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Holy **** it worked!
I had about 30 mins to spare before I went to work today so I decided I’d throw on the carb and see what happened... holy hell it purrs like a kitten.
Can't wait to hear how it turns out. Some adjustment of the mixture and idle screws may be necessary but I'm confident it will run better than before. How filthy was it inside?
Can't wait to hear how it turns out. Some adjustment of the mixture and idle screws may be necessary but I'm confident it will run better than before. How filthy was it inside?
I think you missed my last post, Dave?
It’s running quite well at least stationary- I have yet to drive it around as I didn’t have much time. But as the video shows it’s idling like a champ while before it wouldn’t even run without feathering the throttle constantly.
As you can see from the pics posted, it wasn’t terribly filthy inside(all pics were upon disassembly/uncleaned), but there were a couple of minor blockages I cleared from the secondary jets which obviously helped a ton!
I’m so happy with where it’s at, now I can actually test/set timing and fuel mixture, and then head to a smog station and see where I stand.
Huh, last post I saw was with the carb apart. Technical malfunction on my computer I surmise. I'm glad it's running well at idle. It sure does idle nice! I'm excited for the first drive! I think I would have already driven it just a little bit lol. Nice job on the carb rebuild! Car looks fantastic!
So I attacked the non-functional turn signal issue today. FIXED!
I had already replaced all the fuses so I know that wasn’t the problem, and bulbs were all good. Looking at the schematic there is no relay in-line at any point... Ok so start at the source. I ran a continuity test across all positions of the signal mechanism per the manual and there was Zero at any position except when hazards were enabled. Ok so I knew my problem was at the combination switch. Time to take it apart!:
Steering wheel off..
Removed from steering column.. lets see what we’re dealing with here...
Back side of entire steering column combination switches.
Front side of turn signal unit removed.
The back of the turn signal unit removed. Note the tiny metal tabs around the edges, bend those out to open up the unit.
Here’s the first of 3 spring/contact points for the circuit board inside the unit. Cleaned up the components and increased the spring tension by stretching the spring a little.
There’s two of these contact points on this piece, I cleaned them up and stretched these springs slightly as well to give stronger pressure.
I then put dielectric grease on the circuit board to prevent corrosion and reduce friction with my increased tension on contacts.
All put back together nice and tight. Another issue I think was contributing to the open circuit was the ‘tabs’ that hold this unit together could have been tighter.
Continuity!!
So yeah, 100% fixed and working beautifully. Turn signals not working completely resolved and it wasn’t very hard or take much time at all.
If anyone is having intermittent or consistent issues with turn signals or hazards not working and you’ve checked your fuses- I would highly recommend doing this. Took less than an hour and I know I’m good for a very long time to come.
Knocking down issues one by one. I’m so excited! I’m SO close to getting this legally back on the road!
Great work! Yes, these combination switches do require servicing as there are no relays and they handle full current switching duties. This a good reason to wire in relays for the headlights in particular, but I can see why you wouldn't want to do that on this particular car. The switch should be good for another 20 years!
Be careful of those labels on the stalks especially when cleaning. They use a water based ink and rub off very easily. Yours are mint, so I would want to keep them that way. Unlike LHD, new RHD combination switches for all 1st gen RX-7s are no longer available. As a RHD owner, I know.
The combination switch is a common point of failure. I have seen burned contacts due to there being no relay in the circuit. and I have seen the grease turn near black inside of the combination switch. There was someone here on the board that recommended opening the switch and cleaning and greasing the contacts with dielectric grease as part of his maintenance regime. I think once every 10 years would be adequate. Nice job on the repair sir!
KYPREO, thanks for that advice on the icon paint.. I had no idea. I've given them a quick wipe but didn't rub too hard and I guess it's a good thing I didn't!
And yeah, I'm obviously trying to keep things as factory as possible so modifying anything isn't on my list at the moment.
Dave, I did several searches on turn signals not working and only came across bits and pieces of the subject- ultimately being fuse related most of the time.
I wanted to post the pics and process as I know it's a common topic but I feel rarely fully addressed.
Grant, Thank you sir!
UPDATE:
So over the last several days that I've had the car running stationary I hadn't noticed an issue that was brewing underneath the car... a substantial pool of water!
I noticed only when I pulled the car out to drive it up and down the driveway of the storage place it's currently sitting in. Crap.
I just replaced the water pump/thermostat/gaskets/coolant and know I sealed it all up proper so I was a little upset about it.
It only leaked when the car was running- ended up tracking it down to a broken seam(weld) on the heater pipe where the bracket attaches it to the firewall... sweet, at least it wasn't something ridiculous to fix.
So I clamped the rubber hoses on either end and removed the pipe to mend it:
Removed.
Upper bracket weld where leak was coming from and running down the pipe. There's some rust at the frame under this pipe where I believe this pipe was likely leaking previously and not attended to or noticed.
Back side of the weld.
Found a weld shop that happened to be open on 4th of July and BAM, got it taken care of. They did a great job on it!
Looking good looking good.
Put it back on the car, buttoned it all up and viola! No leaks.
THEN.... I took it for a little drive
It's still very not legal to drive on the road right now, but now that I have all the fundamentals worked out, I can signal like a normal person, it idles great etc... I figured it was time to take it for a spin:
God that felt great!!! I only drove it about 2Km(the odometer and distance measure is in kilometers) literally around the block, 4 right turns, but I gassed it pretty good a few times and I've gotta say it's driving quite solid!
No video this time as my fiancee was/is at work, but next time I'll have her take a video for sure, from the outside and inside
One of my next steps is to get it sniffed.. not necessarily to try and pass smog, but to see IF I can, also to be able to adjust my mixture screws properly while on the sniffer.
Last edited by '78 Savanna; Jul 4, 2018 at 07:04 PM.
That's an odd failure point. I have never seen the heater pipe leak near the mount. Usually they rust out and leak closer to where they bolt onto the body by the thermal reactor or exhaust manifold. Something to look out for. Thank you for posting that!! I bet the car felt amazing to drive! Its been sitting for years and now look at it! Nicely done sir!
It's been just over a month since I've posted at this point.. I did go on vacation for a couple of weeks soon after my last post. However, I DID get the car fully registered before I left!
Passed smog with beyond flying colors- some of the lowest readings I've seen for an older car.
Got everything fully checked out and vetted by the DMV, and weeks later I am now proudly holding the title (which didn't even exist before by the way) to the car with my name on it and feeling VERY good about it!
I've been driving it regularly - a couple times a week.. It likes to be driven. Running spectacularly. I've also given it a better round of detailing. Still not exhaustive but it's looking really good.. some touching up as well.
In the last month I've also replaced the lower shifter bushing as I found it was entirely disintegrated which is why the shifter had tons of play and I've replaced the AC compressor and juiced up the system, resolved an open in the system by the pressure switch and now I have fully functioning AC! There's been a shitty heatwave for the last couple of weeks so this is fantastic.
I've been waiting on a replacement door protector strip for the driver side for a few weeks but as soon as I get that in and installed I'm going to be taking some high rez pics of the car and I'll be sure to post up!
Got a couple things on deck as well: New speedo cable and new struts all around will be the next items up.
Honestly I'm just having fun driving it.... so so much fun driving it. Just makes me feel all kinds of good.
Super happy for you that you got the car legal in every way. Your father and grandfather would be extremely proud of you for the care that you are giving the car. A job well done in every regard sir!
