Mazda Rotary Club

Cars by Model Type => 2nd generation RX-7's => Topic started by: Grieve on April 21, 2011, 10:16:16 PM

Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on April 21, 2011, 10:16:16 PM
Hey all, introduced myself on here a little while ago but thought I should let folk know what I\'ve let myself into!  First off, this is my first performance car...but got a lot of mates up here with simlar cars - 200sx, 3000gt, and an FD to name a few. Here\'s a link to the obligatory pictures!

http://s1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/

So I bought her at the end of February, spur of the moment type thing which involved a 1600 mile round trip.  She\'s in dire need of a respray, and has a few issues such as:

Wiper switch has stopped working altogether
Oil cap has fallen off(?!)
May need new wheel bearings on the front

All in all, its not that bad, only has 66k on it and for £1200 I can\'t complain!  Plans are to get my new secret wheels on, which will be here next week hopefully, then deck it HSD\'s, and play with the engine.  Kinda\' hoping for a reliable 300bhp, not sure if that\'s realistic or...?  It\'s going to be a long term project anyway.  Also have a straight through exhaust home and ready to fit, and a mechanical boost gauge to see if it spikes.  Can anyone tell me where to find the gasket from the turbo to the downpipe?!  Strangest looking thing ever!!

Anyways, any comments or advice on where to get bits etc will be greatly appreciated.

David
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: TiddlesRX7 on April 21, 2011, 10:23:44 PM
Welcome to the club mate. Hope your FC is as good to you as mine has been to me. The wiper switch is a common problem. You need to find someone breaking one or someone with a spare. You can repair them but its a bit fiddly I believe. You probably will get boost spikes with a free flowing exhaust. You may even hit fuel cut so may need an FCD to stop that. Any questions just post a thread in the 2nd gen section.

Ade
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: papercutout on April 22, 2011, 03:53:47 AM
Although I\'d just go straight for an ECU that\'s been mapped for 0.9bar boost, exhaust, filter and FMIC...

You\'ll need to port the wastegate if it\'s a 3" exhaust too.

Looks nice though, good luck with it!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on April 22, 2011, 08:08:28 PM
Cheers guys.  Does anyone know where you can get that weird shaped gasket for the front pipe?  3 holes?  Strangest thing I\'ve ever seen!!

Yeah that\'s my plan I think, but most of the performance stuff will be done next year after my respray and coilovers are purchased!  What sort of ECU do folk go for?
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Lacey on April 22, 2011, 08:34:25 PM
Nice!! Is that a 10th anniversary edition?
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on April 22, 2011, 08:34:40 PM
Also, any idea where I could get a gearbox mount from?!  Cheers guys, any advice appreciated!!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: papercutout on April 22, 2011, 09:06:35 PM
Turbo - downpipe, I don\'t think I actually even have a gasket. I need to check though as when I start my car cold I keep getting a blowing noise recently, so might be that. Was fine for 6 months or so though!

I run an R-magic ECU, but make sure whatever ECU you get is mapped for upto 0.9 bar boost, not 0.7bar. Otherwise they\'re fairly generic. L18M imports them for a reasonable price.

Gearbox mount - solid or original? Flicksterr has solid mounts (imported from the states I think, but Nickson motorsport might well do them now), original would be from Mazda.
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: B.Martin on April 22, 2011, 10:11:52 PM
Looks good, good luck with it. I love fc TII\'s in white!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on April 24, 2011, 12:39:08 PM
Lacey - I don\'t think so...if it is, nobody has told me and it hasn\'t got any plaques or anything! I\'m assuming that\'s how I would know?

Cheers for the advice papercutout! Got my eyes on a power FC right now, but we\'ll see how that goes. I\'ll bear that in mind about the gearbox mount.

Got my exhaust system on yesterday, it is far too loud.  That is all...haha!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on April 27, 2011, 09:08:07 PM
Bit of an update is in order I think, finally got my new wheels home after waiting what seemed an age:

(http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/007.jpg)

Panasport G7s!  17x8.5J on the front, 17x9.5J on the back.  No idea what the offset is, tyres are on already so will find out someday.  Hopefully get them fitted at somepoint this week, if not the weekend!  Bargain at £600, just been refurbed too!  Also have a set of Defi BF\'s with the control unit II and all wires etc coming home shortly.  All is good in the Orcadian camp!

Thought I\'d also upload all my pictures properly, as I finally worked out how :cool.

(http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/003.jpg)

(http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/022.jpg)

(http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/021.jpg)

(http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/020.jpg)

(http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/019.jpg)

(http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/018.jpg)

(http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/017.jpg)

(http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/016.jpg)

(http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/015.jpg)
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: TiddlesRX7 on April 27, 2011, 09:12:37 PM
Nice :) Hope you\'ve bought some spacers to go with them though.
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: papercutout on April 27, 2011, 09:24:48 PM
And a change of wheel nuts! You\'ll need ones with a 17mm hex head (or \'tuner\' nuts), because nothing bigger fits in there! Either spacers on the front (likely), or you\'ll need to take some metal off the big lump that is on the calipers. This is fine, 1-3mm or so is all good. I have some 16" 8.5J\'s, I think they\'re about ET38. I THINK you\'ll want between 5mm and 8mm spacers on the front. Any more than that and you\'ll not have enough thread to do the nuts up tight enough really (trust me, I tried it with 10mm slip-ons.)


The wheels look great with a satin black centre though! It\'d be great to get the offset of the 9.5J\'s!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on April 27, 2011, 09:43:38 PM
Cheers again guys!  It was very much another spur of the moment thing, seen them on ebay and promptly forgot about them but contacted the seller and...you see it!  Yeah I found out about the nuts the hard way, but I can soon get some nuts.  

Off topic, what would be the thoughts on using an ECU mapped for 98 ron and running it on 95 ron?  As we have no super unleaded in the isles...yahoo...!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: dthebuk on April 28, 2011, 11:54:46 AM
Quote from: Grieve;758621Off topic, what would be the thoughts on using an ECU mapped for 98 ron and running it on 95 ron?  As we have no super unleaded in the isles...yahoo...!


purchase some octane booster, i\'d suggest. Heard of rotarys going bangs when imported from japan and being used with uk fuel.

Also please slam it to the ground on those wheels :InLove
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on April 28, 2011, 09:29:05 PM
So that stuff is actually worth buying?  Heard so many mixed reviews on octane booster I don\'t know what to make of it!  My mate has a 200sx mapped on our .... fuel which seems a bit stupid to me, only guy in the world to get a car remapped for 95 ron!  What about a power FC...?  I am fairly clueless in the ECU department, sorry for all the questions guys!  Oh, and I\'m hoping to purchase HSD\'s next so it will be slammed!!  Watch this space!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on May 07, 2011, 12:29:04 AM
Time for another update!  Well, after having the wheels home for a good fortnight and eventually getting wheel nuts home to fit them with (bank holidays...!!) the Panasports are finally on the car!!

(http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/002-1.jpg) (http://s1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/?action=view¤t=002-1.jpg)

(http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/003-2.jpg) (http://s1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/?action=view¤t=003-2.jpg)

(http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/004-1.jpg) (http://s1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/?action=view¤t=004-1.jpg)

(http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/005.jpg) (http://s1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/?action=view¤t=005.jpg)

Sorry for the poor photos, it was a very bright day! Hopefully you can see, they stick out about an 1"¼\', but I think half the problem is the tyres are huge! Planning on decking her at somepoint with some HSD\'s I think, but so far so good!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: papercutout on May 07, 2011, 12:46:38 AM
Don\'t worry too much:
A. the rears will tuck as you lower her, and the rear arches are easy to roll/pull. I doubt you\'ll need to pull the arches though, but I\'d roll the inner lip flat.
B. Stretch some 205\'s onto the fronts (won\'t be much stretch - I run 205/40\'s on 9J\'s) and you\'ll be OK.

The front arches don\'t roll, BUT if you get some HSD\'s then you can add a little camber and they\'ll tuck OK.
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Lacey on May 07, 2011, 12:50:21 AM
Or just get little stick-on arch lips you can tuck into your wheel arch lining. They technically extend the wheel arch and the wheel is covered, so it\'s legal and just looks like a mud flap :) That way you don\'t have to mess with camber and shred your tyres to hell or go with stretched out tyres :p
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: B.Martin on May 07, 2011, 07:56:16 AM
It looks attractive that, always loved white cars. It will look lush when slammed!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on May 08, 2011, 12:33:39 PM
Should work out fine!  My alternator packed up yesterday :(.  Does the FD alternator fit?  Or is it even any better at all...?
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on May 11, 2011, 11:10:31 PM
Needing some advice!  My exhaust is far too loud, at least for town use.  It actually set the alarm off on my dad\'s mk5 Golf when reversing in the driveway a few days ago.  I was looking at one of those Apexi ECV things, but wondered - has anyone tried one?  Or is there a better way...?
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: papercutout on May 11, 2011, 11:18:23 PM
Swap it for mine :p

