I posted before with a problem with my '87 RX-7 Non-Turbo w/Automatic Transmission. The problem was that the car will only accelerate with the 1st half of the gas pedal going down. Anything over half way with the gas pedal doesn't affect the engine. AND...once I do get going, the car will accelerate up to around 3500-3800 Rpm's and then level out. It's at that point especially that if I have the gas pedal down more than half way, the engine will just maintain those Rpm's. BUT, if I let off the gas to about 25% or so, the engine will start to accelerate again....BUT, if at any time I press down more than half way on the gas, the engine stops accelerating and just maintains whatever Rpm I am at. Very weird! I don't know what to do.

Some of you suggested several things for me to try. Here's some of the things I did:
I put new NGK plugs in as well as wires
I put on new coils
I put in a new fuel filter and started using premium gas
I put in a new air filter/unit that is definitely air tight now

None of these suggestions worked. What could it be? Why does the engine ALWAYS stop accelerating around 3500 Rpm's? I'm lost. Please help me out.
Thanks!

 

That year used an AFM (airflow meter) which requires a perfect seal from the airfilter box to throttlebody as it has a physical flap which moves as air passes through it and reports that position to the ECU for engine adjustments. Check that it is perfectly sealed and moves freely.. That is one possibilty of many. Your TPS could be bad also as well as a partially clogged converter. Create an exhaust leak before the first monolith converter by loosening the flange nuts or removing the o2 sensor then see if it helps.

 

You may have a clogged cat.

 

While it's a whole different animal from your RX, that how my wife's Saturn ran when it needed a new cat.

 

I'm getting the cat checked out now. The guy looking at it says there are 3 of them. Is that right?? I thought the 2 in the rear were just mufflers. Do they need to be replaced as well?

 

There are 2 Precats & the main cat.

 

Well, I got the main cat replaced. Apparently the 2 pre-cats had already been removed by the previous owner. The car idles a little better now, but the main problem hasn't gone away (the acceleration) and it seems as if the car is smoking all the time now - not just on start-up. I took it to the emissions place here and it failed - really failed. The guy there said there might be some carbon build-up or something in one of the pipes causing me to have such a high emissions rating. Is there a pressure test or something I could do to check that?

 

Hmmmm? If it were turboed I'd say that the turbo seal was shot, but I can't think of why it would begin to smoke so badly after a cat change?? Is the smoke blue?

Sorry that didn't solve your problem too. If I can think of anything else, I'll post again, but keep us informed.

 

Was this a Mazda OEM Cat that you used??? Rotaries put out so much heat that it just burns up aftermarket universal cats. Is the Smog pump & Air Control Valve on the car & functioning???

 

Yes, it's blue smoke...and no, it's just a universal cat that was put on. It only started smoking after about 10 miles of driving with the new cat. however, I was driving the car at higher rpm's - testing to see if the acceleration problem was fixed - maybe that had something to do with it.
The smog pump....where might that be located (sorry, it's my first rx-7)? Would that be a belt driven pump...or electric?