clean car HElP!!!!
 

i washed my fd today and now it won't start and i need it tomorrow morning. When the ignition is in the on position teh overheat exhast light in the center consol comes on and starter does even make a noise. water must have gotten in some place it wasn't welcome. Is there a way to reset the ECU. BTW this is the 3rd day i have had the car....it has a PFS purple piggy back computer if that helps.


thanks alot, adam

you can disconnect the negative battery cable wait 20 seconds step on brake do not know if it will work with your setup. if it doesn't work let it sit and hope whatever got wet dries up by tomarrow. did you pressure wash the engine bay? if so check all conections vacume lines check o2 sensor line make sure did not come loose.

no no pressure wash...where is the famous o2 sensor located?


-thanks for your help btw

O2 sensor is on the pre-cat (pipe going from exhaust section of turbo manifold to the main cat).

Resetting the ECU is as easy as disconnecting the negative battery cable, but I don't know if that'll help.

Did you wash the engine bay at all? Just washing the car should have no effect on any starting systems. It gets more wet from driving in the rain that from washing it.

i did not wash the engine bay. Whole seris of events. friend came over, started car for friend, idles for a minute or less(normal idle). turning the car off, washed ouside of car.

The resetting ecu didn't work

You don't get a click or anything when you try to start the car?

Sounds like a dead battery. If you have a battery charger, hook it up. Otherwise, see if you can jump the car.

it gives a click

Yep, I would start with the battery. I've had a battery with just enough juice to run the lights however not enough to start the car.

what about this "overheat exhast system light." i have never heard anything about it since i have been "into" rx7s and looking on this forum. The only thing different (besides the car not starting" is this light is lit.

im sry i didn't add it in teh previous post, i tried jump starting it, plus the battery is 2 days old.

Start checking all the electrical connections. It's possible you have a short and it's zapping the battery.

What happen when you tried to jump start it?

You never hear the engine try to turn?

when i jumped it it just clicked. and the over heat light was lit (that why i say said it was a short becasue the car wasn't run for teh exhast to overheat).

I would check the connections to the starter and to the alternator.

Also, I would remove the battery connections, make sure they aren't crimped on something.

i will check...but why is that light on?

just checked battery cables. they seem ordinary. when i try to start it i still get the exhast overheat light and the click. there is no starter activity, no nothin. interior lights work. is there a certain fuse i should check?

exhaust light is normal with the key in the on position -its just a self test.

shouldn't it go off after a couple of secs?

lol, ur saying, thats a very odd question but this is the first time i have been in my car at night. 3rd day of ownership.

yeah that light comes on when power is on
you cant overheat the motor if its not starting LOL dont worry about it

only worry if it comes on when you were driving

I tend to agree with the battery being the problem also

how did you jump start it? batterys do go bad maybe you got a shitty one

try to push start it. get in and have someone push it about 10 mph have the car in 1st or 2nd gear and drop the clutch and floor the gas at the same time

sorry if I missed something in your post that makes mine not helpful im tired

just tried to jump it again, with a different car. i jumped it by pos 2 pos, neg 2 neg. I heard thats not the best way but its always worked on other cars and i am never sure if certain things are grounded.

to me, it sounds unrelated to washing your car

Look at other things because I doubt it was due to getting your car wet. if you wash your car every week, why would it do it this time?

Actually my friends BB FD was doing the same thing, we could here the click, but no crank, the all the lights worked but his power windows closed and opened slowly...we first went to buy a battery @ autozone thinking it was the battery...well next day same prob..turns out that the problem was his alternator....went out bought a new one, installed it, and he's never had a prob. since.....hope this helps...yea I remember when my first week of fd ownership, I saw that light one day and it freaked me out, nothing but a self-check test like Marshall mentioned...

So it’s probably the alternator or starter, is that an easy install? Also, is there anything else that could cause this excluding a bad battery? Remember, I started the car; it idled it for less than a minute, and then proceeded to wash it.

you could probably go to a shop or if you have a voltage meter and try and test the alternator, before we knew it was the alternator, we went to a Napa auto and a guy came out with a voltage meter and determined it was the alternator...the install took us bought 45 min.. if you have all the right tools...we also had the factory shop manual...pretty straight forward

damnit, no shop manual and most likly not the right tools. Is this something my local mazda dealer can handle. I know they r bad news but this isn't like them trying to fix boost problems or whatever.

i think i can get my hands on a volt/ohm meter, how would i test the alternator? Contact the probes with the alternator wires while "starting the car"?