Hi everyone,

Finally getting back into the swing of things with my 89 GTU. I have a couple of interior/exterior questions and was hoping some of the RX7 Gurus could help me out.

1) I replaced my stock GTU manual doors with GXL doors. When I lock the car with my key or take the key out from the ignition I hear a beep for the alarm. Randomly and for reason in the middle of the night the alarm will go off making me get up from bed and open the lock then lock the door again. Is there a fuse or a connector I can unplug to eliminate the stock alarm?

2) Just wanted to confirm with the community that the seatbelts have a lifetime warranty through Mazda. My passenger door doesn't retract anymore.

3) My GTU came with a sunroof. I start the car every couple of weeks but just recently the sun roof doesn't retract all the way back anymore. it gets stuck. Does anyone have any idea why? or what might need to be cleaned or serviced?

4) New bulbs for the interior. Does anyone have any experience swapping out the stock bulbs throughout the interior with LED bulbs. Same for the tail lights and corner lights. Would the stock bulbs on the car have a bulb number that also applies to LED bulbs?

5) Are there any dash covers people recommend to protect the ever so fragile and rare FC dash??

6) Finally I'm looking to pick up a GXL/TURBO rear hatch with windshield wiper. Besides the glass itself are there any other parts I would need for the conversion? besides the switch and the fuse?

In advance thanks for taking the time to read and if you answered some of my questions another thank!

 

On the part about LEDs I have them in all my lights on my 89 Vert. They work perfectly and are proven to light up fractions of seconds faster than halogens for brake lights which serves better to prevent rear ending.

They are also all from eBay I spent about 20 bucks vs 20 per bulb in the local store.

Usually the bulb numbers work and Match perfectly but sometimes you have to try a bulb that would interchange with the halogen bulb and try that number instead.

Edit: forgot to mention, you have to match the color of the LEDs to the plastic cover color to get the best light pass through.

 

Hello.

Until they show up, allow me.

My 1990 GTU does the same thing and I've been meaning to find a solution but so far, haven't.
Apparently, there is a wire in the CPU connector which, if grounded, prevents the alrm from arming and then later going crazy.
I've been afforded the luxury of laziness because I have a bttery kill switch and I just disable the whole car every time I leave.

You are correct but the dealership will hate you and in the end, you still have mousetrack belts.
Convert to manual belts.

Everyone who has a sunroof knows why they stick and how to fix them, it's a common problem. Basically, you're going to remove the assembly and service it, hoping the drive cables aren't hopelessly fubared.

I love my non-sunroof car.

Yeah, there are standard LED replacements for the common bulbs (brake, running, etc.) and I've seen a few guys here who have gone through the entire interior and LED-ed everything.

My '91 came with one of those carpety type covers that just lays on top...it wasn't awful but didn't fit great.
Until you find something you like, try this...
Clean the dash thoroughly with hot, soapy water and dry.
Leave the car in the sun, get the dash nice and hot.
Take generic, unscented petroleum jelly (Vaseline) and slather it generously on all the vinyl (this won't do much for hard plastic but it doesn't hurt it either)...seriously, lay it on.
Let it sit as long as you can but check it occasionally and add more jelly as dry spots appear. Yeah, it's going to be absorbed by the vinyl until it can't hold anymore.
Now wipe with a clean cloth to remove any excess and bring to a nice natural lustre.

You may have to repeat, depending on condition.
This does NOT- unlike silicon based **** like ArmorAll- make the surface sticky and a magnet for dust, nor does it amplify UV degradation (again, like ArmorAll).

I had always been under the belief that ALL FC wiring harness came complete for all the possible options but the '90 GTU proved this false.
When I swapped to a wipered hatch, I discovered I had no factory wiring in place to plug into.
Might wanna check that on yours.

I'll accept your gratitude on behalf of the entire community and the Gurus.

 

How would one go about converting to manual belts? Or is it just smarter to do a harness and bucket seat?

 

I have an S5 Turbo hatch that has the wiper, disassembled, in my basement. I took it apart to get the glass out, the frame has some rust soooo... at the time I thought it was a good idea. Shipping might be problematic.

 

Rear wiper response:
If the car had a rear wiper on the hatch then you can put another hatch on that has or does NOT have the wiper on it.You have to disconnect some connections on the inside of the interior on each side of pillars of the car.
I can't say that I've ever wanted one on there and find them a giant pain in the bum.If I get a car with the wipered hatch,I find a hatch without one and change it out.

 

I got the sunroof to work after cleaning it down!

Already ordered the LED bulbs.

The alarm is still triggering for no reason. I might change out the door sensors hopefully that can do the trick.

 

Hi everyone,

Is there a special way to remove to plaster cover on the instrument cluster to get access to the gauges?

 

3 philips screws under the top lip inside of the cluster surround..then 2 screws under..one on each side at the bottom at the headlight switch and wiper switch.
You want to undo the inner screws.
Pull the surround back and disconnect the connectors going to the headlights,signals,cruise( if the car has it) and the wiper switch.

Just to let ya know that if you take the gauge cluster out you may want to look at the speedo cable routing.(unsnap the cable from a holder on the engine firewall area and shove the cable towards the inside of the car)
Check into that when you research how to take the cluster out..if you actually decide to do this.

 

I should have been more specific with my question. On the gauge cluster there is a plastic that protects the actual gauges from being touched. Is there a way to remove that piece of plastic so one can actually access the gauges?

 

There are two plastic pieces in front of the gauges, the clear plastic face which is glued to the black plastic "mask" that actually defines the dials.
The clear can be removed if deemed necessary but the black shroud just clips to the cluster base and is easily removed to access the innards.

It's pretty obvious with the cluster in hand.

 

So i picked up some LEDs for the exterior. When I press the brake some of lights inside go on/off when I press the brake, regardless if I actually have the lights turned on with the switch on the cluster. Do I need a special relay to monitor the LEDs?

 

That's weird. I have not had that problem. Like I said I have them in all positions and have not had issues with the brakes lighting up the interior lights.

I have had some interior lights have the LED ghost affect which they have low power going through them when not in use and appear to be barely on but that doesn't seem to be your problem.

 

Hi everyone,

I picked up a S5 Convertible dash to replace my destroyed S5 coupe dash. There are some small differences but the mounting points look the same. I'm assuming there's a difference in the harness that is attached to the dash compared to the one on the coupe? Also, will a coupe steering column surround fit a convertible dash? I know that a convertible steering column surround is different since convertibles have the turn signals on the actual steering column instead of the bezel.

 

Verts had airbags, so that wiring will be different, I'd imagine.
The vert column surround is bigger than the coupe's, so the coupe surround would fit a vert switch bezel but not vice-versa.
Your coupe bezels should fit the vert dash, which eliminates this problem.