first of all it is a 79 and runs pretty good.

first question: while driving if i turn on the headlights, the car loses all power and dies... if i turn the headlights off before it dies, it lets out a shotgun blast loud backfire. also the car will not start on its own, unless i use a jump-it, I dont know if these two are related but if I could fix them both with one part that would be great.

Second question: is there a how-to on replacing the wiper motor, other than a manual?

third question, might be answered in the faq, havent checked yet: Is there common places that oil leaks on the 12a?

 

oil leaks normally happen at the oil metering pump, under the oil cooler, the oil pan gasket, or the leak o' death, where it's coming out in between the rotor housing and intermediate housing.. does anything else happen when the headlights pop up? perhaps it's a short or something..

 

maybe your alternator isnt putting out enough power so when you turn on your headlights there isnt enough power leftover to make the plugs spark...

 

if you have to jump it, you either have a bad battery or alternator. i would guess you have a short and when you turn the lights on, it cuts power to the ignition system. when you turn the lights off, power is restored and since there is a ton of gas in the combustion chamber, it either gets pushed out of the combusion chamber, into the exhaust, causing a flame and a pop, or it stays ini the combustion chamber and is ignited at once, with too much gas, causing a huge explosion in the combustion chamber. the wiper motor is extremely EASY to replace, even without a manual. there are two bolts on the firewall, then after you take off the grill with the squirters, (you will need to remove the wiper arms first) you will find two more bolts. all are 10mm. then you can wiggle the wiper rack out. from there, you can remove the wiper motor and replace. i would refer to the manual before a how-to. besides, the manual is a how-to.

 

My car did kinda that same thing and it was the alternator that was bad.

 

bad ground

 

where??

 

on the strut tower most lickely

 

Autolite=the devil is priceless wwilliams54!!!!!!!

 

they are
its my sig at every forum

 

Something mentioned a lot is that electrical problems seem to get magically solved by replacement of the original battery cables with new ones. I think Mazda has discontinued the 79-80 cables now but Victoria British (victoriabritish.com) sells an aftermarket set for $25-30. Could save HOURS of chasing down gremlins and is probably just a good idea with a 30 year old car!
If you Do remove the wiper assy, remember to lube the pivot points before re-install because I hear a fair number of cases where the arm-pivot assemblies seize and cook the motor after years of non-lubing. Also, the plastic "weather bag" the motor is wrapped in will likely disintegrate on removal. Mazda and VicBrit sell new bags for about $5. The VicBrit catalogue for RX7 shows a pretty nice exploded view of the wiper assembly which might help for visualizing how it comes apart. Like wise, mazdaformance.com 's web site has an area with downloadable PDF files of the mazda illustrated parts books. Its free (as is the software to read the files if you don't have Adobe Acrobat) and shows the parts assemblies in great detail! Super for seeing how stuff comes apart or reassembles!
Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska