RX-7 Push-Start Story

The following E-mail was sent to me in response to my dissertation on how to deal with a flooded RX-7. It is reprinted here with permission from the author.

I hope you find it as amusing as I did.

Hey Mark: Great Page(s).

I am on my 3rd 1986 Rx-7. Each one has its own story. (Do you have a month?)

Consider this option for a sixth method when faced with a flooded engine. Preface:
  What: 1st car with approx 100k miles.
  When: A very cold night (January) in the school parking lot after class. Where (Spatially): South Jersey
  Short Term Solution: Call Dad for a tow.

The car was in the garage (no climate control), for a good week. We tried Methods 1, 2 and 4. This incident occured in the early 1990's, so I am comparing the procedures used against your methods here. (By the By, all are very well explained in great detail).

Our version of Method 4 was to pull the plugs and try to blow out or speed evaporation with an air gun inserted into the openings. This did not yield the results we were hoping for.

Here it is, our Solution. Please note that this procedure is not for the faint of heart.

After several discussions w/Dad, the plan was to hitch up the Rx-7 to the back of his PU truck (a 1954 Chevy mind you), with about 20 +/- feet of chain and tow cord. Next, (can you see where this is going?), Dad will tow me and indicate via hand signal when he has reached approx. 25-30 mph. At this time I will have the car 'on' and pop the clutch. It took two attempts. The 2nd attempt shot my car forward but the old brake/accel dance minimized the threat of a rear-ender. We pulled over and the car was engulfed in the largest and most persistent cloud I had ever seen. After a few minutes, the idle was 750rpm and all the smoke was gone. I ran the car (highway, back roads) for 1/2 hour or so and returned home.

We were talking about all of the damage that had to have occured in the engine and were concerned, but the car for the rest of that winter gave us no problems what so ever. Except for that deer, he never had a chance. Opps. like I said, so many stories.

Anyway, this 1st car gave me over 80K more miles (many hard and most fast) after this flooding incident. I was convinced that I would put the dying mile on this vehicle, but it was not meant to be. Sigh.

Thanks Mark, for providing this forum for my story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Sincerely: Steve Warner

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