Rain

Hi,
Thanks to your good advice, i got my car running last night all by myself! I felt like a rock star (my automotive experience so far has been body work and replacing bulbs). That is, until i went to take off the flat tire and run down to the gas station for air. I think the garage put the lug nuts on with a gun, they certainly weren't counting on a 120# girl trying to change her own flat. AAA, it's not just for snowbanks.
ANYWAY, so today's problem is that with precious top down time ticking away , the top is stuttering about midway when going up or down, where it feels like it's getting hung up on something. Previously i had problems with the switch where it wouldn't go down at all (a lot of fun the very first day i bought the car when i was in targa mode on the way home, got there, and couldn't back it up to re-attach the hardtop part, with dramatic dark clouds rolling in from the west and no garage - ah apartment living. Very amusing for my mechanic, i can assure you.) but that seems to have cleared up on it's own. This feels like something with the motors, but how can i diagnose the problem? I have a replacement switch and motors, but don't want to use my spare parts before i have to. I really am not relishing the thought of having it give up all together and getting stuck for good. Anyone have experience with this?
Thanks!!

downwinddave

Top stopped as it should on the way closed. Then would not restart and close all the way. I tried to recycle it. It went down. Wouldn ot go up again.
Just had my seats redone. Top would not go up. Did not have time to do anything about it.
Upolstry shop said, no problem we handle all kinds of tops and will take a look at it...when I picked up my car the top works great, no charge. I forgot to ask what was wrong with my top...Dahh...
Moral: see a top shop
White/black/91

Samps

You might want to try and lube up the levers that raise the roof. You can get to them under the spare-tire cover. Once you get that cover off, the motors are on both sides of the car. The arms attach to the outside of the motor so you will have a tricky time getting your hands down to that part. But the shuddering must be coming from the half way joint on the lever. It may be rusted due to its location. Do you have any wet spots in the car after a rain? Is there a tear right behind the drivers door on the roof? I would say just get a wire brush and brush off all of the crud you can get at. Then spray some WD-40 on the joints. Then try putting the top up and down a few times. Maybe put some more WD-40 on after the test to cover some missed spots. If this does not work, you may want to take it to a friend or family member. I would not suggest you take the car to a mechanic or dealer; since they will most likely rip you off. If the roof still goes up and down I would say your motors are fine. The other possible problem, and maybe the most liekly culprit would be the elctronics. Mazda used some preaty bad wiring skills when making these cars and it shows at the current age of them. Your new switch may be the answer to all of you problems. On my vert; the top would go up when it felt like it. Sometimes I would have to press the button 30-40 times before it would cooperate. So I just removed the motors; and now I just do it by hand. To me it seems easier and quicker to do it by hand. But for a 120# girl, it may not be so easy. Well, go play with it for awhile and let us know how it worked out. I think this is the first mention of this problem on this board.

Icemark

Are you sure its not just the mid-way down delay???

The 'vert RX-7 top retracts about halfway and stops, then you need to activate the switch again for the remainder of the retraction or raising.

Samps

That's what I was thinking at first. But she used the word "stutter" and that's what leads me to believe it's something else.

Icemark

yeah I know Samps, but since she had problem putting the Targa section in, I had to make sure someone asked.

BadBoy

she could check and make sure the bolt for manual operation on the motor itself hasnt been partially screwed in by the past owner...and yes lube the thing. my vert top would not work at all when i bought it from the dealer!!...i went and played with the motor and the bolts and such, then BAM! worked perfect every time! look in your owners manual it talks about the manual operation bolt thing. hope it helps.

