Great...so one morning the RX-7 would not start. The starter was turning, but there was no rpm shown on the tac, and it seemed that the engine was not being turned by the starter.
Checked out some posts, referenced the Hayes manual and most likely I thought a new starter would solve the problem.
New starter installed, same noise, the starter is turning but not engaging the transmission and starting the engine....yeah!
Ideas? I suspect something in the transmission. I'm skilled enough to replace a starter but transmissions are a bit out of my league. Is there something else I'm not catching?
I really would not like yet another $500 repair bill from the local garage, but that may be where I'm heading.
My main driver still works so I'm up for a nice spring project if it's not too technical.
The care is an 86 non turbo with manual trans. Its almost totally stock and really clean but after everything that has been going on it may be the next car to be parted out on this forum!
Thanks,
Matt

 

if the tac isnt showing any RPM but you hear it cranking its a fuse or spark issue most likely. check the fuses under the hood by the battery

 

^ Check the 40 amp EGI INJ fuse and then the 30 amp EGI Comp fuse in the engine fuse box location as well as the 15 amp Engine fuse in the interior fuse box. Also, make sure the wiring to the starter is properly connected.

 

Does the starter actually spin the engine? Try watching the belts or mark one to see if it moves.
If it doesn't move: 1) I'd suspect a starter solenoid is bad. Try another starter. 2) The flywheel may have lost teeth in the area of your starter. Try manually rotating the engine using the front hub bolt and see if the starter engages. This would require flywheel replacement or manually turning the engine every time this happens.
If it does move: Move on to fuses, fuel, and spark.

 

Yeah, I thought it could be the solenoid, hence the whole starter replaced. No fuses blown, engine is NOT turned while starter engaged.
I feel it may be the fly wheel in the tranny...uh oh

 

the ring gear may have cracked and come off the flywheel. easy enough to tell by moving the starter out of the bellhousing and visually inspect the flywheel ring gear.

 

Ok, so if I remove the new starter and I inspect the ring gear to see if it has cracked and come off the fly wheel...the end result would be removing the transmission?

That is something I have never done before, but hey why not?! Always wanted such a fun and rewarding project!!

Thanks everyone!

Any good posts on such a procedure?

 

Ok,

So with the car up on jacks, I removed the starter and the flywheel teeth look just fine. New battery, new starter, flywheel inspected, all engine fuses check good. The starter is wired and installed correctly and when the key is turned, I hear a whirring from the starter, the tach barely moves, but the engine will not turn over.

Could it be a voltage issue?

I am confused and frustrated and want to get the car off the jacks and back on the road.

I have an 86, manual trans, no factory alarm.

I have searched all the starter posts and find no solution!

Please help!
-Matt

 

Are there cases that the relay has gone bad?

Ugh...

 

use a socket and breaker bar to see if you can get a full revolution on the motor by hand

 

Thanks for the post!

Yes, I saw that as a possible issue in another thread, so I got the 19mm socket and used a normal socket wrench on the main pulley and the engine rotates all the way around. It is definitely not locked up.

It actually sounds like the starter is turning, but like I said the tach just barely moves around from 0 to maybe 100 rpm max...

Its almost time to push start this thing and drive it to the garage for a monetary raping...or part it out!

 

Does the New starter look like the OLD Starter?
The TII Starter is a little different and it would NOT turn the Flywheel of an N/A if installed.

 

Response to last post: Yes looked exactly like the old starter...minus grime and dirt. In fact it made the same noise as the old starter...and like the old starter did not start the engine.

So, girlfriend and I failed to push start it. Hooked up tow cable to tow it to local garage, and on the way while she braked I put it in second gear, released the clutch and it roared to life! I let it idle the whole way to the garage being towed, expecting it to die.

When we got to the mechanic. I stopped the engine. Tried to start it, it made the same weird noise, but this time it started the engine. Stopped the engine, retried...it started again.

Sensing it would not start when it was cold, I told the mechanic, left it with them and when they tried to duplicate my story, it started every time!

I drove it all day today. It started every time; however I am worried about the strange noise the starter makes to start the engine. Although I am happy with the results and I paid nothing to the garage it did not sound like it has the past year starting...but it works.

I leave this field now open and maybe later when the tranny falls out I will pick up this dialog then.

Thanks again for all the posts.

Does anyone need a fully functional used starter cheap?