So heres the story.

i was installing an E-fan on my 84 -SE. Got everything in, tested it all out, worked great. I realized I had forgot to buy ring terminals, so i quickly red-necked it all together. I grounded the fan on the battery, and ran the + wire to my fuel pump/stereo switch power, which is on the + side if the leading coil. So now Ive got fuel pump, fan, and stereo all running off of my coil. not the ideal setup, i know, but I couldnt do much else at the moment without the terminals. I drive to the parts store, under a 10 min drive, and everything is going great, temps down, car felt a little more responsive. Get teh stuff, and on the way back, car just dies. Manage to get it off of the road, and it just cranks and cranks. no fuel pump, no fan, no stereo power. I figure my splice must have come loose. took it all apart, turns out good. So I test each accessory on the battery, they all work fine. Hook the fuel pump directly up to the battery, and it still just cranks. So I think maybe I fried my leading coil, so i switch the coils around, and nothing.

Bottom line, getting fuel, dont think Im getting spark. No power to + side of coil. All fusible links are good, every fuse that i could find was good... What gives?

 

you can run a short piece of wire directly from battery postiive terminal to both coil's positive terminal. remember that this is a temporary solution and is mainly used for troubleshooting purposes.

did you use a realy to run the fan with the relay's terminal 85 or 86 to coil's positive for trigger

 

no relay yet. Didnt get that far. Ill try juicing up the coils directly, thanks.

 

if the fan's positive wire is directly connected to the coil, it will blow your fuse.

 

What fuse is that? where?

 

The fusible link on the shock tower. It might not blow, but the fan is using so much power there is not enough to run the coils. Proper wiring for an E-fan relay is discussed in this thread.
https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/delayed-shutoff-832826/

 

Well it wont start even when the fan is disconnected, so i guess it must be blown. Dammit I need a multimeter.

 

get that relay in there man, you need it, its very simple and a hell of a lot cheaper in the long run, there's a thread around here were you can substitute the wires on the fusible links, for actual fuses, might wanna look it up.

 

What I need to do is get the car to start.

 

hence the fuse suggestion, i'm not sure what happens when fusible links burn out, i'm guessing the wire internals break like a fuse. unless the whole box burns, then you'll need another one, or upgrade to a second gen fuse box.....

 

ya im about to go make a fusible link out of some 10g wire. Thats if it will start after I power the coils directly.

 

Jumped power to the coils, car started up and ran great. Tested each fusible link, using my fuel pump as a test light of sorts, they all have continuity. Later, I confirmed this with a cheapo mulitmeter i picked up.

So, all fuses are good, fusible links are good..... no power to the coils.

The wiring diagram in my haynes manual shows two 'main relays' that look like the control power to the coils. Anyone know where they are?

 

2 black rubber covered relays right above the Brake Master in this picture.
One of the relays has a 4 pin terminal with Black, Black/white, White and Black/yellow. This is the relay that should be suppling power to the coils. White comes from the + battery terminal through the fusible link. It should have 12V at all times. Black yellow goes to coils + terminals. If you jump these two wire terminals together the coils should have power at all times. The Black wire is ground and the Black/white wire comes from the ignition switch to trigger the relay. Black/white should have 12V when ignition switch is turned on.

 

Awesome, thanks! time to give it another go.

 

That was it! relay was fried. I plugged in the one I had bought for the fan, and everything works great! Thanks a ton, you guys saved my ***. Especially you, RX4, with that relay. awesome.

 

I have used relays. PM if you need one.