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redline buzzer isnt working

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Old 06-18-06, 07:13 PM
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redline buzzer isnt working

Hello, I just got an rx7 and I think I have 2 issues with it. Well basically 1, the "idiot" buzzer isnt working. I looked to see if the buzzer has a fuse but I didnt see 1. Im pretty sure that the buzzer should go off at redline, and when it says add coolant correct? What could be some of the reasons the buzzer isnt working? I have caught myself @ +7k rpm a few times and I Think the buzzer would help me a lot. Yes I need the idiot buzzer. :0) Any help would be awesome thanks!

Tweak.
Old 06-18-06, 07:26 PM
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Mine works, and I've looked through all my fuses before but never seen the overrev buzzer fuse before. I'll look again when I get home and get back to you.
Old 06-18-06, 07:32 PM
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Yeah I dont think there is a fuse or else people would just be unplugging it. I guess I will have to take the dash off and see if he unsoldered it or something. Thanks for the quick reply.
Old 06-18-06, 07:48 PM
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Well after 20 years, can you honestly expect everything to be holding like new..? At least it's not as bad as the 80's 300zx. Their soldered connections royally suck.

Good luck.
Old 06-19-06, 08:51 AM
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Mine doesn't work either. But I also have a Microtech. I don't know if that has anything to do with it. Do those of you with aftermarket engine management stil have the redline buzzer? What about an aftermarket redline buzzer?
Old 06-19-06, 09:15 AM
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i dont have a buzzer cause my car was automatic. so i guess they didnt install it

jason nyc
Old 06-19-06, 09:26 AM
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Originally Posted by impulsive-rx7
Mine doesn't work either. But I also have a Microtech. I don't know if that has anything to do with it. Do those of you with aftermarket engine management stil have the redline buzzer? What about an aftermarket redline buzzer?
the buzer is not run by the ecu, i have microtech too, and my buzer still works.
Old 06-19-06, 09:30 AM
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Yep, mine works too and I have a haltech.
Old 06-19-06, 10:52 AM
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Mine has never worked in my 90 gtu that I got a little over a year ago.

If you manage to fix it, let us know what you had to do.
Old 06-19-06, 11:43 AM
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There are multiple reasons the buzzer dies.

One that the buzzer is old and its dead.

Two, that the solder joints to the buzzer is bad

Third, that the circuit board that monitors the tach, has a adjustable pot, that is dirty and out of adjustment

So you can try re-soldering the buzzer to the back of the circuit board on the gauges, but generally it is easy to replace the buzzer with another 12 volt Piezo buzzer (Radio Shack).

If you have replaced the buzzer and it is still not working then you can adjust the pot, but PM me on how to do that, as many poeple will get in there and start tweaking and screw the whole thing up.

And ROTARYROCKET7 all FC's came with a buzzer, regardless of if the car is an automatic or not. The buzzer is also used for low oil and low coolant, besides redline. If your buzzer is not working you need to fix it.

Last edited by Icemark; 06-19-06 at 11:49 AM.
Old 06-20-06, 02:15 PM
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Ok guys, sorry for the late response. It takes me a while to find a computer with the internet (working far from home) But here is the deal. This post might be long but stick with me here.

I have an 88 GTU with lsd, and I guess super small gear ratio. I was at an rx7 meeting and they said that the GTU was made to be the NA racer. *shurg* I have no clue if that is true.
Anyways, I pull out my dash (wasnt exactly fun) and I unscrew the circuit board from the back of the gauge pod things. I see a little white buzzer looking thing in the VERY center of the board, but it didnt have wires, it was white and looked like a mini smoke detector.

I came to the conclusion that that wasnt it becuase all the solders and everything were perfect AND becuase I looked to the left and I see on the board "Buzzer". It had NO (I repeat) NO solder marks, nothing connected to the - and + so I went to radio shack (yes w/o a dash was fun :0) power stearing went out and I kept trying to use my blinker that .. didnt ... exist...) and got a pizo buzzer thing for like 4$. I hook it up to my 6 volt flashlight battery to make sure it works and since it was a 12v pizzo it wasnt very loud. But could still hear it. I go back home solder it in and shove the dash back in there. Take off and it didnt buzz or beep. Now (with a very angry face) im driving back home thinking wtf eh where is my buzz. I take the dash back out and start checking on the board again and find out that the - on the buzzer is going to a screw hole that doesnt have a screw in it. It never had a screw, and there is no threads for the screw to screw into. Then I look at the positive and I trace it back to the pins going to the ECU and there is NO pin in the big white citcle connector. So im like CRAP! I cant even go find a different gauge pod dash thing and put it in here.

