hey so i have a 1980 rx7, been driving it fine untill i tried to start it up this morning and there was no juice. i jumped it and it turned over but super slowly and not enough to start it, left it, same problem. put a new battery in and had full power to all the accessories but when i went to crank it a puff of smoke came off of the positive connection and i lost all power. unhooked the battery, re hooked it up, have power then tried to start it, same thing happend.. puff of smoke then no power to the car at all unless i re hooked up the terminals. any ideas what could be the problem

 

Likely either a faulty ground, or perhaps a shorted/frozen starter.

 

check your battery cables one might be stripped, (this happened to a jeep i had)

 

Bad connection, either at the battery or at the starter. The puff of smoke would indicate that its at that location.



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what's ur cable ends look like? if they're the kind that clamp on the end of the wire, put new wires with the ends made on them.

 

Have heard many stories of mystery electrical gremlins magically disappearing when new battery cables are installed!! If yours might even remotely be the originals I'd swap them out no matter what else you do. A lot of mayhem goes on inside those wires in 30+ years....

Stu Aull
80GS (new cables)
Alaska

 

Heed the warning about the gremlins. The terminals on my battery cables where very bad so I replaced them with new ones and the problem persited. Replaced the cables with new 2 gauge ones from Tractor Supply. Cost about $50. The factory ones are only 4 gauge. While I was at it, I also replaced the fusable link with a second gen fuse block. Gremlins have been scared away.

 

hey guys thanks for the replies, i replaced the terminals that connect to the battery, and cleaned the connections at the ground and starter and she fired right up.