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"?

If you aren't experienced with an ohm meter don't use one. Tow the car to autozone and have them test the alternator. If it comes out ok, replace the starter.

For a copy of the factory service manual go to http://www.iluvmyrx7.com

I second that

ok, i'll post back when i find out whats wrong.

Er, hello? Anyone think it may be flooded? Start car, idle for minute, turn straight off, hmmmm:confused:

but it's not spinning...just click, dead.

clean the battery terminals and make sure you have a good connection.

if the connection is bad, then trying to jump the car wouldn't work.

I cleaned the terminals and still no go. The tow truck will be here in an hour.


-adam

If it's not trying to crank, it's electrical.

Where did you get this "new battery"? Trak Auto perhaps?

I'd check the voltage, sounds like a bum cell.

true, its an el cheapo from walmart...got it as a hold over b/c I was gonna get an optima. Pep Boys is going to call me after they test. He said probably the starter. Is there anything they can majorly screw up replacing a starter? I have read so many posts about mechanics fucking peoples cars up i am really paranoid.


-adam

Hmm.. somehow i doubt its the starter... all they (or you) would need to do is hook up another battery (known good) real quick and try it.

I agree. Sounds like a crappy battery.

However, if you want to check/replace the starter, its only held on by two bolts. Just jack up the car and it's on the driver's side of the bellhousing. I can't imagine anyone messing that up, however I'm sure it's possible. :)

Ok, it’s still at pepboys. It isn’t the starter or battery or alternator. Some wiring problem that so far, they have not fixed. The car was stolen in 2002. The mechanic said under the dash is a mess. He said there was a heavy gauge wiring harness "like one for an alarm" that wasn't connected to anything; he also mentioned "some grounds were cut". Plus the actual ignition is brand new he said, but the ignition switch is in bad bad shape. Looks like it was been glued n shit he said. He ordered a new one from Arizona. The ignition switch wasn't the problem he said but STRONGLY recommended getting a new b4 it became one. I sure hope this isn't gonna be one of those chronically ill FDs.

If it isn't the battery, alternator, or starter, and it isn't even turning over, then I'm at a loss. It must just be that power isn't getting to something, maybe through the hack job under the dash, but if it worked before, I would think it should work now.

Have you tried push starting it? That NEVER fails.

CHECK GROUNDS

Hmmm that's odd. I'm kind of at a loss myself. My only suggestion would be check the grounds and the wiring. Hope all goes well, and keep us updated!

Maybe hes an AT and can't push start it.

no, 5spd. But i don't car if i can push start it. I need it to start when i turn the key. There is a hack job under the dash. It makes NO sense that it ran, it was washed, (mind, not powerwashed or engine bay, nor did i spray under the dash:) ) and now it doesn't. I'll update after i run up to pepboys and see whats up.


-thanks, adam

Is there any specifc grounds to check? Isn't there a lot?

Push starting it could help in diagnosing the problem. If it'll push start, that tells you the problem is directly related to the ignition.

I see, sry for the noobism ;)

Well if it started with a pushstart then you know it was the starter right? I wouldn't have my car at pepboys hell I don't even shop there I hate that place. In fact I wouldn't really trust anything they say about anything so in my book none of the stuff you listed is ruled out.

It definetaly sounds like a wiring problem to me and you need to get it to a rotary specialist. What I meant is check the main grounds. There actually aren't too many in the engine bay but with 1 just missing or not working it can do some strage stuff to the car. A friend had his ground on the motor near the plugs covered in oil and the car would spark but couldn't start up.

I say get your car out of there right away before they rack up a huge bill. Get someone near you with a 7 to help out and you can learn at the same time. Try swapping parts out such as ecu first.

hmm has anyone mentioned spark plugs? It definetely sounds like a connection problem to me. I don't own an RX-7 but i had the same problem on my vw golf. I heard the click but no wind-up. I thought to myself "aww fuk its the starter or the alternator" but actually it just turned out to be bad connection from the battery to the alternator.

Oh and btw get your car out of Pep Boys as fast as possible. I wouldnt trust all those companies like Pep Boys or VIP Discounts. My dad took his Audi A6 there once and told them to rotate the tires. They didnt, so we came back again and they forgot to do it again!! We got really mad so to compensate for our waste of time, they put on four brand new ones :D

check the main fuse also. i blew mine when i grounded out one time while i was working on the engine. would click and i had power but never turned over. just a thought.

Good call. That happened to my Dad's R1 a while back.....

thanks for all the imput.

I'm giving Pepboys until Friday becasue thats when they say the ignition switch is coming in. They push started it. Now they are saying that the old ignition switch was in such bad shape it was most likely the problem. I'll get pics of the old switch incase anybody wan't to see....and i'll update if the car works.


-adam