MirageJHU

Hey I have two quick stupid questions

I have an 88 GXL, everything seemed fine until I tried to start it this morning, last time I drove it was Tuesday, and here I am Friday morning open the door, the lights didn't come on I knew something was up. Foot on clutch car in neutral, turn key, nothing. So I'm 99% sure its the battery, but if you guys think it could be something else please tell me.

Because of a situation that I will explain a little bit later, I'm planning on disconnecting the battery when I don't plan on driving it for a few days (after I get it jumped or buy a new one, I'm waiting for my friend to wake up). Would that be bad for the car, is there anything special in the RX7 that always needs a little bit of power or anything to that extent?

Finally, I'm pretty sure I know what killed the battery...2 weeks ago when I bought the car my friend and I swapped out the stock head unit so that I could put a cd player in. We bought all the adapters that the car audio guy in circuit city said we needed and hooked everything up except for one wire that we didn't have an adapter for and didn't fit anywhere. So my friend who is more into car audio than I am suspected that wire powered the amp (because when we turned on the cd player without that wire plugged into anything no sound, but the cd player powered up and read the cd) So he hardwired the wire into the harness to power the amp so I think that the amp is pretty much always on and thats probably what killed the battery. So basically my question here is there has to be a better way to do that, anybody out there know how to do it?

Sorry for my long *** first post, any help is greatly appreciated, thanks for taking the time to read this far

apreludem

check the battery, im pretty sure its the battery.

nonameo

If you have a big, powerful amp and speaker setup, pulling more amps than your alternator can provide, you should amplify the output of the alternator by getting an FD alternator which puts out 100 amps. Not doing so may also amplify the number of electrical problems you are having with the car, such as the injectors not amplifying the amount of gas provided(more of a turbo issue).

oh yea, does the car light up or seem really weak on power? this should be a dead giveaway. If it does light up then try turning OFF the amp while starting the car. If it starts, then your battery probably cannot provide enough power for both the starter and the amp. again, DEAD giveaway is the electrical system bogging down when you try to start the car.

RunningDeer

Disconnecting the battery will get old quick What you need is a "plug & play" harness, go to >http://www.crutchfield.com or call them for the correct harness for your car and stereo system. It'll cost a few bucks since you didn't buy the stereo from them, but well worth it to have things done right in the first place That's one good reason to stay away from circuit city and the likes....

JAKE1

Your amp is hooked up incorrectly or your cd player.

Does the cd player stay on when you turn off the key? Your amp should have a power light on it. Does it stay on when you turn off the key? the cd and amp should go on and off with the key.

The amp should have 3 wires to run it , ground/ which should go to the chassis, power/which should go only to the battery, and a remote turn on.

The remote turn on wire from the amp should be connected to the blue wire coming out of your cd player. This turns the amp on and off when the key is off.

And if your felling lazy, it is always easier to pull the fuse out of the amp than to disconnect the battery.

MirageJHU

its the stock 100watt or whatever AMP thats in there
when I turn the key nothing happens no lights, when I opened the door the light didn't come on either, its definitely the battery

my lazy *** friend won't wake up so I can't get it jumped to see if that was it

yes the cd player does stay on when you turn the car off, so I have to turn it off, also since I'm in school in Baltimore I pull the face plate off and lock it up so nobody is tempted to steal the head unit thing

I don't know how to tell if the amp stays on, its just a hunch I have

thanks for all your help guys, I'll definitely update it when my friend wakes up and we go out there

dubrc

get your battery tested...older batteries start collecting a lot of sedaments in the bottom of them, which will affect both the charge and the holding capacity of it. most shops can test this, but it would have to be real bad to kill it in a couple days. I suspect it's your amps like JAKE1 said, prolly the remote turn on

MirageJHU

It was definitely the amp, I pulled the plug on it so now I'm running with no music which I don't mine but at least theres no more drain on the battery.

I found some wiring diagrams online, I'm going to take a look at the rest of the wiring tomorrow afternoon hopefully wire it up properly so it turns off with the key

thanks for your help guys I appreciate it

kurt

Hey I'm another "stupid question" guy, but I think some of you experts out there have touched on my problem and probably know exactly what I am doing wrong. So here goes, any help would be greatly appreciated!

I bought a stock Mazda am fm cassette cd combination head unit (#6263) with Pioneer AE Processing unit (#hps6v08) out of a 1991 RX7. I want to put it in my 1992 Miata. (I know it's not the best sounding option, but I like the stock look, it fits perfectly, and the connectors plug right in!) Sadly, I get no sound whatsoever. The cd works, the tuner tunes... BUT I also get no power antenna and the cassette player doesn't seem to actually run.
Questions:
1. Do I absolutely need amps to get sound out of this unit?
2. Can anyone share the wiring diagram for this head unit so I can figure out the antenna etc?

Thanks again in advance!