Mornin'. Paul....
I don't think anybody has tried spraying water into the
mass airflow sensor. One could always try. <<
Well, I just did! The engine would start but wouldn't keep running at
all if I removed the air inlet at the throttle housing, so I just pulled
the air filter and relied on the airflow to carry the water mist all the
way up to the engine. With the spray bottle, I wasn't able to pump fast
enough to cause the engine to quit...got a little rough for awhile, but
kept on going...maybe it can run on water only with no gas! <VBG>
Pumped a quart of water (a large, bonus 409 bottle!) through it...never
saw any black soot or junk coming out of the tailpipes...fairly new
mufflers, and there was nothing that looked like soot or carbon on the
driveway or in the muffler tips when I finished.
But...I did find a surprise in my air filter...I had replaced it in
January...since then a furry little critter must've decided to take up
housekeeping. A chipmunk found his way up the air inlet, and into the
filter housing. Think I'll name him Mikey! ;-)
He (she?) stored all his seed (which is how I knew it was a chipmunk...I
saw him/her taking seed from my bird feeder this winter, and I was
wondering where he was going with it) and also chewed up about half the
baffles to make a nice, soft nest. Didn't chew through them
though...left about 1/8" for a "floor". My car sat unused for about
three weeks in February. That was probably when he/she moved in. I had to
take a picture of that filter, so, I though I'd send it on...it's
attached.
Any easy tricks on disabling the EGR? Just be sure the actuator is
free,
and then unplug the solenoid?
I think you should remove it and bolt a plate over the opening.
I'll need to check the manual. Later today.
OK...I've got everything located....but it looks like a major job moving
the throttle housing to get to all these parts...I think I want to remove
the oil nozzles, too, and plug those holes. So, until I can get a couple
of free days to play with it, I'll put it on the back burner.
Meanwhile, I unplugged the EGR solenoid. The car is running at the
moment, warming up, and seems to be fine, so far.
I found the EGR valve removal page in the Haynes manual (page 171) and it
seems pretty straight forward...when I get it off just replace it with a
cover plate and a gasket.
Also found the pages on the oil metering pump and nozzle removal...pgs
65-66. Again, it looks like a flat cover and a gasket should take care
of the metering pump. I'll have to find some bolts (or maybe seal the
nozzles and reinstall them) to replace the oil nozzles...when I get one
off, I'll see what can be done...with the idea of removing them (for
weight control) when eventually putting it in my plane.
For the time being, I'll just leave the oil metering pump operating rod
disconnected at the throttle linkage, and start using 2 cycle oil. Maybe
later in the year when I start driving the truck more and semi-retire the
RX-7 for the winter, I'll do the permanent removal...it'll be inspected
by then, too, and if I need to hook the EGR valve back up, I can just
plug it in.
Thanks for the help Paul...one more project just got started!
Harley
Opps! Harley sent a picture and here it is.
Paul Lamar
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