I just bought an '87 RX7. This is the first Rotary/Mazda/Import I've ever owned. This is a project car...

I bought it for $350. I'm engaged, and we're going to need a second vehicle within the next 6 months. So I figured that would give me enough time to fix this thing up. It's so cheap because it's a theft recovery. It's got a lot of things missing, and the ignition is all destroyed. I had to bring it home on a trailer. From what I can tell, the thieves were going to take the engine. The fuel lines are cut, the wiring harness was mostly disconnected from the engine, and some other things are missing. They stole stupid obscure things. Random relays are missing, the fog lights are missing, the leading coil is gone, the little metal plate that goes over the crank angle sensor is gone. And for some reason, they stole the bolt holding the freon lines to the AC compressor, probably part of seperating the engine from the car, I dunno...

Anyway, I've got a ton of questions. I search the forums first, and I've found a few answers. But there are things that I still can't figure out. For one, the car fax report gives me this:

Year/Make/Model: 1987 MAZDA RX7

Body Style: COUPE
Engine: 1.3L ROTARY TURBO FI
Fuel: GASOLINE
Driveline: REAR WHEEL DRIVE
Manufactured in: JAPAN
Safety Equipment: ABS Optional, Active (manual) belts

Standard Equipment: Power Windows Optional, Power Steering Optional, Air Conditioning Optional, AM / FM, Power Brakes, Tilt Wheel Optional, 6-digit Odometer


But there is no turbo. Do all 2nd gen cars come up as turbo or what? This doesn't have the turbo hood, no turbo charger, etc. It does however have a bunch of random black connectors coming off the wiring harness on the passenger side by the air filter (they stole the bolts to the air filter, too). Could this have originally been turbo, but someone swapped to an NA 13B? The engine and injection manifold are stamped 13B. What else can I look at to determine what engine it originally had?


Also, I've already bought a book on the car (Chilton sucks BTW), and it doesn't help much in telling me what connectors on the wiring harness go to where. Most of it is pretty simple. The crank angle sensor and alternator are easy. The fuel injectors were already hooked up, and so were a lot of other things. The things I'm having trouble with are those random black connectors by the air filter housing, a bunch of connectors by the battery space (they stole the battery tray, too), and I think relays are missing in that little space between the headlights and in front of the radiator. I think I'm gonna need some actual engine compartment pictures. Preferably of stock parts . If anyone would like, I can take some pictures of the car tomorrow to be more specific.

I'm trying to do as little as possible to get this to start, just so I know if the engine is ok or not. If it's not, I'm going to get a new engine for it.

I think the best way to figure out what's missing is to find someone with a 2nd gen and just compare it, or take pictures of it and hopefully someone here will notice something.

Oh, it's also got an automatic tranny, if that helps with figuring out what engine this had originally.

I want to get this thing on the streets where it belongs...


Thanks for any help,
- Chris

 

weerd

 

sounds like a real project for me

 

DarkCDE - It doesn't sound like it will be THAT bad.. just take some patience. .

First things first: http://www.iluvmyrx7.com/ You can get the Factory Service Manual here. This will be infiintely more helpful than anything else.

Second things first: The easist way to get help on a specific problem area/wiring confusion/vacuum line mess is to post a pic. there's TONS of people on here who can help you out once you do that..

Third things first: Just go out and buy about 4' of Fuel Injection hose, and about 8-10' of vacuum line.. I forget the specific size, but I THINK (key word) its' 5/32nd. cheap and availble at any hardware store.

Welcome to the club

~Wonko


PS - About the NA or Turbo - Check the FAQs at the top of the second gen section, there's a VERY nice list of what types of models were availble for what year. See which ones match yours..

Also - MOST of your missing or damaged components can be had from the "For Sale" section at the first page of this forum. If you want/need new parts, mazdatrix.com is a staple place to get them. yell if you need anything else.

 

Thanks I already bought the fuel line and upper and lower radiator hoses. I'll get a few pictures some time tomorrow. It really isn't that bad, I'm just a little worried that the engine is gonna be dead.

