So, I've been having problems bringing an 85 gsl back to life. I had problems with the starter, which didn't crank when I turned the key, but the headlights popped up and down, and a solitary red light lit up on the gauge cluster when I turned the key to 'on'. The last time I tried, yesterday, nothing worked. I hadn't changed or cut anything, but now, the headlights don't work, nothing lights up, no response to the battery's power at all.
I hooked it up to my Accord's battery (the Honda runs), and still nothing, so it wasn't that the battery had drained. Any ideas? Anyone? Please?

 

Check your fuseable links located near the driverside shock tower.

 

Also forgot to mention that if the battery has a dead cell, it's very hard to jump start it. You have to make sure that when you do jump start that you put the negative jumper from the car that is doing the jumping to a suitable ground on the jumped car and not on the negative terminal of the battery. Or you can just put in a known hot battery. Making sure that you also have good clean connections.

 

I have found that for some reason, rotarys are harder to jump than other vehicles. I've had better results installing a fresh battery than trying to jump them.

 

I drove the Accord with the rx7's battery for a little while, and it should be charged pretty well. I checked the fusible links, and the venter one looks like it burned out and then was twisted back together. I'm replacing all three later today with fuses.

Thanks for the help, I'll check back in once I have some results.

 

Great, let us know the findings.

 

The headlight motor going down and the tail lights illumination are the same fuse. Its a small 10amp under the dash. The gauge cluster illumination and stuff works off of that too.

I would check the fusible link because it sounds like either

a). you burnt the fusible link

or b). You melted some wires....

im hoping its a for you


-nick-

 

It was the fusible link. I replaced all three links with the clear-top fuses today (30, 60, 30), and the headlights started working again. Except for that the headlight motor seems to react opposite to what it's supposed to, it's down when it's supposed to be up, and up when it's supposed to be down.

 

There is a small fuse under the dash its a 10amp. On the box cover it sais "Tail illumination". Unplug that fuse and make the lights come up. They should not go back down if the fuse is out.


-nick-

 

actually, it works fine when I'm turning the headlight on and off. The problem is when I want them to come up without turning on the headlight - the button at your left hand. That switch to the left of the gauge cluster is working backwards.

 

Make sure the picture is towards the bottom of the switch. It looks like it should be upside down when it is right side up. Maybe Im the only one that thinks this way...

Oops, forgot you had an 85. in my 83, it looks like it should be the other way around. just flip the switch upside down and be done with it. it also may have been rewired at some point in time and the wires may be crossed.