Rebuilt Engine HELP Wont Idle
 

I just put in my rebuilt engine tonight. Upon starting, it spits and spudders for a little bit, then smooths out, 30 secs later it idles rough and stalls, I did the 20 brake pedal stomp to reset the ecu before starting it for the first time, I also notice if I try to rev it to 4500 to 5000rpm i hear a metal gear grinding noise, I already put it in gear and the car moved in reverse and 1st so Im assuming the noise isnt the clutch not being aligned right. I did put the atkins black satin apex seals in with stock springs. Connecting my computer to the OBD port it was saying cylinder #2 Misfire which im assuming spark plug 4 or injector 4. I know I have all the fuel injector connectors wired right and everything else right. It was also saying secondary air injection pump which i checked and I specifically heard that on when I started my car the first time so It has got to be working. Any ideas guys? Spark Plugs, wires and coils are all new. Do I need to squirt something in the engine somewhere to help it with something? This is my first engine rebuild ever, the core was rebuilt from a local mazda mom and pop rotary shop and I did the rest. Sorry if i'm sounding stupid but after all the time and money I have put into this and researching, i'm to the point where I just want answers and I don't have the energy anymore to do more days of researching countless forums struggling with searches that do not return the correct results. Please help

Who rebuilt it?

It's difficult to decipher what your question is, through that wall of text...

Ditto to bse50's question. Have you triple checked everything is installed properly?

Update

Took the car out on a forced drive, Got up to 85, when I downshift and dont touch the gas, the engine is smooth as a puur, second I touch the gas, it wants to stall so I downshift again and it goes away, touch the gas again, it wants to stall, driving down my road I went ahead and put it in neutral and coasted to my driveway, second it got to 1000krpm, it stalled. No smoke, and no trouble codes but the misfire code. The air injecton pump code went away. Maztech in tampa by the airport rebuilt my engine. Already emailed him an hour ago, he does not re open til 7am, so I wont get a response til then or later. Could I have the spark plug wires mixed? Or does it not matter which coil pack goes to what spark plug? That is the only thing else I can think of seeing that the plugs wires and coils are new. Could he have put too much vaseline in the engine when he rebuilt it? I do know the smoke when i first started it did not smell like oil or coolant for sure, it was a weird smell. Maybe I should go hold my lighter up to some vaseline and match the smell, I practically give up.

why do you keep driving a freshly rebuilt engine that shows some problem around?

Yes it matters!!!

Heres a diagram

https://www.rx8club.com/attachments/...rder-coils-jpg

make sure your leading and trailing plugs are the right way around

Trailing is Top

Leading is Low

That's how i remember it

Why do you ask such retarded questions? You could just say, don't drive it anymore. Instead I guess you feel the need to act like you know everything by knocking others down instead of just getting to the point. What do you want me to say? I want to break my newly rebuilt engine? No. Previously when my car was flooded it did the same thing, I drove it hard and redlined it a few times and it went away, must have unclogged something. So being the same sounds and actions, i decided to do it again. Questions answered smart guy? Do me a favor and don't respond to my posts if your going to be a dill weed. Got it? Thanks a bunch.

I would focus on the metal grinding noise, eventual coil\wire positioning mistakes and Atkins' seals. They have quite a reputation here.

Thank you so much for that information man. I appreciate you not abusing my rotary stupidity and actually trying to help. Ill print this diagram out and mess with the wires in the morning. The engine is hot now so its senseless to mess with it now. Now another thing though, how do I check the wires going to the coil packs to make sure they are correct? I am pretty sure they are because the wiring harness was so stiff when I took it off before the engine being rebuild, when I laid it back on the engine, they were exactly bent and pointed to the inch of where they were when I unplugged everything so it helped a lot. But there is always room for an error.

I've never actually replaced my coils in my 8, my rotary knowledge comes from older rotary's.

But if the harness is stiff, i'm sure it will only plug in nicely one way, if it doesn't look right, it most likely isn't

The metal grinding noise went away on my way home from the drive. I dont know what it was but its gone now. I actually thought the main problem I was going to have was fuel line leaks, those red and blue connectors on the fuel lines suck, you think a genius at Mazda would have made something better for connectors, seeing as how fuel has a tendency to cause fires and ignite when its in a hot engine bay surrounded by a ton of electrical wires. But no fuel leaks thank god.

I just took a look at the grounds again. There is one small ground wire in question, but the way its molded, it goes right with the negative battery cable and bolts to the battery. The other grounds had little nipples on them and bolted to the cross member that is over the steering rack, those are in the correct spots, and so it the ground on the spark plug side of the engine block, that whole wire is connected to the starter, I guess the starters ground is meant to be on the engine block. at least thats where I took it off from prior to pulling the engine out.

I would blame the fuel leaks on bad shops and lazy mechanics. Just replace the connectors or add a zip tie. Problem solved.

OP, we understand that you are frustrated with everything, but to respond to bse the way you did is what is most retarded about this thread. Even after he assisted you, never once did you apologize. Kids these days...

Hopefully you figure out what the issue is. And maybe one day you'll grow up and be more polite to the people who try to help you in the future, regardless of how they offer their assistance.

Update: I did have the wires mixed. And Fixed them according to the diagram. The car now starts every time. But whenever it starts to get warmed up and the idle starts to even out, it stalls. If I hold the gas in, it will stay running with a somewhat loud noise. Its hard to explain. Kind of like its getting too much air. I really feel that the vacuum hose diagram I pulled off this site does not pertain to my specific stock setup or options that my car has. Everything is stock but my air filter, which is a drop in K&N in the stock air box. Everything else is stock.

If you are sure that everything is installed correctly then you need a compression test done.

Did you even use a factory service manual when reassembling everything? Are the APV valves and motor orientated correctly? VDI and SSV cycling? The possibilities are endless.

He used atkins seals... enligthen him about your findings\experiences :rolleyes:

Oh, I missed that. Compression test time.