Fred

Rain

Hey,
Thanks for all the good advice. I have to get my stupid Suzuki back on the road this weekend, but will try and make time for some of these fixes.
The halfway joint seems like a logical guess. I got a sweet deal on used motors, so maybe i can just swap out the arms if that's the problem. The top i started with was original, with 2 very small tears, but thanks to insurance (tell them a tree fell on it ) i have a brand new one. Since this is a recent problem after being stored all winter (although we have been getting 4 inches of rain A WEEK up here) i don't think it's water related, although all the rest of the electronics that usually ignore me - the dome light, the lights inside the doors, etc - are suddenly working again, so maybe it is. Electronics would seem to indicate a problem throughout the entire up/down process, not just this one spot.
And can i just say that whoever thought that making the spare accessible from the inside was better than burying it in the trunk should be taken out and shot, but i will do the contortion required and see what there is to see.
Luckily the top shop that replaced it likes me, and maybe he'll have an idea if i get really stuck. As for the dealership, its not so much that they'll rip me off as much as that i think i have the only convertible, and one of maybe 5 or 6 RX7's in this half of the state and they have no idea what to do with it They didn't even know how to order the owner's maual, i had to call Cali and then tell them the number
As for stopping halfway down, i don't remember having to twist the **** twice to get it to go down, but maybe you're right. I'll report back on Monday. Enjoy your weekend, all!

Raymr

Very true about the location of that spare tire - it's STUPID!!. In fact, I think a lot of the engineering on the convertible top is questionable. Look at all the wasted space below the deck, the ripping material, the 2 heavy motors to operate such a small roof. The whole design seems more American than Japanese, and I can't imagine the engineers who worked on it being very happy with it.

I still love it though!!

Icemark

The location of the spare on the 'verts was dictated by the size of the actual cars wheel and tire combination.

On the Coupes the Spare fits in the hatch area between the tail lamps, but the full size removed tire/wheel must fit on the rear floor (there are even screw holes to match up with the retainer you unscrew from the spare, so you can screw the full size tire/wheel down to the hatch floor).

On the 'vert; well the spare could be fit in the trunk, however you would loose more of the minimal trunk space, plus the ability to put the targa section in the trunk. On top of that there is no room for the full size tire/rim combination to be stored while driving to the service station to get it fixed.

So the location of the spare was dictated by the full size tire wheel, storage. I thought it was a very elegant location, and shifts the weight forward into the mid-section of the car.

As too the roof itself, while I would have preferred a manual top for weight issues, but the strap motor system allows the two piece top, something not found on any other convertible, and one of the better features IMO. Plus if you ever looked at under the material for the top you would notice a full roll bar much like a ‘90s Mercedes SL hidden in there. The RX-7 convertible section would protect you if up in a roll over, unlike even its own sibling the Miata.

While you’re at it compare the RX-7 vert top to the late '80s Camero, or Celica convertibles. Both of those cars a after factory after thought with a weak body structure and a pathetic convertible mechanism. Something you wouldn't expect from GM who had been building convertibles since the 30's.

And if you are religious with putting a convertible top dressing on the top after every car wash, the top resists rips better than many other pure factory convertibles.

Raymr

Thanks Icemark,

I didn't even think about where that flat tire would go in the car - certainly not in the trunk! And I hope I never have to deal with a muddy flat tire on a rainy night - talk about major cleanup job... A good omen is that the spare has never been used. Hell it took me a month to even find where it was!

I took on the daunting task of patching up those rips in the top - 2 weeks of glueing and sewing, and probably the root of my current aggravation!!

Rain

The answer is:

I have no idea

But i spent the better part of an evening taking out the spare, trying to get at the motors (unsucessfully) and beig generally grumpy. Someone put an amp (?) in the spare tire well and lined it thoroughly with egg carton foam, so i coulnd't actually get at the motors. I think what might have happened was some foam was getting stuck in the motor, because i pushed it around out of the way and everything's back to working. I'm dreading the day i actually have to service those motors, though! Hope you all had a fun weekend.

Rain

Mobilemick

Hi all, having problems with a softtop on a RX7 MK5, it wont close, just beeps all the time,

I read on here about a relesae valve so it can be operated manually, can i ask where it his ??


Thanks
Mick

www.mobilemick.co.uk

Mobilemick

Fixed it now, the switch on the handbrake was at fault


Mick

Nifty53

Hey having problems with mine , how do you get at the handbrake switch . Cheers Les

NC_FC3S

I'm having problems with mine too. Just tried searching for something on the handbrake switch but didn't find anything. Guess I'll poke around and try to figure out where that switch is at... Hopefully my problem is simple as well...