Hello everyone. I am having trouble starting my 84’ FB RX-7 I recently purchased it from a friend and it hasn’t started since. I replaced the battery, starter, ignition coils and spark plugs. The lights come on and so does the battery voltage and the fuel indicator but when i turn the key into the on position all i hear is a “clank” noise which i assume is the starter or a relay attempting to start. It does not crank at all.

I checked the battery voltage and it was sitting at a nice 12.4 V but when i turn to start the car it drops to below 10 V and returns back to 12.4 after i turn the key back to on. Can anyone tell me a possible reason for this occurrence? I really wanna get this thing running but it feels like i keep running into dead ends. Thank you.

 

Try a push start. That will tell you if it will run.
When I first got my 82 from the San Diego area I had to take a hammer and tap the starter a few times. Since then it's behaved (15 years)

 

Hitting the starter while you're attempting to start the car should work but you said the starter is new correct?
Try it anyways!

 

Have you checked to see if the starter solenoid is getting the 12V trigger?

 

Dead battery. Put a new one in.

 

Given the information you provided, I would check to see if the engine rotates by hand. Use a long 1/2" drive ratchet and a 19mm socket on the eccentric shaft center bolt, ensure the parking brake is set or the wheels chocked, and the transmission in neutral. See if the engine rotates by using the ratchet. You may find that the engine has seized either from carbon lock, rotor bearing failure, or if coolant was in the combustion chambers and in between the rotors and irons, the engine could be seized internally from rust.

 

I had a similar issue.

Did you get a remanufactured starter from a chain autoparts store? I went through 4 before I got one that worked and had lasted.

The first two cranked a few times then died, the third burnt out at a gas station (super fun), the forth just didn't do anything, then the fifth has been working great!

They (O'Reilly's, AutoZone) can bench test a starter for you also.

At the same time I upgraded the positive and negative battery cables and cleaned all grounds.