theycallitawasteland

Love my 85 GSL SE, but I may not have shown it the care I should've. I'm kind of scared about how bad I may have messed this up.

Tuesday morning my battery died. Got it verified as a bad battery and got a new one, great. I went to install it that night after work.

This is, uh, embarrassing. I don't know if it was the low lighting or just being absent minded, but I hooked up the battery backwards. Turned the key and got nothing. No engine noise, no stereo, no clock, lights, anything.

Fuses below the dash seem in order and not blown. Any insight on what I can look at would be appreciated. I don't know a lot about cars, and have only had my RX-7 for a few weeks, but I'm hoping I can turn this into a learning experiencr.

Qingdao

iTrader: (3)

Turn it back around. You didn't foul anything up.

theycallitawasteland

Ah, I apologize, I should've mentioned that. I disconnected the battery again that night and corrected it the next day. Issue still persists.

Could one of the fusible links be blown? I'm not sure how to tell.

rotard7

iTrader: (6)

Did the same thing on my FD

Did you check the main fuse? Other things to check along with the under dash fuses would be make sure your alternator is charging the battery (once you get it to fire up)

theycallitawasteland

I guess it happens to the best of us.

Not yet, no. I'm not exactly sure where it's at, but I'll consult the Haynes manual I have to track it down. I was kind of concerned about the alternator, because the battery died so suddenly, so that'll be the next battle.

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

Batteries last at most 5 years although the one in my BMW actually lasted 9 for some reason.
First cold snap and if they are old or weak, no juice flows.

Your fusible links will be on the driver side shock tower, should be 3 of em but on a GSL-SE I'm
not sure. You can replace them with some of these:



Bussmann/Fusible Link BP-FLF-20-RP - Read Reviews on Bussmann #BP-FLF-20-RP

After you get it going check the voltage from the alternator, at idle it should be
at or over 13 volts minimum or its not working well.

theycallitawasteland

Ah, alright. I'll try to track some of those down locally, but I can always order them. Thanks a lot for the input. Hopefully this can get me back in driving form (and let me check on that alternator).

jim_chung

iTrader: (2)

I did something verrrry similar so don't feel too bad.

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generati...arity-1085005/


Jim

ray green

iTrader: (14)

First of all, no point in replacing the fusible link if it hasn't blown. Check it, I'll bet it looks just fine.

You didn't mentioned getting a big ole spark when you connected the new battery, which should have happened before the fusible link had a chance to blow. You would have known you fucked up as soon as you touched that second battery cable to the wrong terminal, crack, bam, boom, I fucked up.

But it sounds like when you hooked up the new battery everything seemed normal until you turned the ignition key.

If you didn't get a rude awakening when you connected the battery backwards, you must not have had a complete circuit to begin with. You mentioned that your battery died, according to the guy who sold you a new battery.

What is wrong with this picture? He's probably already got your "bad battery" installed in another car.

I'm guessing it's more likely you have a bad ground and that's why your "battery died". Try giving the negative battery cable a good jiggle where it connects to ground, if things come back to life even for a moment you've found your problem. Clean up and reconnect that ground and you've fixed your problem.

Of course if the fusible link really is blown, proceed with Tim's recommendation.

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

All the auto parts places will have em. Its worth replacing just because they look cooler, but Ray
has a good point, you may have a ground issue as well.

theycallitawasteland

Oh, yeah. I, uh, forgot to mention the spark that happened. That's my fault for accidentally omitting that detail, sorry about that.

But, I will check the ground to make sure. Might as well do it while I'm working.

Thanks a lot for your help guys. Hoping I can pick some up after I get off of work today and see if that will alleviate this.

ray green

iTrader: (14)

If you have a volt meter you can check for electrical continuity starting at the battery and working your way forward to check grounds, across the fusible link, leads etc (cheap one works fine, $15 at the parts store).

This may help pinpoint the problem. Start with the battery, it should be giving you a good 12-14 volts, who knows, maybe the battery got zapped. Make sure you have current from the negative battery pole to the chassis.

theycallitawasteland

Just wanted to check in and thank everyone. The fusible links resolved the basic issue and the car is running, ground is stable. Haven't been able to work on it for a bit due to rain, but I'll be checking the alternator to be safe.

Power is going everywhere except the radio, but I'll figure that one out when I test the alternator.

Thanks again, guys!