Hey guys I recently put a 85 N249 Distributor into my aug of 78, 79 rx7 with a 12a. I had never done the swap before and have scoured this and many other forums for 10 years now reading everything before I found this chassis and actually began on my journey into these engines. I did what all the writeups have said to do. jump the 12v ignition at the ballast resistors. and i ran new trigger wires over to the dizzy and new 12v to the dizzy. started on the bump of the key. the wiring was in test phase so since all my break up issues went away and i could rev it like never before, it idled smoother. i figured i would tape up and loom the rest of the wires to button it up. this was wednesday this week.

since thursday morning i have been up reading about replacement ignitors.
anything i could think of. because it just wont start now.

i rewired it all again with new connections again. still nothing.

got a new ignition switch from Atkins after taking apart and cleaning my original one. no start.

i sent 12v straight to the coils from battery. no start.

i removed the j109 and wired in a 79 chevy nova GM HEI module. I have green wire in dizzy going to W, Red is going to G, B is 12v and C is trigger negative to the coil. still no start, is my wiring incorrect?

i am running out of ideas. i have deflooded it per the procedure in the FAQ. I have tried new spark plugs again today. BR8EQ14. a test light showed me i am getting ign power at the black white wire by the old ballast resistors. so ignition switch is working.

I just finished replacing all of the steering, the brakes, the hardlines, rewired the sensor harness, everything is perfect now. and before i got the calipers on it was running. i feel defeated

 

Can you take pics of your distributor,wiring from it to coils and wiring from coils, and GM igniter and wiring?
So essentially you converted points type ignition to stock FB style ignition and had a running car. Which igniter did you replace,leading or trailing? Not likely the cause for no start,did you replace your ignition coils with electronic ignition type?
Do you KNOW you have spark at leading and trailing plugs? Did your voltmeter work with the key on,and switch to tach operation once engine running?

Were the plugs you removed wet with fuel.Have you seen if the new plugs are wet also?
On an FB,the trailing ignition triggers the fuel pump to run,been a long time,i can;t recall if SA is the same. I may have to consult wiring diagram to determine this. I can give you a test to do that might answer this.

Couple quick tests to start. Remove air cleaner and look at float bowl sight glass
front and rear. May need a mirror to see rear one. Both should show fuel level 1/2 way up window. Post back what you find.
Remove all spark plugs,note condition. Put plugs back in their respective wires and lay all plugs/wires on top of engine to ground them. Have someone crank the engine for @ 30 seconds while you observe for spark at plugs. All plugs should spark consistently,color should be blue.
These two tests will determine whether your problem is ignition or fuel related and may show which part of ignition system is inoperative. Post back your responses to above questions and results of your tests.
Further diagnosis if necessary will require a test light and a multimeter.

For a path to take to isolate your problem(s) read thru "12A GSL Sudden total ignition failure"by ThirdPedalNIrvana a couple posts below yours.. Note my recommended tests and the order in which to do them.In there you will read how to do the tests,expected results,wire colors,some theory to help you understand how the components in ignition system work. Focus on the info,thread is long-longer than it needs to be for several reasons. Happy to assist in tracking down your problem.

 

Thank you so much for the response so quickly. I just woke up. Charging my phone up because the flash isnt working then ill be out taking pictures. i have a laptop in my garage so hopefully i can give you updates fast. To answer your fueling questions. i fully rebuilt the carb. stripped everything from it and ran perfect 2 summers ago, i have ran the car this year and was always good. the only issue i had was the points breaking up around the 5-redline range. the floats level are factory spec and fuel is halfway up the glass front and rear.

as for the GM hei wiring.

dizzy red wire is going to G terminal on module
dizzy green wire is going to W terminal on module
B terminal on module goes to 12v on coil +
C terminal on module goes to trigger on coil -
Ive seen a few posts where people got confused on wether to flip the GW wires but i found Jeff20B old post with the right picture and wiring diagram. which is how i have it wired above. Maybe its wrong?

I am going to get pictures in a few minutes. just charging my phone. here are some pictures from before i taped it all up and it stopped working. this was the factory style wiring upgrade. just putting in the dizzy and jumping the resistors and running new trigger/ power wires


This is Jeff20B diagram for GM modules to replace J109s. he color coded the wires to match the dizzy to keep it neat.

in this picture red wires are my trigger wires spliced from the factory SA dizzy connector. the white wires are my 12v positive.

here again white wires are 12v and i was using the factory connections for the trigger


I also added in an FC fuse block to replace the fusible links. everything in the car works. lights go up and down and turn on. all check lights are off when the car is running but havent been able to start it since wednesday. yes the 60 amp main is good.

 

I got the car running. the only thing i did was try sanding the dizzy where the rotor goes. and i used the choke when I tried starting it. Started up on just the leading with the GM module. going to rehook up the trailing and re time it. I tried everything is your other thread as far as checking for spark. looked like a lightning bolt going to the tophat from the coil. and both plugs were blue spark. i just put it back together and it started. maybe cleaning under the rotor did it. no idea. I'll be updating my build thread here https://www.rx7club.com/build-thread...build-1104636/ in the next day or two with the car finished washed and driven. cheers thank you for all your help. i am going to link back to that thread if i ever have any more troubles. might have been flooded the whole time.