What size is the downpipe? How many boxes are there in the system? I\'d just get an exhaust place to weld another box in personally.
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on May 12, 2011, 05:54:07 PM
Well, this is where I can\'t complain. 3" straight from the turbo to a 4" tailpipe, with 1 silencer.  Yeah, just wondered if anyone had an ECV on as the police up here have nothing to do (no crime!) so just stop people in cars all the time, and I\'ll definitely get a fine as it is!!  So just thought the ECV would let me make it quiet when it needs to be!  Thanks for the advice anyhow!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: B.Martin on May 13, 2011, 07:56:33 AM
Just weld in another silencer i guess? Or drive around where the police are at low revs...
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on July 26, 2011, 07:19:56 PM
Hey guys, could anyone help me out - in desperate need of an alternator that works?!  Mines went capoot, and after much :censored::censored::censored::censored:ing around its gonna\' cost me £190 for a RECTIFIER.  Hoping to get the car sprayed in a few weeks time so could anyone help?

Kind regards, David!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: B.Martin on July 26, 2011, 07:54:30 PM
I don\'t have one, someone might though. Hope you get it sorted mate, how\'s life with the TII or will it not start now coz of the alternator?
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on July 26, 2011, 08:19:08 PM
I hope so!  It hasn\'t moved much in a while because of the alternator, but other than that its been pretty good!  Looking forward to getting it resprayed though, will make a vast improvement I think!  And then onto the quest for more power...
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: B.Martin on July 26, 2011, 08:20:40 PM
The dreaded quest :D

Keep us updated!!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on July 26, 2011, 08:24:14 PM
You\'re right, it costs enough to run it just now!  Yeah, when its sprayed I\'ll have lots of pictures.  Just noticed your car, looks very tidy!  And you\'re in Cyprus?!  Nice to see FC\'s are all over, fair distance from the windy northern isles my one lives upon!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: B.Martin on July 26, 2011, 08:27:55 PM
Yeah, I\'m britsh though! Just moved over here and wanted one for ages but insurance in UK is mahoosive, that coupled with fuel, tax and everything else made it hard for me. Got a good deal out here so when Si put her up for sale I just had to take the opportunity!

Looking forward to the pics :)
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on July 26, 2011, 08:31:03 PM
None too shabby!  I do like the gunmetal ones, possibly my favourite.  Be nice and sunny too.  Yeah I know what you mean about the costs...I\'m still an apprentice plumber, so wages ain\'t high - hence mines is a weekend toy really!  How is it for getting parts in Cyprus then?
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: B.Martin on July 27, 2011, 06:32:00 AM
Not had to get parts yet really, hopefully I\'ll only need aftermarket ones - in which case it\'s not so bad royal mail do a 4 day service for peanuts as long as the parts to so big. If when I get round to fitting a new rad, intercooler and/or brake discs I imagine I could be in for some fun though.

Beats getting rained on most of the year though and insurance cost me (23) less than €500 for the year!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: flatout on July 28, 2011, 08:49:17 AM
hi, sweet looking fc,   did ya get an alternater ? i have a few fc,s  scraped if ya need any parts
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: B.Martin on July 28, 2011, 09:00:02 AM
Aahhhhhh. Thread hijak alert! Flatout. Need a TII front splitter? You got one?
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on August 04, 2011, 11:14:50 PM
Wise people of the MRC, does anyone know where you can get new windscreen seals and general window seals from?  As I may have to pop the windscreen out for my respray thanks to mr rust...!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: B.Martin on August 05, 2011, 07:37:58 AM
Windscreen from autoglass or somewhere? Seals from Mazda maybe? Although admittedly i\'m not 100% - actually its just a guess.
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on August 06, 2011, 02:05:49 PM
Yeah, well its just that top seal on the windscreen I\'ll need i think.  The side ones are screwed to the A pillar, the top one just pulls out, but not sure how well it will go back in...thanks for the ideas though, somewhere to start!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on March 05, 2012, 07:08:29 PM
Has anyone ever tried fixing their wiper switch, as opposed to buying 3 and ending up with 3 dead ones...?  I\'ve identified it\'s the relay at fault, anyone got a part number or link to the proper relay I would need? Found a few similar but...I\'m no expert on relays!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: TiddlesRX7 on March 05, 2012, 08:19:22 PM
Here you go. Hope this helps mate.