The gear inside the crank angle sensor is all rusted. Not the one that goes down into the engine, it's the one that takes the place of the rotor like on a distributor. It still spins freely, and when I look down inside the engine the oil is still a dark golden color, same with the oil on the dipstick. I guess the only way to tell for sure is to get it at a point where it'll start and see what it does... I'm gonna flush the hell out of the cooling system though. The radiator has all kinds of calcium deposits and crap.

 

just don't get too discouraged if you can't get it started or, especially if it starts, runs for about 4 seconds then dies.. there's a few sensors that may be disconnected or something. we'll get you through it This is seriously the easiest car I have ever worked on.

 

I've never heard of a turbo with an automatic transmission so maybe that carfax was just messed up.

 

there are turbo autos, people are even selling them in the forums here.

 

The automatic TurboII's never came to the states. They were available in Japan and other countries only. Maybe someone along the line bought it with no drivetrain and used the non turbo parts to get it running again. Post some pictures of your car and people will be able to help you better.

 

um.... i remember a VIN thread earlier..... if i remember correctly JM1FC331 was NA and JM1FC332 was turbo

which one does yours fit?

original thread
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ighlight=FC331
this one too
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ighlight=FC331

 

Ok, pictures...

The first (009B) is the whole engine. The big stuff looks intact. You can see the Leading coil I found sitting on thr driver's shock tower.

The second (001B) is the battery area. The tray is gone. It looks rusty, but that's just dirt. I've labeled all the random connectors. G1 and G2 are a mystery. W2 looks like it connects to the leading coil. ALT is the ring connector for the alternator. W1 is the AC compressor, and the only place I've found for it is W3, but it's strange that it would go forward instead of to the cab. X1 looks like it used to be a switch for something. I'll attach a close up pic later.

The third (002B) is the relay area between the headlights. I can see where the relays are supposed to mount, and it looks like a couple were there at one time, but aren't anymore.

The fourth (006B) is to the left of the engine by the brake booster. W10 is the crank angle sensor and it looks like it goes to W9 (I found that part of the harness tucked behind the brake booster, it also has the alternator ring). G3 is actually green, it just kinda hangs out right there, it's a mystery, as is W11. W12 is way down toward the bottom of the engine. That one's a mystery, too.

The fifth (010B) is over by the air filter box. I took it out for this picture. This one is pretty simple, but I'm not about to connect crap together and short something W6 and W8 fit together perfectly. W7 fits in the bottom of the pressure sensor B3. B1 and B2 also fit together. You can see W5 in the upper right corner. That's on a different picture...

*edit: wtf, pictures wouldn't upload...

 

Second batch...

Sixth pic (003B) is by the wiper motor. There's a vacuum line in the way that I didn't catch when I took this. Sorry about that. You can kinda see the connector on the wiper motor is all burned up. W13 and W14 are random and I can't find their mates! B4 is a little single wire connector.

Seventh pic (004B). I think this is an O2 sensor, but I don't know. The book I have is crap. Whatever it is, it has a signle spade terminal wire. I don't know where it goes either.

Eighth pic (005B) is by the intake hose. W5 is on the next picture so just ignore it. The two question marks are missing hoses. I think there's supposed to be a hose conencting the two, but I don't know. You can also see the O2 sensor or whatever that is.

Ninth pic (011B) is by the water inlet/thermostat housing. W4 and W5 are a perfect fit, but again, I'm not going to connect things unless I know they should be.

Tenth pic (012B) is by the brake booster again. W9, W10, W11, and G3 have all been covered. W18 is on the leading coil and looks like it should plug into W2 by the battery tray. B5 is a little blag single wire connector coming out of the leading oil. W17 is just like B5 only white. It's coming out of the trailing coil.


Ok, that's all I've found so far. It's not as bad as I originally thought. I think this car has just been sitting for awhile. I can tell because the pullies are a little rusted in the belt groove. The rotors are all heavily rusted, and there was old dead grass growing through the headlight assemblies.

What can you guys tell me?

 

According to that, it really is an NA. So I guess it's never been changed.


Oh, and here's the pic of that weird looking switch. It looks smashed or something.

 

I've had that happen to me before too - where CarFax reported the RX7 as a turbo, and it turned out not to be a turbo. I think it's an error within Carfax itself.

David

 

Looks like quite the project. I'm sure you'll be fine though. Good luck! ^_^