Getting the car on the road

[tweiss3]

So, this 91 NA i purchased is becoming my DD so my dad can get his truck back. I am picking it up this weekend but I know of a few of the issues It needs worked out. The most prevelant of which is it needs to pass emissions. The smog pump was removed at one point. I have one lined up and will be doing a full tune up as well (plugs, wires, oil change, few tanks of nice fresh gas). What else should i do or need to do in order to pass the sniffer? I would love to get the car on the road, but will not even attempt to get it on the road till i am confident on its passkng and running well.

[Boosted FC]

Shit, you better start praying......lol

[GeneralPatton]

I registered to post just once on this forum and say the following :

HAHA

[Boosted FC]

I registered to post just once on this forum and say the following :

HAHA

Fucking Spammer. Someone needs to ban this homo.

[GeneralPatton]

Shel I hate you.

Oh I posted twice do i see the chatbox now?!

xD

[Silver86]

wtf...


i thought i remember hearing around running your tank down to hear empty and putting a few bottles of HEAT before you go get tested. i could be wrong though... it also could be something else... HEAT was the first thing that came to mind when i was trying to remember.

[Boosted FC]

Shel I hate you.

Oh I posted twice do i see the chatbox now?!

xD

Why are you still here? :cuss:

You don't get to see Chat, but you can see a Banning hopefully.

[GeneralPatton]

No comment.

Doh that was one!

[Boosted FC]

No comment.

Doh that was one!

Keep pwning yourself. :icon_tup:

[tweiss3]

heat, ill look into it.

justin, wtf?

[Boosted FC]

heat, ill look into it.

justin, wtf?

Now the heat he is referring to is not that burning feeling in your crotch that you usually get after a night out on the town. Ok?

[Silver86]

heat, ill look into it.


if you belong to the "other" forum, do a search over there... thats where i seen how to beat it.

edit: heh heh... beat it.

[jerd_hambone]

All this crotch burning, and heat, and beating it.... I need to stray from the lounge more!

[RotaryDiagnostics]

So, this 91 NA i purchased is becoming my DD so my dad can get his truck back. I am picking it up this weekend but I know of a few of the issues It needs worked out. The most prevelant of which is it needs to pass emissions. The smog pump was removed at one point. I have one lined up and will be doing a full tune up as well (plugs, wires, oil change, few tanks of nice fresh gas). What else should i do or need to do in order to pass the sniffer? I would love to get the car on the road, but will not even attempt to get it on the road till i am confident on its passkng and running well.
Get a copy of the factory service manual at the link below and check out all the other emission control systems. If the previous owner removed the air pump, he probably removed lots of vacuum lines and solenoids.
http://wright-here.net/cars/rx7/manuals.html

[JerryLH3]

A properly running FC with all emissions components should have no problems passing emissions. At the very least, you're going to need an air pump and a catalytic converter. You may need more depending on what the previous owner may have removed. It will just be a matter of what all you have to rework/replace in order to pass emissions testing.

[GeneralPatton]

Emissions test huh?

Why dont you stop farting while you are in the car.

[Boosted FC]

Why hasn't this guy been banned yet? Phil, Kevin?

[RotorDad]

Why hasn't this guy been banned yet? Phil, Kevin?

Ignore the assbag, these fools like the attention!

[GeneralPatton]

Ignore the assbag, these fools like the attention!

Haha. Shel should already know that :seeya:

[Boosted FC]

Haha. Shel should already know that :seeya:

lol, unfortunately I do :(

[tweiss3]

Ok, got it on the road just fine. Ran a full tank and a half of fresh fuel. Tried to e-check it today (emissions in ohio) and I failed:

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f49/thomasweiss3/91%20FC%20NA/EPSON002.jpg


As you can see, Im fine on CO and NO, but my hydrocarbons are only slightly over. Anyone have any idea on what to do to it to make it pass. Fresh fuel, new remanned air pump, new plugs, new wires (ngk only) and it is getting about 140 miles to half a tank. Its NA and the only thing i didn't replace was the air filter. What do you guys think?

[NoDOHC]

Unfortunately, this looks like your catalytic converter is weak or you are misfiring at idle.

Do you have the entire emission run printout so that we can see if it cleans up after going closed loop?

You are very close, I have seen people get a pass after a fail like that just from taking the car around the block and getting it good and warm.

You can try the 2-3 gallons of e85, it helped mine years ago.

Be careful about too much E85 (don't ask, sore subject).

Hydrocarbons are the rotary nemesis when it comes to emission testing.

