To make a long story short scroll down to the last paragraph.

It was sitting for two years after a mishap at the repair shop. The mechanic never did the repair and the car sat for too long. Anywho the owner claimed it lost compression from sitting to long which seems logical. The engine bay looks pretty good, interior in very good shape (except driver seat). And the paint is meh, pealing chipped. So i was doing the routine wakeup call for a rotary engine when i started to do some electrical tests. The battery is tost so i hooked it up to my other car. Everything seemed ok inside the car until i checked the headlights. I heard a click and everything went dead. I thought i blew a fuse but none of the main fuses are burned although the "btn" one is missing. I went to check the interior ones when i discovered I cant find them.

The owners manual that came with the car is for a 90. It said the fuse box is on the drivers side next to the frame. In my case there is a black piece of plastic held on by plastic rivets. Is this the right location and if so how do i go bout getting access to the fuse box?

 

There's a cover for the interior fuse box, which is located behind and above the dead pedal.

 

that black box should show a diagram of whats behind it , basically a lay out of all the fuses , where they go, what kind. check the FAQ on the 2ng gen FC. it has pics of the fuse box in the car( drivers side) and in the engine bay

 

XD didnt see it behind the mat. Next question, none of these fuses seem to go to the headlights. I see the turns and stop but dont see headlight unless its the "illum" one. also what does the "btn" fuse for as mine is missing.

 

Well i did some more research. Couldn't find the headlight fuse BUT did rule out th headlights as the problem. I pulled the fuse for the lifter and the headlights work. So i will check into the headlight motor problem tomorrow. I also checked out the starter, I confirmed that the engine has no compression, no strange noises of broken parts. A few seconds of turning over and the entire electrical system turned off. I checked the main fuse and disconnected the battery. The main fuse was ok as well as the other fuses. Once i hooked the battery back up everything seemed to function again.

My educated guess is that something that deals with the starter, fuel pump, or coils is bad. Any advice on locating the problem?

 

where in Va are you?

 

that's a good question, depending on the OP's location he may have help close at hand.....or not

 

Also your manual should be just fine 91 is the same series as a 90 so they should be the same car. Search for seafoam treatment and try that to see if you can get any compression back. If not then you may need an engine.

 

Im near petersburg. I got it running today YEAY. My electrical problems were not in the 7 but the car i was jumping from (bad ground). Didn't need to seafoam or atf. Added a bit of oil directly into the engine let it build compression and after an hour and a half of fancy footwork and smoke it started up. Didn't want to stay running on its own for a while. After about 5 mins i checked over all the gauges all normal then revved it to 5k for bout 30 seconds then a quick pop up to 8k when i sprung a leak in a coolant line. Its prolly nothing major, will find and fix it tomorrow.

As far as the rest of the car. . . Its a FC. It appears to have been repainted not so well, One small surface rust spot on the roof and pealing paint in about 7 places. The back tires are good, front a getting close to needing replacing. Car is very dity on exterior (stored in barn without cover) and has a few sap spots from when it was running and parked under a pine tree. No mods were made to the car so its all stock. The engine was replaced by the last owner 5 years ago and has about 30k miles on it.

Ill post pics soon!

 

well since you're in Petersburg, some threads you should be aware of then:
weekly meetup https://www.rx7club.com/ne-rx-7-forum-30/weekly-richmond-va-friday-night-starbucks-meet-new-location-533164/
the local guys https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...43677&page=206

and there is Mazda rotary rebuild shop in Colonial Heights - the guys from there said that they're planning to do RX-7 motors soon in addition to the Renesis rebuilds.

 

Once i get everything done to it i fill i can do ill take it to my mechanic who will pre-inspect and fix up any problems. Once it has the tags and stickers i will come to a meet up.

 

Ran into one more problem, ran outta money till next paycheck, lol. But it runs, gotta change out the fuel filters and put in a new battery and she'll be drivable.

 

new sparkplugs will do wonders as well
with all new fluids you should be good to go

 

Ive already changed the fluids, except diff and transmission, that ill leave to the pros at flagstop. Till my next paycheck, however, im going to address the rust spots with some sanding, grinding, and painting. ill have before and after pics soon.

If anyone has facebook i have pics up here

 

This thread is useless without pics.

 

I suggets you replace the coolant lines and vaccuum lines on the engine. Since they've been sitting for so long, you'll probably keep blowing the coolant lines when you start to drive it hard. You'll also break some of the vacuum lines while you're taking the intake manifolds apart to replace the broken coolant lines.

Good luck, and just an FYI the white paint on FC's is just crappy from the factory in general. For some reason it peels off.

 

well it appears to have been repainted before (some white on plastic) but they didnt do it right. It seems like they didnt let the primer cure fully so the paint is chipping and pealing in places. I am atm removing rust and doing a quick fix till i have the money to have it done professionally.



Pics . . . .


Just in the garage


Back end


Engine




The damage . . .

Biggest Rust Problem


Masking the rust


1/2 finished main rust removal


Rust gone =)


First primer coat


More later

 

Nice Job !!!

 

i hope it turns out good too. after work im gonna start wetsanding again and hopefully lay down at least one layer of paint. Pics shall follow.

 

I see that only your left headlight is up, whats the deal with that? maybe we have the same probem...

 

Its stuck up, motor disconnected for protection. Car was put over a ditch (not into) while the light was up and it never retracted. The right one is functional and quick. Im eventually gonna take it apart and find the problem but its cosmetic atm.
Ill post pics of that rebuild as well

 

That BTN fuse is crucial. Go out and buy a new one. It controls all running lights, interior lights, brake lights.

 

Its not blown or else i wouldnt have driven the car. Im doing the first rattle can painting now. Ill post result pics. Then morrow i sand a bit and do it again


EDIT:

Just finished first painting results

Roof


Hood

 

Thats not a respray I bet. Its the typical Mazda Crystal white on S5s they used - it chipped. I've never seen original S5 White FCs that didnt have paint falling off it...

At least you're getting it cured up!

 

Yea dont wanna replace those panels. Just a thought, wouldnt now be the oppertune time to add some hawt flames or what?!? JK JK keeping it white for now. And thats only 1/2 of the paint work needed to be done. I still have next to the headlight and the rear to start tomorrow.