Haven't forgotten about the thread. It's just been raining every day here, so it's tough to get out there for long. The starter turns over, the battery is fully charged at 13.2V, so I'm going to jump-start it and take it to be tested. Might just pick up a new set of battery cables while I'm at it. On the 50 RPM drop, I thought it was a rather minor concern, but then again, my Jeep has mechanical gauges and doesn't drop any when you touch the brake pedal. Not my biggest concern at the moment. I'll keep this thread updated.

Car isn't starting at all anymore. Tried a few more things, and no luck.

- RX-7 battery is fully charged at 13.2 V. It's a new Optima Red Top.
- Dashboard voltmeter only shows about 10.5 V with the car off and key in "Start" position.
- I had previously gotten the car to start, sometimes with a bit of difficulty. It started a few days in a row, and then the next day it quit and hasn't started since.
- When I crank it, I can hear the starter turning.
- When I turn the key to "Start", I hear the starter solenoid click (as it should).
- When the key is in "Start", the idiot lights in the gauge cluster light up (as they should).
- Battery posts and battery cable ends are squeaky clean.
- I disconnected the negative cable at the battery post and substituted a jump cable. Hooked one end of the jump cable to the post, another to a bare part of the engine. If that had worked, it'd have clued me in that the negative battery cable was bad. Didn't work. And I can't do the same with the positive cable at the moment because I can't jack the car up to get to the starter.
- I tried to jump it, without success. The problem's not in the battery, I know, but 80% of the RX-7's battery voltage is making it to the dashboard voltmeter. Since a connected idling car puts out about 14 V, thanks to the alternator, 80% of that should be enough to start it. With the other car idling at 14 V, the RX-7's voltmeter read about 12 V, which should have worked. No luck, again. The engine turned, but no life.
- Checked the main fusible link, and it's good.

Might have AAA swing by and check the starter. I'm paying them as it is, anyway. Other than that, any ideas on what it could be?

Like your previous post about high idle,some of your terminology is confusing. Ig. Switch has 4 positions off,acc,run,start. Possible to take a video of it trying to start so can hear it and offer some suggestions?