So ... what the heck guys? All I can think is that the GTU "racer" people would get VERY mad at the buzzer always going off becuase they are always @ 7k and mazda never installed one for them? Anyone else have a GTU and noticed this?

Anyone have any clues on what I should do? Just buy a shift light or something? I do consider myself and idiot in this rx7 (after driving a 3 speed automatic cavalier for 2 years) the tach stick might start breaking off around 8k. Any info or recommendation other then "learn 2 drive you idiot" would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading this and have a good day.

P.S. Thanks mom for sending all the replies to my cell phone. If you could log in and check my private messages mom that would be cool. Check for one from icemark. You have really helped a lot. Thanks. Yay momz!

Im going to a junk yard today to find a different dash and try that anyways also.
Also, I have had a "add coolant" light on and the buzzer doesnt go off then either. That light scared me because my coolant is super topped off.... I donno. *shrug* Maybe bad sensor. But the morning before it happend when I started me car and started moving it sounded like my tires had wet paper bags on them. (thats the only way I could describe the sound sorry) until about 1/8 a mile then it went away. Maybe it was air in the coolant system?

Last edited by TweakGames; 06-20-06 at 02:36 PM.
Old 06-21-06, 08:16 AM
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Thanks IceMark I will try that, but I took it all the way to 8k just to see if the buzzer would go off and it didnt then also. So I dont think its out of alignment. Just not working.
Old 06-21-06, 08:39 AM
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That Sucks Because I Love That Sound!
Old 06-21-06, 01:57 PM
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Originally Posted by TweakGames
I came to the conclusion that that wasnt it becuase all the solders and everything were perfect AND becuase I looked to the left and I see on the board "Buzzer". ......
So ... what the heck guys? All I can think is that the GTU "racer" people would get VERY mad at the buzzer always going off becuase they are always @ 7k and mazda never installed one for them? Anyone else have a GTU and noticed this?
No, all FC's had the buzzer. Someone just removed yours (not uncommon if you had someone that hated the buzzer and could not figure out how to bleed the cooling system). I had a 88 GTU that did have the buzzer (as well as every other FC I have owned).

Normally there are 4 pins on the stock buzzer. Two to hold it to the board, and two to make the electrical connections.

And only of the GTU models only the 88 GTU was the sporty model.

In 86 and 87, the Sporty model with the heavy duty suspension was the called the Sport, in 88 the GTU and in 89-90 the GTUs (note the small "S"... the GTUs should not to be confused with the 89-90 GTU which was a strippy base model).

But again all 2nd and 3rd Gen RX-7's (as well as some 1st gen and the RX-8) came with the buzzer from the factory.

Sounds like your dash has been partitally dissassmbled because there is no screw holding the buzzer on... perhaps you are confusing this with one of the contact screws for the tachometers control board.

Last edited by Icemark; 06-21-06 at 02:00 PM.
Old 06-21-06, 03:39 PM
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Hello and thank again for the quick replies. Tonight im going to take my dash apart again and try to upload the images (if my wireless source is still working) and see if my first guess was correct. You say the buzzer has 4 pins holding it in and no cord correct? Ok then I must have been right, when I saw the big big box w/ for solder connections that looks like a smoke detector. That must have been the buzzer. It was in the middle of the circuit board. I Will try the pot adjusting thing first I guess. If the buzzer is broken what 2 pins do I connect my new pizzo buzzer to? (out of the 4)

Thanks have a good night.
Old 06-21-06, 03:45 PM
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Originally Posted by ROTARYROCKET7
i dont have a buzzer cause my car was automatic. so i guess they didnt install it

jason nyc
thats not ture, i had an 87 base with an auto and i had a buzzer

but my 89 gxl 5spd's doesnt work, i just assume look at this tach like in anyother car
Old 06-21-06, 08:16 PM
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Originally Posted by TweakGames
Hello and thank again for the quick replies. Tonight im going to take my dash apart again and try to upload the images (if my wireless source is still working) and see if my first guess was correct. You say the buzzer has 4 pins holding it in and no cord correct? Ok then I must have been right, when I saw the big big box w/ for solder connections that looks like a smoke detector. That must have been the buzzer. It was in the middle of the circuit board. I Will try the pot adjusting thing first I guess. If the buzzer is broken what 2 pins do I connect my new pizzo buzzer to? (out of the 4)

Thanks have a good night.
There is no wire holding the buzzer. It is soldered to the circuit board.