http://fc3spro.com/TECH/HOWTO/WIPER/wiper.html
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on March 05, 2012, 10:27:30 PM
That is actually exactly what I needed. Cheers min!!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: TiddlesRX7 on March 05, 2012, 10:32:12 PM
No probs buddy. Maybe fix all three of yours and sell the other two.

Ade
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: flatout on May 14, 2012, 08:18:47 PM
Any updates on this car ?
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: TiddlesRX7 on May 14, 2012, 10:59:33 PM
Yeah it been a while!

Ade
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on May 16, 2012, 10:34:04 PM
There shall be plenty to show fairly soon I hope! Car is getting painted right now, then it shall be back on the road with some shiny new bits to go with it...I\'ll let you know as soon as I do!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: XRMike on May 17, 2012, 05:45:08 PM
Nice car mate. Its like a Twin to mine!
(http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g287/fiestamanmike/526146_10150951738377457_721012456_12173665_591162090_n.jpg)
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on May 18, 2012, 07:50:22 PM
Went up to the paint shop today and Mr Rex was sitting in the booth having just been painted! Excited is not the word!!

XRMike - Sister cars except for the vented headlight cover and black mirrors!  Looks a good\'n though man!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: flatout on June 30, 2012, 12:54:46 AM
any updates ? dieing to see the parts fitted dude,
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on August 20, 2012, 10:34:29 PM
Hello guys and girls! A long overdue update - Mr Rex is on the road, having been painted. However, there are a few more parts I am waiting to come home for painting before I unveil her to you all!  In the mean time...

I have just purchased an induction kit. Now, with being new to rotary engines, can I just go ahead and fit this or do I need correct mapping or something?  Also, my idle is horrendous just now, wondering if the throttle positioning sensor is gone as it won\'t idle at 750rpm, just cuts out.  Is there an upgrade or a replacement anywhere in the world?  Any help much appreciated! Thanks!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on August 25, 2012, 08:39:34 PM
Probably a silly question, but I fitted my induction kit last weekend and attempted to start the car and I can honestly say I think I got the sound of detonation...?  Popcorn sound?  Anyways - am I not able to fit the induction kit without a remap or piggyback ecu...? Car won\'t start at all now :|
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: TiddlesRX7 on August 26, 2012, 01:21:42 PM
Did you remove the air flow meter when fitting the induction kit?
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Prof on August 26, 2012, 01:39:49 PM
As Ade says, without the induction it will probably fire but then die straight away - that\'s what mine does on the chipped and stock ECU\'s.
 
I would doubt that you\'d get knock/det or pinking straight off the bat, although the car will rev up to 2-3K on startup.
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on August 26, 2012, 05:02:15 PM
Yeah I pulled it off. Just getting plumes of white smoke when it does start, and it pulses when it does run then eventually cuts out.  Took the spark plugs out and removed the EGI fuse to see if it was flooded but got no where, getting a bit stuck now. Wondering about idle speed or throttle positioning or something now I\'m guessing...? Annoying!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Prof on August 26, 2012, 06:31:50 PM
It\'s not to fussy about TPS and idle speed settings on first start, only when the warm up phase has finished.
 
Things that seem to affect the ability to start and stay running:
 
If the engine has been sat a while or it\'s been rebuilt, then lots of white smoke isn\'t unusual.
 
