom plug hole
-Do this on both rotors turning the engine by hand until all chambers have the oil in.
-Continue turning the engine by hand to spread the oil
-Put in the old plugs
-Leave standing for more than 24hrs
-Start the car in an open space (ther will be lots of smoke)
-Drive the car straight away, and when it is operating temp you need to do some full rpm drives.
Good Luck,
Jürg Hensdiek
QuoteJürg Hensdiek Hallo,
There is a trick to improve compression and reduce carbon buildup.
-Have a old set of spark plugs to.
-Remove normal plugs
-Put ATF(auto gearbox oil) into a medium size syringe
-Pour a third of the syringe into each rotor face using the bottom plug hole
-Do this on both rotors turning the engine by hand until all chambers have the oil in.
-Continue turning the engine by hand to spread the oil
-Put in the old plugs
-Leave standing for more than 24hrs
-Start the car in an open space (there will be lots of smoke)
-Drive the car straight away, and when it is operating temp you need to do some full rpm drives.
There are a few things you can use or this. It doesn\'t have to be ATF. I\'ve heard 2 stroke oil being used and a couple of other things (can of coke!) No i\'m not joking. I did a google (ATF Trick) search about this last week as i\'ve got an engine with a suspected sticking seal. there are lots of write ups on the American sites. Its quite a lot to take in all at once so be warned! Let me know how you get on.
Also can you take a pick of the idle screw on the UIM and post it up here. I\'ve been messing with the idle on mine, but i\'ve been using the screw on the BAC valve. Not sure this is right or if its dfferent on the TII. Cheers.
Its not really ideal to mess with the MAF as this is factory set. I started from scratch and took the entire manifold/throttles off the car and set the throttle clearances as per the boook. I then set up the TPS correctly and also the thermo wax settings at cold and also when it reaches temps. This will or should be good for the basic set up. By the book you should ground the green connector to set up the idle and this you use the screw on the BAC. Too many people just adjust things thinking its the right thing but the book is really very good (mazda workshop manual).
Thanks guys, I\'ll have a look into those \'tricks\' for de-carbon. Coke!?! Is Pepsi ok? :Laugh
pdtaylor> Yeah I know, really wish the guy at the garage hadn\'t touched the MAF. Ideally I want to put a decent air/fuel ratio gauge and see what\'s what. It doesn\'t feel great at the top-end of the rev range (like a vibration)
I\'ll get it checked asap. Thanks guys
Please do NOT use atf, if you search for atf decoking tricks you should also find out how it eats away at the seals and severely reduces the lifespan of the engine!
Premix is a much, much better idea as 1) its actually designed to lubricate an engine 2) it has a detergent effect 3) the thin layer of oil that sticks to the internal surfaces help increase compression
rough idle on cold could just be the TPS not being adjusted correctly.
Mine used to hunt around the 1500 RPM mark as it warmed up - it would idle at 2000RPM when first fired up, then the revs would drop gradually until it hit 1500 then it would cycle until the car was warm.
The TPS can be adjusted with a multimeter or a pair of bulbs - I\'m sure there is a link on here about how to do it correctly.