CPU, Flasher
 

trying to fix my turn signals today, I narrowed down the problem to the CPU, flasher assembly. Its on the drivers side by the hood release. I did a search trying to figure out how to fix it, but everyone kept saying to just replace the assembly. PLEASE ignore the people who give that advice. The CPU is pretty simple and with about 5 minutes of solder work mine was fixed. It took longer to remove the damn thing than I spent fixing it. I took the unit apart by removing the rubber gromets. The solder joints for the connector were clearly cracked so, I just resoldered them and bam fixed turn signal. Hazzard switch was a little flaky so I took it apart also. cleaned the connections and scuffed them up a little bit and it was good as new. It has been my experience that most any switch in the RX-7 can be taken apart and fixed. Its nice to have a vehicle with parts that can be serviced. take advantage of it please. The combination switch for the turn signals, headlights, high beams, ect is a perfect example. if you are just going to throw it away, and its already broken why not take it apart and try to fix it?

hells yeah man, good news, maybe some people can save some money and benefit from this info.

Absolutely; half the rare parts we SA people chase after were supposedly "disposible assemblies," that are no longer available.

Many can be repaired.

2nd gens suffer from a similiar problem due to cold solder joints. Icemark has a nice little side business rebuilding the wiper and light switches, idiot light cluster and FB01 units. Good to know the same can be done for SA/FB parts.

I try to fix anything i can before buying a new one. even on the ECU and other stuff i tear it down and will head 2 the shack or digikey.

I fixed mine. :D

Somewhat off-topic, but has anyone done this with the clocks? Mine's not broken, but I'm curious and none of my searches on the forums have yielded anything.

Clocks can easily be had, seems to be a favorite place to install an extra gauge. I probably have a couple S3 digital ones laying around.

I had some cracked solder joints in my blinker CPU circuit board where the connector pins are soldered to the board. I just fixed them a few minutes ago. It was as gsl-se85fb described. Thanks!

The real question is how do you get the damn thing out? (the "CPU" with the flasher relay in it, I've gotta replace my flasher relay)

Jon

There are some 10mm nuts. One at the very top is kinda hard to see. It's process of elimination. Find any 10mm nuts and remove them to get rid of the relays first. One will say coolant level or something like that. My CPU is only held in by two 10mm nuts, which are not that hard to get to once the relays are out of the way. I left the uppermost relay on the sheet metal backing plate and simply disconnected the wire harness plug. I also disconnected and completely removed the "coolant level" or whatever relay directly below it. There are two more but they weren't attatched when I got the car and I haven't bothered to find their homes yet; I just stuff them up there.

My blinkers are working fine. The cold solder joints were the problem. :)

Jon, I'd like an update on the monochromatic beast's blinkers. Any progress?

indicators cpu flasher turn signal
 

Big Big thank u to advice on this -did mine today . Be careful with fine wires on coils when cleaning relays - and solder ALL dodgy looking joints on the PCB - I only did the 4 big ones for relay and had to go back and redo - dodgy dry joints are visible cracked solder but do all if you feel like .Any intermittantness is caused by dry joints on the male pins on the pcb as flasher will work when you jiggle the wire input but stop when released.Clean up contacts with a light sandpaper -800
Fantastic info and pics- and its not that difficult to get at -just lying on you back.:icon_tup:

ive yet to see a bad 84-85 clock?

The SA analog clocks last a long time, but some do die off. They are surprisingly complex inside, electrically; the oscillator circuit is all discrete components rather than the chipped stuff you see today. I have one that died recently & is now on my workbench, having been replaced; I may undertake a repair on it and make it into a desk clock - - they are cool looking, enclosed in a clear plastic case so the dash lights could illuminate them from inside.

One word of warning when resoldering old electronics; some of the active components (transistors and diodes particularly) were very heat-sensitive, and you need to heat-sink the leads when soldering them. clamping the lead with hemostats between the pc board and the device works fine, or you can buy the little special-purpose heat sink clips from Radio Shack. Use minimum heat and a small iron (30-50 watts is plenty)- - don't go after them with a soldering gun or you'll likely toast 'em.

Any Photos or Step by Step Photos of Process
 

Hello all,
Does anyone have photos or a step by step guide to get that darn unit out?! I tried for 30 minutes and could only get one of the 10mm nuts removed. Any help would be awesome!