My 1980 RX7 was running perfect yesterday. After parking in my drive-way over night I go to crank her over in the morning and nothing happens. I charged the battery and when I flip up the lights they go up and are bright. Not even a peep from the starter when I try to start her. The only thing I hear is an odd minute clicking sound from the back end, but I presume this is my fuel pump? It is not loud like a starter with not enough power. Anyways, what should I look for to see why she won't start? I checked all wiring and it all seems fine, but some could use a cleaning. A little green corrosion on the contacts here and there. Any suggestions? Also, what wires are vital to starting? If I know this I can clean the most probable and work my way backwards to the least probable and may be save a little time. I know it all will eventually have to be cleaned, but this not starting thing is killing me. Even though it's not on the road yet I love to here her purr.

PS: I don't know rotories too well, but with piston engines I can usually hear the starter motor turning over the engine, and if there is not enough power a loud clicking sound. Nothing like that here. Shouldn't this happen also with the rotory?

Thanks!

Tommaso

 

u probably need a new starter, but ive seen people tap the starter witha pole or something and get it to work, but if that doesnt work, u probably have to clean up ur corrossion, and then if that doesnt owrk u probably need a starter.

 

iwould check the starter as well. what he is referring to when people tap the starter is actually tapping on the start sylenoid on the top of the starter. you can also try to jump the starter by using a screwdriver from the bottom side of the car and shorting the two posts to eachother. just make sure that you have the car in neutral and the key in the fully on position.

my starter went out and i had to do this to get home. ran 70 bucks for a delco starter through my dads shop at cost plus %10

 

I'll try tapping the starter first as all the wires look pretty decent. Ah, by the way, where is the starter located? (duh!)

Tommaso

 

its on the left front bottom side of the transmission. its big and it looks like 2 cylinders.

 

Check you wire by the strut mount area it happened to my bro car and its the wire i thikn its a box with three wire they burn out so check does before buying a starter we did that and now we got an extra stater and a fuel pump so try to save money and check those wire

 

Is there anything else that could give these symptoms other than the reason stated above, corrosion on the wires or bad starter? What about a bad ground? If it was a bad ground would my lights and radio and all other electical work fine?

Thank you all for helping me. When it comes to rotory engines I know nothing, but i'm learning fast with the help of this board and members here. Thank you all, i'd be lost without you!

Tommaso

 

Take the starter off and have your local parts store(auto zone,advance auto etc.) test it. Its very simple to remove, 2 bolts and 3 wires. On a bad day you should be able to remove it in 5 to 10 minutes. Be sure to disconnect the positive battery cable first. That way you can be sure if the problem is the starter or not. There are a lot of things that can cause a engine to not crank. You'll just have to start at the end, in this case the starter, and work your way back.

 

that crap is always happening to me i sanded the post on the battery and sanded the terminal holders works great and has better quick start. But also clean those wires up and also check your grounds. Good luck!!!

 

ditto for having your starter tested. Beyond that I would replace all of your battery cables and confirm you are getting proper voltage down to the starter when you turn the ignition key. One other thing to check the fusible links per rotary4life. They typically burn in half when mine have gone bad but you may need to use a multimeter to make sure they are still good.

 

ratboy, what do you mean fusible links per rotory4life? Sorry, I am a newbie and it's obvious.

Also, thanks for all the reply's. I guess I'll just have to check everything from the starter back.

Tommaso

 

should be on the left side in the engine bay on the strut tower there are 3 or 4 maybe more im not sure wires that loop out maybe 2inches long. they are called fusible links. they are fuses but made from wires that handle diff amperage.
those 3 little wires are fusible links they are on the drivers side strut tower.


pic from MHopkins thread https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...=fusible+links

 

Thanks! I read up on them and it seems like a great read if anyone is interested. I posted the link below.

http://www.sa22c.org/cat_11/42886/

During my reading session on fusible links it seems some people have the wrong amp rating for the fuses they are using. I see 30 and 60 used most common, but in this link it says they are too high a rating. I don't know much about it, but it seemed pretty interesting. I'm going to check mine tomorrow and see if that is why my car ain't cranking.

Thanks again!

 

also you can do a conversion https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...t=fusible+link
and when i frist got my car i had the same problem but my starter terminals were dirty clean them up good luck

 

Woohooo! Just got back from taking my car out for a spin around the block (about twenty times!). I had to cut it short because a cop was roaming my area. I have no plates on her and the car isn't even transfered into my name yet - but that's beside the point.

It finally started! And the funny thing is - I didn't do anything. It's raining out and I thought I would try one last time before tomorrow when I was going to start fiddling with with things I know nothing about.

I know now the problem isn't my starter. It has to be a bad connection. My theory is that the rain and high humidity caused a connection that would not normally be there on a dry day? Anyways, sounded like a good hypothesis to me. I guess tomorrow I will have to really see what is causing the problem as I want it to be a little more reliable than that. I'll let you all know how it goes.

Thats the good thing about owning an old car you know nothing about. Pretty soon it will teach you more than you'd ever want to know!

Tommaso

 

Actually I think this suggests that it is likely a bad spot on your starter (aperture?). I've had a starter test good one day then have it die again weeks later and then it tests bad. If it wont start on you again try banging on the solenoid with a wrench or something like the others suggested that usually with be enough to get it past a poor contact area. good luck!