I think you are confusing the Jspec connections on the far left (as looking at the circuit board) that says BZ+ and BZ-... those are not the buzzer on US spec models. The buzzer is in the cut out of the gauge panel and kidy korner left to the beam light on a S4.

I think you are very lost, and I highly (not just recommend, but HIGHLY recommend) that you are perhaps over your head here, and need to back away from the panel until you have a better understanding. Adjusting the tach pot is something that very easily can mess up the whole tach out of calibration, effectivly making it useless if you are not 100% sure of what you are doing. Being that you can not find the buzzer, I route that into the "not 100% sure of what you are doing" catagory.

Last edited by Icemark; 06-21-06 at 08:21 PM.
Old 06-21-06, 09:05 PM
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Um... I found the buzzer, just thought that the Jspec connections (SINCE IT SAYS BUZZER!) was the buzzer connection. Simple mistake. Im not going to touch the pot, I thought that was just the buzzer adjuster, not the whole tach.... So my buzzer is there in the center, why ... isnt it working?
Mazda wants to charge me 89$ just to look at it. I almost kicked him in the neck.
Old 06-21-06, 10:59 PM
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Originally Posted by TweakGames
Um... I found the buzzer, just thought that the Jspec connections (SINCE IT SAYS BUZZER!) was the buzzer connection. Simple mistake. Im not going to touch the pot, I thought that was just the buzzer adjuster, not the whole tach.... So my buzzer is there in the center, why ... isnt it working?
Mazda wants to charge me 89$ just to look at it. I almost kicked him in the neck.
There are two adjustment pots for the tach, one for calibration one for feed for the buzzer. If you made the mistake of not finding the buzzer I was not convinced (and rather concerned) that you would be able to get the correct pot for adjusting.

If you disconnect the water level sensor on the radiator does the buzzer sound??? If it does, then the problem is not the buzzer.

If it does not, then the problem is probably the buzzer and it will need to be replaced.

If you replace it, you will hook up to the two solder connections nearest to the bright indicator. With the bottom one a positive and the top one a negitive.
Old 06-21-06, 11:37 PM
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I GOT BUZZ! the buzzer was just dead haha I didnt take it out but I just connected my pizzo buzzer to the - and + next to the light. It goes off RIGHT at 6.99999!!! im so happy!! at first I Was concirned that it wasnt going off at the right time because it was going off at around 5k (when I was in neutral or clutch was in) but I Guess that was just the needle couldnt keep up with it. *smirk* because when I drove down the road it went off RIGHT when it should (and kinda scared me in fact). lol.

So everything is perfect, didnt touch any pots, I am so happy! next gata get my tranny fluid changed, and get the shell of the cat converter takin off. (it just recently got a rock it in or something and scared the death out of me. I Thought my tranny was going bad) I dont know why he even put the shell back on. (it has some special dual exaust thing.)

Ok so next mods for the 7 is RB exaust manifold, that DTSS, enging mounts, tranny mount, bushing set thing, and intake box. :0) I was told (at the rx7 meeting) that the NA exaust manifold is SUPER restrictive (at least a 5 hp gets released).

One last question before I go other then, if you recommend the above mods in that order. My gas milage is kinda UNSTABE, to say the least. Somedays I go and it drops down 1/8 a tank, then the next it drops 1/2 the tank. I looked in my engine bay and I notice that the "air pump" didnt have a belt on it. Im guesing to release HP, but I spun the little wheel and it was almost NO restriction. I see a place for the pipe and belt, but I Dont know where the pipe/hose goes. In the rx7 meeting they said that past 60% throttle it tries to suck air out of there. .. I dont know if that is true but sounds good to me. hehe. Im thinking if I hook that back up it might help.

Anyways all thanks very much for all the help so far. Your all the best I love my little idiot buzzer. It will help this idiot drive better. :0)

Have a good night all, I know I will.
Old 06-22-06, 12:15 AM
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without intake modifications (like porting or the runners matched and polished) the non turbo exhaust manifold is fine, and a header will not net you any more gains than a good down pipe that replaces the pre-cats.

Of course a header will be radically louder than the stock exhaust manifold.

So who ever told you a stock manifold was restrictive really didn't know what he or she was talking about. The pre-cats are the only restrictive part of the front half.