A really bad air leak can cause starting to fail, but normally the engine will run when first started, and as it warms up it will stall because there is too much unmetered air.
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on August 26, 2012, 09:28:13 PM
Ah good. Thankyou very much Prof, I\'ll have a look at things a few nights this week and hopefully all will be well...!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on September 07, 2012, 10:00:37 PM
So! Eventually got round to having a look at my poorly rex, and I need a new coilpack. The one nearest the passengers seat is dead. I think I might just get new plugs, leads and coilpacks though. Any ideas where to get such things? Or what is of any use? Have also noticed my turbo has a bit of play now as well :(. Is there an upgraded turbo you can get at all?
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on October 03, 2012, 02:36:56 PM
Unfortunately Mr Rex still won\'t start. However, I have a free flowing exhaust and have recently fitted a cone filter...would I need an upgraded ecu for it to run now?  For sakes of fueling etc? I have also put on a different trailing coilpack, but the resistance on the leading coilpack is sky high...is this to do with the ecu? And where is the ecu exactly?! Any help would be much appreciated, so I could finally get the bodywork done once and for all!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: TiddlesRX7 on October 03, 2012, 03:17:40 PM
The car should run with an exhaust and cone filter although you should fit a FCD so it doesn\'t run lean on you. The ECU is in the passenger footwell under the carpet and kickplate.

Ade
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on October 03, 2012, 06:02:57 PM
Thanks Ade. Starting to run out of ideas again, it\'s so close to going but it just won\'t catch! Frustrating.
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: grinder on October 03, 2012, 06:51:22 PM
have you checked all the basics ?

1 - good spark
2 - not flooded
3 - dead ecu ( dont even get onto me about that )
4 - Air Flow meter connected
5 - you are defo getting fuel ( you can prime it by the means of a connector in the engine bay .. i think its green )
6 - good set of HT leads

And then your into the head scratching stuff .. i spent about 6 months trying to get a car to start ... it was a dead ECU in the end
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on October 04, 2012, 09:52:02 AM
Quote from: grinder;837352have you checked all the basics ?

1 - good spark
2 - not flooded
3 - dead ecu ( dont even get onto me about that )
4 - Air Flow meter connected
5 - you are defo getting fuel ( you can prime it by the means of a connector in the engine bay .. i think its green )
6 - good set of HT leads

And then your into the head scratching stuff .. i spent about 6 months trying to get a car to start ... it was a dead ECU in the end

Well my trailing coilpack wasn\'t giving a spark, but it will run without that I\'m told. \'Deflooded\' it (that\'s my term for it) on tuesday night and tried to start it to no avail. ECU...hmm, put the s***s right up that has! I tried to get her going with the AFM connected and disconnect, again to no avail. Fairly sure I am cos you can smell it haha, might be worth a punt though. HT leads are coming home!

With regard to the ECU, I am planning to get an FMIC installed this winter anyways - is it a new ECU you get for that, or just a piggy back?  Thankyou Grinder!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: TiddlesRX7 on October 04, 2012, 01:23:54 PM
A piggy back would work or a chipped ecu too. But if you can afford to I would go for a standalone unit as you can do what you like with it then. Only thing is with your location you\'d have to do the map yourself or travel a very long way on a base map to a tuner.

If you need an ecu to try I have a spare I think. I could send it up to you for postage. If it sorts you out you can buy it.

Ade
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on October 05, 2012, 11:33:59 AM
Quote from: TiddlesRX7;837405A piggy back would work or a chipped ecu too. But if you can afford to I would go for a standalone unit as you can do what you like with it then. Only thing is with your location you\'d have to do the map yourself or travel a very long way on a base map to a tuner.

If you need an ecu to try I have a spare I think. I could send it up to you for postage. If it sorts you out you can buy it.

Ade

I would like to think I will eventually go for a power fc at somepoint but there is one major issue with where I live - we only have 95 ron...I\'m no genius but that will hold me back some I\'d think. So I\'m not sure what my best plan is, originally I was going to get a rebuild and possibly source a power fc and do the whole 24 hour journey once for a major bit of work.

I\'ll post up on here about the ecu Ade, gonna try some error codes and stick my multimeter in some places :2Confused

Thanks again Ade! This site is awesome.
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: TiddlesRX7 on October 05, 2012, 03:29:41 PM
I\'m running a Power FC too. If you\'ve only got 95 up there then map it for 95. It might mean you have to bring some jerry cans with you but it\'d sort out your problem. I also know a guy who does some mobile mapping. He mapped my car and I was amazed at the difference when he had finished.
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: grinder on October 05, 2012, 07:04:42 PM
if Ade will send you a ECU , i would be more than tempted to go that route

I spent weeks and weeks and weeks trying to get a car to run , found out it was a dead ecu

Me and my mate metered everything thru and everything was fine .. sodding ECU and to make it worse , people had even told me to check it

might be worth metering thru your earths just on the off chance ( and again , check the ECU earth )

Out of interest , are all the dash lights working correctly and no stupid buzzing noises when you put the key in and try to start the car ?