[tweiss3]

Unfortunately that is the only print out i get. If the catalytic converters are not up to par since they are the origionals, would this magnaflow direct fit work? here (http://www.magnaflow.com/02catalytic_converters/02product/displaydirectfit01.asp?catalogid=21212&directfit=93678) It eliminates the precat and add it to the main cat. Summit has it for 200, or i got a quote for 300 to get it installed at this shop. That 300 would put me in the category that if i didn't pass i could get exempt. My issue is I shopped around and nobody has the OEM at all.

[tweiss3]

Also, there is no E85 around here that I know, would adding something like "heat" to this next tank work?

[tweiss3]

well, running out of time, i wen ahead and ordered the 2 to 1 cat direct fit. 220 with tax, which will either pass me, or get me a hell of a lot closer to the waiver.

[NoDOHC]

Yeah, the 'heat' is methanol which is very similar to the ethanol in e85.

Either way it is oxygenated fuel.

The new cat will likely fix your problem, but the rotary EGT will melt it into a glob of metal in about 2,000 miles if it is tuned correctly. You might want to find a way to put the stock ones back on after the test.

[tweiss3]

I plan on removing the cat itself and inserting a resonated test pipe. Fresh hardware and such so that going back to emissions mode is easy.

[NoDOHC]

That works too (although I wasn't going to be the one to suggest it).

I had cats on my car until I found that they melted down almost immediately if I left them on, then I just put them on to pass emissions.

They did away with emissions here, so it isn't an issue any more.

[tweiss3]

Well, i have to pass now, then in january cause of some dumb loophole shit they have in the regulations. Im not about to drop that kind of money on cats twice

[NoDOHC]

If you leave the stock ECU in and don't change the fueling, your cats will probably be ok until January. My issue was that I was running 16:1 AFR while cruising.

I could meet emissions with my standalone, but I couldn't afford the 10 mpg penalty that I would take to do so.

[tweiss3]

I think part of my heat issue is the cats are 20 years old, and are starting their decline to fail. I want to pull the cat after echeck and put in a resonated race pipe from corksport. Also, both my mufflers are rotted out from age, so they need replaced. For the same money, i can get the single cat back from corksport and get some flow, so that's the plan. Plus then she will shoot flames naturally.

[NoDOHC]

You should read the exhaust threads, Corksport is LOUD. If you are Ok with that, then go for it. Racing Beat is about the only option for a reasonably quiet exhaust. You can sometimes find a Racing beat system used for a reasonable price.

[tweiss3]

alright after i read a few threads i guess i have a few options. Racing beat is expensive though, kinda out of my budget.

Mid pipe/cat/presilencer/resonator:
Magnaflow cat (will melt in the long run)
Corksport racepipe with resonator ($100)
Racingbeat presilencer ($235)

Catback/fix rusted out exhaust:
Corksport single ($370)
Racing beat dual ($635)
Bosal stock replacement pipes ($170) with magnaflow muffler (not sure which ones to go with)

Are these all my choices? I need to replace whats there asap cause its rotted at the mufflers and its starting to get chilly.
I would like a single cause it would drop weight, but i dont want super loud. I also cant afford to drop too much dime on an exhaust, or i would go racingbeat instantly with their header and all

[Pete_89T2]

The Borla dual catback system is another good choice, I've had one on my '7 since 2001 and it still looks & performs like it was brand new. The Borla is all SS construction (as in everything, not just the mufflers), and very similar in design to the Racing Beat dual catback. Sounds a lot like the RB system too - it's a little louder than the RB at idle & WOT, but it's a mellow deep tone. Long road trips won't torture you. Cost back then was in the $400~475 range.

[NoDOHC]

I have never heard a Borla in person, but I have heard good things about them.

I ran gutted stock cats, Stock Y pipe and Dynaflow straight-through mufflers with my stock ported 6-port with no problems with sound. Updating to Racing Beat headers and a straight pipe did not make the sound level intolerable on the 6-port (exhaust port diffusers).

Then I went 4-port (no diffusers)... WOW! I couldn't drive the car. After one test drive, I left it in the driveway until I found another exhaust solution. The Racing Beat presilencer made the car tame while cruising, but it still sings pretty loud when under WOT.

The best exhaust repair idea I had was buying a used Racing Beat exhaust (Complete from manifold) for $350.00. No more issues with sound (although this was on my '91 which was quieter with no exhaust after the manifold than the 4-port was with a full exhaust system minus the presilencer).

