Ok I bought my 79 about a two weeks ago, drove it home a couple hundred miles with no big problems. The only thig that was happening was at crusing speeds(not when I was accelerating) there would be a hesitation(slight). Now it doesn't want to idle and when accelerating its like the motor misses very bad.

I switched the ign coils(trailing and leading) to see if maybe the coils were craping out and it ran even worse with the trailing coil in the leading spot. I went out and bought a fuel filter and that made no difference, it had the rotor, cap and plug wires replaced recently so I don't think they are the problem.

Anywho.... My guestion is, does it sound like the coil is the problem here? I just want to be fairly sure before I run up to rx7.com(love being local to them) and buy one of those jacobs ign coils....

 

check your grounds? how are the plugs? gapped correctly? otherwise i would have to agree with your coil diagnosis.

 

Would the grounds just kinda all of a sudden get really bad?

I pulled the plugs out and cleaned them up, think I might go by some NGK plugs to throw in at the same time as the coil. It has denso plugs in it right now and seem to be pretty new, I havent had to much luck with denso's in some of the other cars(not my 7's)

 

79 ignition or late model ignition????

 

I know this sounds stupid but i just switched over to 1st gens(from second gens) how can you tell????

 

me too haha, I hardly know anything for these cars but I love them more than my turbo. It's like trying to learn everything all over again.

 

Not so stupid.

The 79 came stock with a points ignition system. 80 had electronic but had the ignitors on a box on the fender and the 81+ had electronic with the ignitors on the Dizzy. so look for ignitors on the Dizzy, if not look on the fender, if not you have points.

The 79 had different coils from the later models, they used 6 volts insteed of 12v



And welcome to the Light side of the Force.

 

It the stock 79 system on the car, yeah i've already had and 84 and now my 79 I just bought. I never really had to mess with my ignition system on my 84 besides replace the spark plugs.

 

Might be as simple as replacing the points. If you have not already done so, it would probably be a good idea to do this anyway.

 

Yeah, having a car that is close to stock is a hell of a lot beter then having one with 350+ hp 2nd gen and constantly breaking stuff(and getting in trouble with the police) although I do miss it......

 

Yeah they were replaced by the previous owner, I popped the cap and it looked new....

I called RP and they don't have the coils in stock... Where would be another place I could order them from. I know I can order the stock ones from mazdatrix and victoria british doesn't sell the 79-80 coils anymore. Is there a place that has and better then stock replacement for it?

 

If you are going to go through the trouble of replacing the coils, I would recommend that you look into the 2nd gen ignition mod. It will be much cheaper (about 20 bucks from junkyard) and will give much better performance.

You can find a link to the mod in the FAQ section. Just my 2 cents...

 

Update it to the 81+ ignition.

Even though the points look new they can still be burned or gaped incorrectly.

 

Foreign Car Parts on Zang and Paige in Oak Cliff has a lot of rx7 stock stuff in stock. 35south to Zang exit, turn right and it will be on your left hand side on the corner, big white building. I tried the Jacobs coils Rotary Performance on my GSL-SE and the tips started leaking oil and melted. I was told you have to install them facing up and not in the stock position.......I went back to stock coils from the local junk yard. Pick and Pull on Loop12 has 2 1st gens and U Pull It on Jefferson in Grand Prairie has 3.

 

yeah hades has a good point (no pun intended). check the points gap and the operation of the other parts (condenser, other ****). keep us posted!

 

I've got the 2nd gen coil mod with the transistor trick. I bet you could be happy for less than $50, including the coil and the transitor trick box. If you're thinking of going this route, PM GSL-SE Addict for the box. A junkyard should have the coil pack, or you may have a spare from your 2nd gen.

 

I have been talking to a couple of people about buying a 81+ dizzy, I may just go that route since it seems to be pretty cheap(and my car isn't a race car). Is there that much more of a difference between the 79 and the 81+ dizzy?? How hard it it to upgrade(I found a dizzy and the ignitors is that all I need?)

 

you also need the coils and the wiring harnis would not hurt.

The 79 has some big resister that need to be removed.