NanaimoRx-7

Alright.

BACKGROUND:

The starter on my '80 went a few days before Halloween, gave me a one weird start notice then gave out completely. When turning the key it clicked once, drew power and did a whole lot of nothing.

I begin my new life as a push starter.

CURRENT DAY:

The starter that I ordered from CP Racing arrives. It's a prissy 11 tooth FC starter, yey. No worries, all non-turbo Rx-7 starters are supposed to be a direct swap. So I gank and swap. First thing I notice the bolt pattern is reversed. The one sleeved and one threaded hole are reversed, interesting....oh well holds decent enough until I find a longer bolt and nut or something.

So I try it out. Slowest...starter...evar. It's jsut terrible, barely winds the engine over, however, it does eventually start it. I came inside to check the forums about this...something about a ground wire....OHSHI-

I go back out and it's on the loose top bolt that I now cannot tighten due to lack a threads, so I remebered that it was suggested that the ground could be moved to the other mount hole. Seems easy enough. Do it, get in and turn key.... CLICK...DRAW...NOTHING. Now it's like the starter I just pulled out, great. So I figure it's dark and cold I'll fix this in the morning, and a slow starter is better than no starter, so I swap the ground wire back to it's loose location...hop in and check it out CLICK...DRAW...NOTHING.

WFT ^^ Mate.

So I'm not really sure where I've gone wrong or what to check next. A little help would be appreciated. Thanks.

George

brianw

Sounds like you already know the answer. Bad ground of some type. Good luck but it souldn't be too hard. BTW If hte starter is not tight and you're useing it as a ground it won't work cause that's the same as a lose ground if you follow me.

Pedestrian X

Just gotta ask.. Your sure the battery is not dead hey?

NanaimoRx-7

Yep, when it was still turning over ultra slow, I hooked up the charger to the battery. Low or medium boost had no effect on cranking speed.

wwilliam54

your ground wire needs to be replaced

been done that, damn it sucked

wagondriver69

And then Hawaii was all like w00t

Pedestrian X

Try the slow one with your battery jumped to another car?

Mike Johnson

When I decided to ground my '83 to the starter bolt, I bought a new 48 inch cable. I was shocked when I removed the "factory original". It looked good. . . but when I got it to the work bench....it was an oil soaked corroaded piece of s**t! I had been fighting unpredictable starts for 2 months. That factory cable was my problem all a long.....even bought a rebuilt starter I doubt I needed...CABLES, how sweet they start.

NanaimoRx-7

Thanks guys, closer inspection of the cable revealed that the plastic is all cracked and there's crud in there. I'll be getting a new one for sure. I wonder why no one mentioned the mounting hole difference in any of the 8 tooth vs 11 tooth threads I read. Hmmm.


Also, what is the correct precedure for checking a starter on the bench?

brianw

I don't know about correct but I just hook the ground to the body/case and the hot to the terminal and whala.

NanaimoRx-7

Well I'm going to grab a new ground strap and replace the entire thing form the battery to the starter. And I'll probably put the old starter back on for the better ground contact for now. Then I'll see where I stand.

Anyone with an FC starter swap? What did you do about the bolts...

NanaimoRx-7

UPDATE:

New main ground, and a 6 gauge daisy chain from the alt to each individual housing. Also rebuilt original starter, got a new brush and a drive gear.

Installed. Turn Key. No start. WHAT THE ****. What am I missing. I'm going outside now to remove all the fusible links and check the contacts. It didn't really click...more like an electrical snap. Didn't want to try it more than once til I check everything over again.

Steve Shulz

If the ground was that bad what about the hot wire?

NanaimoRx-7

That was the idea that just came to me. I guess I'll replace the main power wire tommorow and see how she goes. It's strange though I'm not showing any other weak electrical symptoms. All lights are stroing and it runs great. I guess the starter is a big draw.

Quick qustion though, the power wire goes on the left terminal, is there supposed to be anything on the other solenoid terminal? All I have it the strap that goes into the starter. But when I first pulled it apart there was a ring connector over the second terminal, that had fusible link style wire coming off it. However, it appeared to have fried or something because it didn't go anywhere, and I found a plastic connector on the harness under there that goes nowhere but has a spade connector still stuck in it. Its about 6-8 inches away from the starter. Is this the cause of all my troubles? I didn't find any mention of it in my Haynes manual. Sigh.

NanaimoRx-7

Bump for another day of push starting.

Anyone know about that wire? It makes sense in my head, an seems logical...but I don't want to take the risk of winging it.

dirty86

hey my other mazdas starter goes bad if the back up lite switch gets dusty
wouldnt be so bad if i didnt rally it

mwpayne

If I remember correctly ( I had the SAME troubles you have) there is a seperate smaller wire pushed onto the spade lug right there on the starter..I THINK it is what fires your solenoid (click?) to fire up the starter. If that's missing, bet that's your problem..best of luck!

NanaimoRx-7

Yes, I have the ignition wire on the spade. I'm wondering if any wires besides the strap to the starter motor come off the big terminal next to the battery one.

Thanks for the reply's so far guys, hopefully I'll figure this out soon

NanaimoRx-7

Bump for another week of push starts.

Can anyone ID this wire for me? I haven't been able to source the informatin from anywhere else. I might start carry a jack, an randomly inspecting first gens until I find my answer.

Steve Shulz

Can u get a pic?

KehoeAutomotive

My engine was turning over slowly, cables LOOKED great. A quick resistance test showed bad cables and BAM!

Turned over fast after that.

If your battery cables are 15 years old, replace them!!!

A later model starter looks like it will bolt in. Will it? It's much lighter.

NanaimoRx-7

Yes, the later 11-tooth starters do fit, and are 3 lbs lighter. However, both bolt holes are smooth, as opposed to one smooth, one threaded. With the newer style starter the bolt coming from the engine side has nothign to grip...I keep forgetting to look at my buddy's FC to see how they're setup.


I'm going to replace the power wire tommorow. Should be fun.

jayroc

One wire is to actuate the starter and the other is for the hot start assist motor.
The male connector on the starter is the solenoid actuator.
The female connector on the starter is for hotstart assist. If I'm not mistaken the female connector on the starter can be unbolted from the starter motor assembly and disgarded. At least, that's how I remember it...