Im sure when mine was playing up - it sounded like it was about to run , just never did and we had fuel and a spark etc..

have a search for some threads started by me in the 2nd gen section - you will prob find it
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: grinder on October 05, 2012, 07:27:05 PM
there is 12 pages of me wanting to torch the car ...

http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29946
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: lucus walker on October 05, 2012, 09:26:59 PM
Quote from: Grieve;837522I would like to think I will eventually go for a power fc at somepoint but there is one major issue with where I live - we only have 95 ron...I\'m no genius but that will hold me back some I\'d think. So I\'m not sure what my best plan is, originally I was going to get a rebuild and possibly source a power fc and do the whole 24 hour journey once for a major bit of work.

I\'ll post up on here about the ecu Ade, gonna try some error codes and stick my multimeter in some places :2Confused

Thanks again Ade! This site is awesome.
hi greive i have a  very rare & expensive  ap engineering apexi power fc with commander , AP ENGINEERING   made them especially for the fc3s  & r very rare like the pfc  "PRO"   for the fd  Â£650 posted
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on October 06, 2012, 12:59:43 AM
Ade - yeah, just hoping it will still work the same really! Hmmm...how mobile is mobile? Haha. It\'s a long way off yet though.

Grinder - Yes all my dash lights work, everything is working as far as I know but I\'ll have a check. I get solenoid clicking noises before I start but they don\'t carry on for anything like as long as mentioned in your older post! Mines literally turns and turns and turns but won\'t bloody catch and run! My \'French\' has improved greatly over this period. But thanks Grinder, anything is appreciated right now.

Lucus - Ohh I know you do and have been eyeing it up for a little while now but I honestly can\'t afford to right now, otherwise I\'d probably have bought it a while ago! Thanks anyway though.

On more of a general point, I don\'t think I have ever seen such terrible wiring skills as I have seen in my car.  I will post up pictures at somepoint of what I\'ve got, but it is absolutely shocking. I haven\'t done anything more with it other thank look at it right now, but it looks as if I will find (for example) a blue cable in the engine bay that will more than likely not be blue when it goes through to the ECU etc. But I shall not be beaten!!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Prof on October 06, 2012, 09:12:47 AM
High resistance on the leading plug - where are you measuring?
 
From plug lead to plug lead on the leading coil pack should be medium to high resistance, as it operates on a wasted spark system so they fire toghether and are the 2 ends of the HT side of the coil. There is a small plastic cap covering the primary coil connectors, and they are fed from the igniter whish is that metal doo-hickey the coil is mounted to. Pop the plastic cap off, and undo one of the wires - then measure the primary side - it should only be a few ohms.
 
You could test the coil pack manually, you\'ll need 12v and 5v for the trigger, plus earth.
 
The Black / Yellow wire is the 12V feed, and the Green / Yellow the 5V trigger from the ECU - just pulse that with 5V and you should see sparks. The signal is quite brief, so measuring it on a multimeter probably won\'t work, you\'ll need a scope of dwell meter to see it.
 
The car will start with just the leading plugs, but not just the trailings.
 
Does it sound like it\'s trying to catch, or is it just turning over ?
 
I had problems with my CAS wiring the insulation crumbles off the wires and they short out, and this can stop the car firing all together - as the ECU doesn\'t see proper timing signals.
 
Be interesting to see your wiring - mine was also hacked about a bit, and I\'m afraid I only added to the confusion - I\'m completely reworking all my looms - don\'t want to spend weekends diagnosing naff/old wiring any more. :Giggle:Giggle
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on October 17, 2012, 09:41:53 PM
Hey Prof, sorry for the serious delay in a reply but I\'ve been on nightshift. I did plug lead to plug lead, so I\'ll say you\'re right. However, I did get some new spark plugs and Magnecor KV85 leads and it did start last night.

As ever, there is always a but...

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/070.jpg

As alarming as that looks, it isn\'t actually on fire haha. It\'s misfiring very badly and won\'t idle, however I am unsure if I have a consistent spark for now.  Will be my next port of call. Thought I\'d post up 2 teaser pictures also...

