Strange short/alternator or battery issue. Please help.
06-06-06, 08:50 PM
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Strange short/alternator or battery issue. Please help.
Good morning, long time reader, first time poster 
I bought my first RX-7 (an '88 Turbo II Japanese model) a few months back. Has been a dream come true
Anyway, being an old car, the wiring can be a little dodgey, particularly my interior light (not the two little ones, the one at the rearview mirror). Given alot of twisting and pushing it will come on, but go off randomly. Whilst pushing the connections rather roughly, it gave off a SPARK, and my stereo reset, as if I had just turned the car on, though it was already idling. I thought little of it, took a breath and drove home, about 45 minutes away.
All seemed in order until driving to work the next night. About 5 minutes from home, the stereo started cutting out and the instrument cluster and clock started getting dimmer and dimmer. Also, it started to run very sluggish and was backfiring when given more then 1/3 throttle. Power steering started to be un-powered. The battery was completely drained by the time I made it to work, which was barely.
After charging the battery all seems fine, but when I turn the key to ON, the warning lights aren't lighting up like they're sposed to, just the ones that are SUPPOSED to be on, like the door ajar and parking brake. But this is with the engine off. I have heard that alternator failure should cause them all to come on, but they have not.
Also the battery only reads 12.6v~ when idling, and slightly more with the engine off. I know it does sound like the alternator, but the strange behaviour of the warning lights has me baffled. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
And I apologise for the length of my post, but the circumstances are important I think.
I bought my first RX-7 (an '88 Turbo II Japanese model) a few months back. Has been a dream come true
Anyway, being an old car, the wiring can be a little dodgey, particularly my interior light (not the two little ones, the one at the rearview mirror). Given alot of twisting and pushing it will come on, but go off randomly. Whilst pushing the connections rather roughly, it gave off a SPARK, and my stereo reset, as if I had just turned the car on, though it was already idling. I thought little of it, took a breath and drove home, about 45 minutes away.
All seemed in order until driving to work the next night. About 5 minutes from home, the stereo started cutting out and the instrument cluster and clock started getting dimmer and dimmer. Also, it started to run very sluggish and was backfiring when given more then 1/3 throttle. Power steering started to be un-powered. The battery was completely drained by the time I made it to work, which was barely.
After charging the battery all seems fine, but when I turn the key to ON, the warning lights aren't lighting up like they're sposed to, just the ones that are SUPPOSED to be on, like the door ajar and parking brake. But this is with the engine off. I have heard that alternator failure should cause them all to come on, but they have not.
Also the battery only reads 12.6v~ when idling, and slightly more with the engine off. I know it does sound like the alternator, but the strange behaviour of the warning lights has me baffled. Any advice would be greatly appreciated
And I apologise for the length of my post, but the circumstances are important I think.
06-06-06, 11:23 PM
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I just had similar problems in my 88 N/A....my Alt. crapped out and the room fuse blew at the same time....replaced both yesterday now she's back to normal. I'd dismantle that overhead light though and see what caused the spark....my switch was broken when I got mine and super glue IS my friend. Now, we'll see if I can fix what breaks tomorrow.....
06-08-06, 09:09 PM
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I got the alternator off and took it to the auto electrician, he says there's something wrong with the voltage regulator. Would that likely be the cause of the trouble?
06-12-06, 08:53 PM
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Alright, the alternator has been reconditioned and I have put it back on the car. The warning lights work again, and it charging again but under throttle and while warming up at 1-1.5krpms, it puts out up to 18vdc! Once it warms up and drops to 750rpm, it sits at ~14.4 nicely, but when given any revs it shoots up. Could this "new" voltage regulator also be faulty or installed incorrectly, or is this a sign of another issue? I appreciate any feedback
06-13-06, 10:27 PM
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at last all fixed. Turns out it was the sense wire on the two prong connector, ended up frying two rotors running without it working correctly. Thankfully the auto electrician picked it up, and fixed it and installed another rotor free of charge 
Also it's a testament to the quality of the FC electrics, amazing it didn't fry something running at 17~18vdc for as long as it did.
Thank you everyone for the input
Also it's a testament to the quality of the FC electrics, amazing it didn't fry something running at 17~18vdc for as long as it did.
Thank you everyone for the input
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