I also would not change the DTSS bushings unless your current ones are bad or damaged. When you learn how the DTSS works, and adjust your driving style to them, you will be quicker in the corners with the DTSS system than over eliminators. Of course if you don't have a lot of experience driving, they may confuse you, in which case it might be easier (although not as fast) to eliminate them.

If you have a main cat converter the air pump is required. You will burn out the cat without it. Again I would suspect what you buddies are telling you. The air pump is always functioning, but the draw is minimal and the factory rated 146 HP (at the flywheel) is with the air pump working and connected. The air pump is normally connected to the ACV which feeds air into either the cat, the exhaust at the manifold, or the vent line depending on what needs the air. When it is going to the cat it is to stabilize the conversion process, when it is going to the exhaust ports, it is to help prevent back fires in the manifold, and when it is going to the vent, it is venting to the atmosphere as neither the cat nor the exhaust manifold needs it (again which lowers the parastic drag of the air pump).
Old 06-22-06, 07:50 AM
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My cat has been removed already. Do I need to do anything special other then hook up the air pump? I cant wait to get it fixed, maybe it will help my high RPM backfires. :0)

But if the air pump being disconnected doesnt have anything to do with gas milage, maybe I have an injector problem? I can REALLY feel it when it changes injectors. (I actuly go forward in my seat in the morning when it switches) I guess I Will just buy an SAFC, take it to a dyno and see what my air to fuel is, and get it tuned.

I really dout I will have even CLOSE to the stock 146 hp, so then I have an excuse to try and get it back :0). What / where would you recommend I Get a new down pipe for my pre cat? Would there be anything BAD about getting a better down pipe and headers? I dont think you can flow much better then that.. (I would think)

Then I gata figure out how to get the windshield wiper fluid to work. I can get the motor to make a noise, but the pressure is like ... nothing. There is some but its like its clogged WAY down by the wiper pump. (disconnected and felt pressure as close to pump as I could.) Is there a filter in the pump that might be clogged?

Thanks again guys. I might be moving my temp house, so I dont know if I will be online when I get there. I will find a way to read the replies though.
:0)

Last edited by TweakGames; 06-22-06 at 07:58 AM.
Old 06-22-06, 11:29 AM
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Originally Posted by TweakGames
My cat has been removed already. Do I need to do anything special other then hook up the air pump? I cant wait to get it fixed, maybe it will help my high RPM backfires. :0)
, well you will need a working ACV as well- if the air pump is missing the ACV may also be

But if the air pump being disconnected doesnt have anything to do with gas milage, maybe I have an injector problem? I can REALLY feel it when it changes injectors. (I actuly go forward in my seat in the morning when it switches) I guess I Will just buy an SAFC, take it to a dyno and see what my air to fuel is, and get it tuned.
The 3800 rpm hesitation is generally caused be grounding issues, and not injector issues. There is a thread on fixing this and running grounds in the 2nd gen Archive section. As far as mileage, what are you getting??? anything between 13-18 city is perfectly normal. Drving style will have the biggest influence on gas mileage.

I really dout I will have even CLOSE to the stock 146 hp, so then I have an excuse to try and get it back :0). What / where would you recommend I Get a new down pipe for my pre cat? Would there be anything BAD about getting a better down pipe and headers? I dont think you can flow much better then that.. (I would think)
... Hmm I don't think you were understanding again. If you wanted to increase power, you would remove the pre-cats and either replace the pre-cats (there will be 2 pre-cats and a main cat on a 88 non turbo) with a down pipe, or replace the exhaust mainfold and pre-cats with a header. It's an either or situation. Not a both. Again the drawbacks to a header is the increased noise, and reduced life when comparied to the stock exhaust manifold and a pre-cat replacing down pipe. The Racing beat down pipe and presilenecer is probably the best, and will result in a power increase simular to a header.

The only real place a header has on a FC RX-7 is when using a true dual exhaust (a exhaust pipe front to rear for each rotor- kept seperate the entire length), or when using a carb or other intake modifcations such as porting.

You will want to stay away from the cheaper headers like the pacesetter one, as they tend to sound bad and do not last long term on a rotary powered car.

Then I gata figure out how to get the windshield wiper fluid to work. I can get the motor to make a noise, but the pressure is like ... nothing. There is some but its like its clogged WAY down by the wiper pump. (disconnected and felt pressure as close to pump as I could.) Is there a filter in the pump that might be clogged?
The intake to the pump is probably clogged up in the pump resivor assembly or the line is pinched somewhere.
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