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/025-1.jpg

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/019-1.jpg

Also got a bit made up for the defis:

http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/davidgrieve89/023.jpg

More updates soon!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: grinder on October 18, 2012, 07:15:25 AM
congrats on getting it running .. thats a LOT of smoke !!!!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on October 18, 2012, 10:48:23 PM
Haha, yeah it certainly is. That photo was taken after I\'d managed to stop my eyes running and stopped coughing and spluttering too! The spark is very weak across all coils and is very inconsistent, ie as soon as I try and let it idle it just cuts out again.  So must be something between the coil and the ECU I think, so a bit of tracing to do I guess! Joy.
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on March 30, 2013, 11:41:53 AM
Hello boys and girls. Minor update required I guess - after getting completely hacked off with my car, I started feeling sorry for it and got my finger out! So. I got to it. Removed the air pump and blanked it off, fitted a walbro, battery to boot, fitted my HSDs, got some wires stuck in for my defis and fixed my leaking wheel. Looking for a boost controller next, and about to purchase black diamond discs, pads and braided lines. Still got a few more things to do so I\'ll post pictures when I\'m all done. Anyone know where to get a caliper rebuild kit? Tried that biggred crowd to no avail :(
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: TiddlesRX7 on March 30, 2013, 05:24:42 PM
Really? I\'ve had the rebuild kit from Bigred before.

Good work on getting stuck back into the FC. I need to find my motivation again, If you see it anywhere let me know!

Ade
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on April 02, 2013, 10:50:17 PM
Well to be fair I haven\'t actually contacted them, just had a browse on their website and didn\'t see anything. Haha, just read some of the threads on MRC! That\'s what got me to pull my finger out again! Although in saying that, if it still doesn\'t run properly after all of the work I\'ve done I don\'t know what I\'ll do!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: lennycarloff on April 02, 2013, 11:07:52 PM
Just give bigred a call. last time I went on the website you couldn\'t get the fc link to work .They\'re very helpful on the phone
Jim
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on April 25, 2013, 08:22:48 PM
Well sods law has come into full effect, ordered my new brakes and all was well...then I get a phonecall to say that they only had one pair of rear discs left, and they were damaged so they were going to have to cast new ones for me. So that has scuppered my progress a bit. In the meantime...

I have just bought a boost controller - namely an Apexi AVCR Black - which has me pondering. I was thinking to just get a chipped ECU mapped for higher boost and an FMIC etc etc. Nothing too fancy. Will I need a fuel computer and wideband as well for this to work well? Just a thought considering we do not have decent fuel on these islands...:@. And whilst I\'m at it, anyone got a chipped ECU?!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: TiddlesRX7 on April 26, 2013, 09:17:33 AM
The only trouble with using a chipped ecu would be that it\'ll be mapped for the higher octain fuels (V power etc). So if you can\'t get it on the island then the map will be wrong from the get go. When I ran a chipped one in my car it worked but it wasnt quite right for my cars set up. It didn\'t run smoothly somehow. Compare it to my Apexi that is mapped for my car and it is vastly different. It felt like I was driving a different car when I first had it mapped.

Ade
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on April 26, 2013, 05:44:26 PM
Yes I see your point. My plan was to only have one big trip south for work at somepoint in the future - probably for a rebuild and map with a power fc. Hmm. Not sure what I will do now, a bit catch 22!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on June 16, 2013, 09:44:06 PM
Hello all. Got yet another update. Car is looking good! It is now lowered properly, I had to rebuild and paint my Panasports (never again) so have done that, put new discs, pads and braided lines all round, battery to boot, and shimmed the thermowax pellet. Only one problem persists however...it wont run! :@

So hoping someone could point me in the right direction. My brother is a mechanic, and he thinks it might need a rebuild :(. Money I don\'t have at the moment! So, got some symptoms...

The car will turn over, but won\'t actually start - fires slightly but never runs and makes a funny popping noise.
It floods. Then, if we deflood it, it will rev to around 2000rpm but dies within 10 seconds and it still runs like a bag of s**t.
The spark seems very weak.
There is also really thick white smoke coming from the exhaust when cranking.

