Forsythe93

Hey everyone i actually have quite a few problems with my rx; hopefully solving one or two will fix the rest. my 1980 sa22c, with almost stock everything, has been having problems with high idle and has been running very choppy over the past year. when i start the car it shakes around quite a bit and sounds well...terrible. in order to keep the car running i have my foot nearly floored on the gas to keep the rpms up around 3800(choke is all the way pulled out and butterfly valve isnt stuck). after about a minute of that, the sound goes away, the rpms shoot up, and all in all, everything smooths out. i then release the gas peddle and the rpms drop to about 1400. i tweaked the mixture and the idle speed screw and 1400 is the lowest i have been able to get it without the car dieing.

well thats one problem. the other is today i found out that both of my trailing spark plugs arent firing. the way i tested that(i dont know if this is the right way) was by running the car and unplugging each individual wire and listening for any drop in engine rpms.

also today i noticed a wire that 2 wires had been ripped i checked the wiring diagrams and i couldn't fgure it out, ill prob take a pic of it in a few hours and then post.

Thanks very much for any help i really appreciate it, i've been having this problem for a long time and its a pain..i want to get my baby back on the road!!

7aull

iTrader: (2)

-replace your fuel filter (yearly!!) - this can solve all sorts of mystery fuel/engine ailments
-when was the last time you changed plugs and dizzy cap?? same as above (mysteries)
-lack of trailing plug may not be that unusual as some 1980 RX7s (Federal version I believe) actually ran this way for emissions reasons. have heard there is a simple wire-fix to get them to fire all the time, but this suggests that they might not be your problem....?

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

mazdaverx713b

iTrader: (91)

check your trailing ignitor... if your tach isnt working, the prime suspect, especially with no trailing ignition is the trailing ignitor

Forsythe93

hey, thanks for the fast respond, i just ordered new plugs, and a fuel filter. the dizzy cap is new. also, is there anyway that i can test my coils or ignitor to see if they're good, id rather not throw 168 bucks out the window on a whim. ill have that pic up of the free hanging wire in a couple hours...also a friend who works on later model 7's and 8's told me that i might need to clean my maf or afm, whichever one my car has. i checked the fsm and i could find either...does the 1980 even have those sensors? Thanks for the help guys.

food7373

iTrader: (2)

Search it up, I remember seeing a few threads about testing igniters, but I'm not sure if I've seen some about testing coils. But search it in the 1st gen section and you should find some. I'll do a quick search also.

food7373

iTrader: (2)

Here's one about testing igniters. I know I've seen more of them, so you can look if you want to find another home-made way to test them.
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...esting+igniter

I'll do another quick search about testing coils.

food7373

iTrader: (2)

And here's a thread about testing coils.
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...+testing+coils

If you don't like that method of testing a coil, search it up and see what else you can find.

Forsythe93

thanks ill test them

Forsythe93

.

food7373

iTrader: (2)

No problem.

Forsythe93

ok...
I tested both the ignitors and the coils and i am fairly certain that both of each are working fine. I took some pictures of the loose wires and a couple thing that might be wrong.

Pic 1: am i missing a blue connector?

Pic 2: am i missing a wire on the left one?

Pic 3: Here are 2 loose wires and i don't know what they go to or if they're even relevant. A leads to under the engine and B leads to the ecu

Pic 4: A close up of where A leads.

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Here's a shot of the normal coil wiring for a 1980: (Green arrow was to point out someting for a previous thread) Might have enough detail to help you.



The item in your 3 & 4 pix is the condenser that your oil level sensor is supposed to connect through:



Shouldn't be related to your problem.

The 1980 ecu's were set up to cut off trailing ignition under a number of conditions, for emissions purposes. It should be operating at idle, but off idle it will cut out until certain conditions are met (cruising in 4th or 5th, decelerating, etc.) Exact conditions varied depending on build (fed manual, Cali manual, automatic, Canadian, etc).

If you're having to stomp it to keep it running, it doesn't surprise me that you're not seeing trailing operate.

Unlike later builds, the tach on the 80 is tied to the LEADING coil (because trailing doesn't work full-time.)

Section 1A of the factory service manual (FSM) details all the if's and but's about the emissions setup. Takes a little study to work it out. You can download both the FSM and the wiring diagram from the link in the stickied thread at the top of the forum. Both are essential!

First thing I'd check is if your leading plugs are fouled. Then I'd start working through all the usual suspects :good plug wires, good cap and rotor, tight clean connections, no transposed wires, good leading coil & igniter, solid engine and chassis grounding, proper timing once you get that far.

Forsythe93

thanks very much, the pics are really helpful.

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

If you need closeups of my refurb'ed stock 80 wiring, let me know. Might take me a couple days to get them, but happy to help where I can.

Forsythe93

so today was a momentous one ...i finally got the idle to go down to 1000-1100 which great, i got a rebuild kit for my carb and ill be doing that over the weekend. still no spark on my trailing plugs though...

unfortunately i have another problem now. my headlights are stuck in the up position.
so its like this, i was removing my center console so i could cut it to fit my alpine head unit; naturally i had to take off the three switches on the bottom(rear defrost, power antenna, headlight toggle position...from left to right). i managed this fine but when i was testing the wires to see witch were power and ground i turned on the car(i might have also hit the headlights while doing this, i cant remember). as soon as i did this the headlights came up. i switched off the car after seeing that the head unit worked and went to put the lights down...they wouldn't go. i figured that it had to do with some circuit that i killed when taking off the switches on the console. i put them back today and im sure i did everything right. i still cant get them down. neither the toggle or the other switch work. the lights themselves work fine but no movement at all. What did i do?? and how do i undo it, thanks in advance for any help...

Forsythe93

alright i fixed the lights but I'm still having problems with the idle as i mentioned in my last post, I've gotten it down after replacing spark plugs and fuel filter although still not enough. im going to rebuild the carb this weekend and see if that helps if not, ill remove the rats nest after that. if neither of those work then i dont know what else to do....

i remembered another problem...
when I'm driving, the car is stalls for no reason, at stoplights, on hills; pretty much whenever i have the clutch depressed and need to brake. I'm in first and going down my driveway for instance,(its on a hill) once i get to the hill i depress the clutch completely, put it in neutral, and let the cars momentum carry me down the hill. As i reach the bottom, I take my foot off the gas peddle and brake. the rpms drop and the engine dies just as if i had stalled. what is happening? and might it have anything to do with my idling problem?