 

Good to hear,if you experience any weird hiccups you may want to rework your pickup wires from dist to modules. The signal generated by pickup coil is very weak @.2-.3 at cranking speed and @.5 at idling speed.
Use of thinner 18 ga wire is preferred and should be twisted to minimize outside electrical interference or noise on signal pickup wires. You may have no problems with the setup you have. Think about soldering and heatshrinking all your terminals and connections. Makes for long term trouble free operation more resistant to weather.
Some pics...

 

Thanks again Mike! got your name from another thread. Bought the car from a Mike

I had the wiring all heatshrinked and nice and tied back after the pictures i posted to you. now i have wires running all over and it runs. haha. i actually did it right the first time. i think maybe cleaning this used dizzy rotor contact point is what may have solved it. I will update my build thread with the after pictures soon.

I just took it for the second drive. got it recorded also. any tips on the way it sounds would be cool to hear from you. sounds great to me on pulls. but when i am setting up for cornering it like to bog and sputter. i drive through it for the most part but any suggestions would be cool.

here is a link to my youtube channel where i am logging all of my progress.


This is my 5th rx7. the others were pretty rusty and i just got them running and driving and they were a blast. trying to build this one like all the pictures i stare at, been a rotary die hard since 2006 when i read initial d for the first time and saw the rotary engine in the rotary bros FC & FD i am 27 now haha.

i actually saved all those pictures from you other thread and plan to upgrade to DLIDFIS asap. when i tidy the wiring i will get some new connections and solder them all. i will probably use the gauge wire you are suggesting as well since the factory wire is also way smaller. i should have thought of that, i am not educated in the sense i went to school for automotive. i dropped out at 16 and have learned everything reading here and elsewhere and from youtube. i have a youtube degree lol.

Cheers, Murray

 

Sounds pretty good,what does it have for exhaust? Idle is high,set high to overcome stumbles on take off? Seems you need to feather/blip throttle on tip in. 1st thing to check is accelerator pump discharge,steady stream out of pump discharge into primary venturies from the moment throttle is opened to @1/2 throttle.
Needs to begin instant throttle is opened,most important time. I can hear the stumbles as you downshift and open throttle to rev match and at low rpm.
How do you have the ignition timing set,do you have the vacuum advance pods hooked to a ported source of vacuum? Seems to run well, just some minor glitches.

 

Hey just a quick update. the car is running great. i played with the timing a bit more and think i found the sweet spot( i dont have a light, seems to have walked away..) But i went for a lunch date with my wife today and it was breaking up a bit so i pulled some timing and just did some hard pulls, pulled some timing. did some more. and after a couple tries about 1 mile of driving, i got the car no longer having issues after downshifts like it was on the on ramps from the previous video. You were correct. my timing was off. and by a good fair bit. hard pulls 1 - 4th always felt decent but now it really has come to life. I will get more videos in a few days. I actually got popped today. FPD got me with no insurance( which is being transfered not sure why its taken so long). and expired tabs( havent got my custom plates yet) :/ I NEEDED to drive it though. I had to know it was ready to go. and i believe at this point it is. I got a few pictures outside with it and on the tow truck. Yes my rx7 got towed NOT because it didn't run but because i was riding dirty. Think I may be the first! haha just joking. have to stab at myself every once in awhile
4
Cheers, Murray


((EDIT)) forgot to mention the Fargo PD were on the look out apparently for a suspect with a gun in the same area of town i was tuning in. not sure if that has anything to do with me getting popped but he thought maybe i was fleeing the scene or something. quite the crazy lunch date. car is home and sound "nestled safely under our tree" lol

 

That's not good,not preaching,done the same-more than once when i was younger. I would rent or get a timing light so you can verify initial timing and check centrifugal and vacuum advance for proper operation.
All three make up ignition advance curve and need to work together for total advance for best power,economy,driveability.

 

Yes most definitely , I am going to set it to what the hood has on it and the procedure it says. Never truly timed an engine before. Always left it alone because it ran fine or played with it by ear. But once I get the tabs and insurance I am going to get a light and go in for a proper alignment. i have the arrows pointed inward at the firewall which the manual says is neg camber and positive caster. but it seems to still have some positive camber looking at it from the front.

Thanks for all your help.

 

Here are some pictures my wife took of our date out. The car had to be towed because I got pulled over and had no insurance along with expired tabs. both of which are in the process of being transferred.

Cheers!

 

Yeah,if i was a cop i'd pull you over too,kinda look like a criminal,lol Car looks in pretty good shape

 

lmao is it the hair? or the beard? or both lol

 

With that beard I would guess you are a brewer.

Nice to hear you have it working better. Those crazy wheels and yellow headlights are distracting me though.

 

I still got my factory waffles 😀
Full set and full size spare with the center caps in great condition. I wish the wheels didn't poke so much but I have factory hubs so I have US made adapters that are 1 inch thick so they safe. Those wheels are fake, not sure what they are, always loved the look of 5 spoke on rx7. And what do you mean by a brewer haha I am a Welshman by blood.