Basically, if you don't have access to a welder, Corksport may be Ok because you have diffusers in your exhaust ports. Otherwise, you could try finding some decent Piston engine mufflers and welding them to your factory Y pipe.

My thought with buying racing beat is this: If I will be spending money on something else and saving to buy the RacingBeat exhaust, I should just wait until I can afford the racing beat exhaust.

Watch Craigslist and eBay, sometimes you get a deal.

[tweiss3]

An update. New Magnaflow cat and corksport 2.5" catback installed. Passed emissions this time. Its not too loud, manageable for me. Is better than the rusted out mufflers were, and feels much better up top. Also, i switched to premixing, half to one, with the stock OMP in place just for good measure.

[NoDOHC]

Awesome! Congrats on passing emissions. I am glad that the cat fixed it.

I should say that the last time I failed emissions, I gave up on the stock ECU and went aftermarket. I found a broken vacuum line as I was removing the rats nest. I realize that is why it failed, but I put the Haltech in anyway.

The funniest part is that they did away with emissions for vehicles older than a '96 right after I had the Haltech tuned.

I still have absolutely no intent to go back. If you read my sig, you will see why.

[JustJeff]

Just thought I'd toss out a hello tweiss...I spent many years in NE Ohio...got my degree from Kent State. How's things going in the town that has more cloudy days than any other area of the US?

[tweiss3]

Lol, kent read, kent write, kent state (im an akron grad). Everything is survivable here i suppose, economy sucks though. Where did you move to and why.

Also, is it normal to be getting about 15-16 mpg mixed driving with my only mods being the exhaust and a cone filter?

Also, i want to replace the gear oil with schaeffers in both the diff. And the trans. Anything special i need to know? Any old gl4 should do, right? I have the stock open diff.

One last thing, any way to easily calibrate the spedo? Mine is saying i am going 5 mph faster than i am actually am going.

[JustJeff]

^I originally went to Akron but didn't like it. I lived in Akron but drove to Kent for classes. I left NE Ohio in 2001, right as LTV was going under and U of A was getting it's renovations.

I'm in Southern Indiana now and the economy here is pretty bad also. Whirlpool just closed up shop and moved to Mexico so things are pretty depressed here. I'm thinking of moving again....

[NoDOHC]

Also, is it normal to be getting about 15-16 mpg mixed driving with my only mods being the exhaust and a cone filter?

Also, i want to replace the gear oil with schaeffers in both the diff. And the trans. Anything special i need to know? Any old gl4 should do, right? I have the stock open diff.

One last thing, any way to easily calibrate the spedo? Mine is saying i am going 5 mph faster than i am actually am going.


15-16 is normal if you rev past 3,800 rpm frequently and do a lot of city driving.

If you want to help your fuel economy:

Don't rev past 3800 rpm (stock ECU runs terribly rich past 3,800 as it kicks in the secondaries - which it doesn't even need, I made 155 WHp on a single set of 460cc/min injectors).

Don't move the throttle any more than you have to.

Don't lug the engine too much (below 1,500 rpm stock ECU gets very rich again).

If you are willing to make modification, start with 10 degrees + on the ignition. this will get you 5-7 mpg.

Removing PS gets 1-2 mpg

Aero mirrors and spoiler get 1 mpg on highway

Eliminating catalytic converter picks up about 2 mpg

I got 30.7 mpg out of one tank on a hot day driving 75 mph on flat ground without any stopping. This was my personal record with the stock ECU. I typically saw 25 mpg city and 27 mpg highway.

With a 6-port and a Haltech E6X I never got below 30 mpg, even when I flogged the car around town. My record full tank fill was 38.5 mpg.

Short story, the factory ECU DRINKS gas.

My stock ECU '91 Auto trans gets 22 ish around town and 25-28 highway. (With ignition timing pegged at maximum advance). It still has the AC and Power steering. It also has the aero package.

I drive it like a grandpa (it is so gutless there is no point in flogging it).

If your odometer is correct, any attempt to correct the speedo will make it inaccurate.

The simplest way to recalibrate the speedo is to put the correct size tire on the car. The S5 speedos are much less trouble than the S4 speedos (which all read higher than you are actually going). If the tires are currently 205 60 R15s, than you may need to use a larger tire to make the speedo accurate.

It is possible that you can buy a speedometer drive gearset at a .90 ratio, but I don't know of a source for them.

You could also replace the final drive with a 3.90 or replace the instrument cluster.

With the stock ECU, I ran two sizes too small (225 40 R16) to get a little launch out of the gutless 6-port.