It has new leads and plugs on it, a new battery, fuel pump...I know Grinder has said the ECU might be worth changing, so might try that. But does that sound like it is maybe just needing to be rebuilt? Mileage is circa 70k. Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: grinder on June 17, 2013, 07:41:59 AM
the fact that it will actually run for 10 seconds prob means the ECU is OK

does it run and then stop , or will it keep running ( albeit badly )

If it ran OK to start with , are you sure that you havent done something when you moved the battery and shimmed the thermowax ?
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on June 17, 2013, 10:13:58 AM
Run is probably a bad word to use...it attempts to run. I think I\'ll maybe get a video of it, it is awful. Just thinking the seals have maybe gone with this plumes of white smoke? Well it hasn\'t ran in long enough, can\'t really think of anything that would affect the starting of it if you get me!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: grinder on June 17, 2013, 06:38:41 PM
white smoke , im sure that\'s a sign of water seal failure ( dont take that as gospel !! )

Is it using water or wont it run long enough ??

Might be worth pulling the plugs , and turn it over 20-30 times by hand and see if you get anything out of the chambers

Also check the plugs , are they dry/wet/oily/watery

Whilst you are doing it - listen for even puff noises

Check to make sure you haven\'t moved anything when relocating stuff etc..

Start back at the basics
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: grinder on June 17, 2013, 06:42:23 PM
can you pull the fuel tube and put it in a jar to make sure you are getting enough fuel thru ??

Even check the voltage at the pump to make sure you are getting 12v all the time

Do you think its running long enough to empty the lines with fuel , then cutting out , then as it primes , it fills them , runs , empties them ... rinse and repeat

I dont want to sound out of line here , but I would have got it running first before moving the battery etc..

Still might be worth checking the ECU or doing a temp swap out ?
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on June 17, 2013, 11:01:00 PM
Yeah, well my brother being a mechanic he\'s been through it all I\'m afraid. I mean everything, from putting the battery back to the front, to using it at the back, the injectors have been out and cleaned, put back in, fuel pump jumped for voltage, its flooding everytime it \'nearly\' runs, we\'ve checked the coil packs, the leads, made sure they are on the right way round...even checked the ECU for the cold soldered joints!  And the CAS wire is ok, the timing isn\'t out, swapped a good few vacuum hoses since they were all brittle.

 He\'s convinced its not sparking as it should be though, so I\'ve ordered (yet another) set of spark plugs just in case but...this white smoke isn\'t looking good.  He\'s gonna pressure test the coolant side also, that will put to bed the theory on a rebuild I guess.  But thanks for the input Grinder!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: grinder on June 18, 2013, 07:28:11 AM
seems like your brother has covered the lot !!
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on June 25, 2013, 10:52:51 PM
So it would appear the water seals have actually gone, its not some silly little fault. Plumes of white smoke with brand new plugs and still won\'t run. A new engine or rebuild, not sure yet. Need to have some money before I wonder things like that! So who is the main man for a rebuild then? Considering getting some sort of port done as well, but this isn\'t going to happen in a hurry - like I say, I need to save first. Probably sounds daft but I\'m guessing the engine can just sit dormant whilst I save money, I shouldn\'t have to drain it of fluids or that no?
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Brett on June 25, 2013, 11:05:00 PM
If it\'s that bad I would expect to see the water level dropping over night?
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Prof on June 26, 2013, 10:26:00 AM
Quote from: Grieve;859978So it would appear the water seals have actually gone, its not some silly little fault. Plumes of white smoke with brand new plugs and still won\'t run. A new engine or rebuild, not sure yet. Need to have some money before I wonder things like that! So who is the main man for a rebuild then? Considering getting some sort of port done as well, but this isn\'t going to happen in a hurry - like I say, I need to save first. Probably sounds daft but I\'m guessing the engine can just sit dormant whilst I save money, I shouldn\'t have to drain it of fluids or that no?

If it is waterseal failure, then water could be getting in contact with the machined surfaces on the irons - you\'ll probably want to strip the engine down and oil up the parts ready for when they can be rebuilt.  I left one engine with water seal failure a bit too long and now the irons need lapping - so safe yourself some cash and pull it apart.
Title: Orkney - New Home To A TII!
Post by: Grieve on June 28, 2013, 09:04:45 PM
Well I can\'t see what else it is going to be other than water seal failure I\'m afraid to say. Ah cheers Prof, was kinda\' thinking along that lines. Weighing up the choice between rebuilding it myself(probably more my brother to be honest lol), or pulling the engine apart and sending it south for a rebuild and a bit of porting...DIY can\'t be that difficult surely?!