Sprockett

Hey guys,
Today I need your help, not for me, but for the idiots at my local Mazda dealership. They are the ones replacing my engine. They have been "working" on it for 9 days now (they told me it would take 2). I am paying them close to $4k to pull out my old engine, and replace it with a brand new 13B. The problem that they are having is they can't figure out how to get the old engine out. They say there is a wiring harness that runs through everything (I have no clue), and they can't figure out how to disconnect it. They say they have called other dealerships and even the Mazda helpline, but no one knows how to do it (I find it hard to believe that the people at Mazda wouldn't know about somthing in a car they produced for so long, but obviously these mechanics don't so anything's possible). Could you post a link to a wiring diagram, instructions, pictures, or anything that might be helpful? I need my car back, and these people will not be able to figure this out by themselves. Please help me out!

- Tyler

suprfast

id hate to break this to you but mazda dealerships are idiots. mechanics suck ***. before i got my car the motor went, had a bad o ring. well sure enough it went to mazda cause the guy that owned had a warranty or something. it only took them four months to do it. i have the car now and do everything to it. mazda who?
kris

2-Rotor

Those ******** are going to **** everything up! Tell them to go to the 1994 Mazda RX-7 maintence manual and check where the harnesses connect/disconnect.

john0312

ur screwed u have to ppl who know **** abotu rotaries, there are some mechanics at mazda dealerships that do but most hurt ur car more than help, feel sry for ya

turbojeff

iTrader: (30)

Dude, GET THE CAR BACK. If they can't figure it out, and it is pretty SIMPLE, then they are going to screw up many things during the process of doing the engine.

Get it back and take it somewhere else, it really IS NOT rocket science. They are morons.

Jeff

c00lduke

How the hell can those guys work there, when I 1st took my 13b out I had only had the car for a year and only been around cars for 2. By no means am I an expert but i really think it only takes common sense when you start to look at things. And if common sense is not enough the service manual will tell you the rest.

TomsRX7

OH MY GOD!!!!! Bro, you need to get your *** down there first thing tomorrow and claim your car. The thing will NOT run right even if they do get it back in. They obviously don't know shiet. You need to do some educated research and find out who is good for rotaries around there and then tow it directly from the dealership to the other shop.

Merry Christmans and Good Luck!!!!

-Tom

Sprockett

OK, but does anyone know where I could find this wiring harness? Anyone know what they might be having problems with? I think it's more that they don't want to take the time to work on my car than it is them having problems with it - they aren't giving me a whole lot of respect (I'm only 19). I started having second thoughts about this all when I told him that I thought I needed another 13B, and he said "I'm not sure what that is" and later told my dad that he didn't know if they could get a 13B to fit in an RX7, and that they weren't prepared for an engine swap :sigh: . The only thing is, they are giving me a discount now, and the warranty is still going to be effective, but where I am from, there aren't any other Mazda dealerships, and I don't have any extra money to pay for a long tow right now. I am leaving for school next Friday, and I don't have a car. I don't have a lot of time, and don't have a lot of extra money. This is my only car. They said it would only take them 2 days to replace once they got the parts in, but so far it has taken them 9 days, and they still haven't gotten the old engine out yet! I am getting pretty stressed out over this whole thing.

So, does anyone have a picture, or a scan of the repair manual that they can attatch so I can print it off and take to them? I don't want them just getting tired of it, cutting it off and taping it back together later. If I'm going to be spending $4k, I want it done right. PLEASE, if anyone has instructions, pictures, diagrams, or links to any of these, please let me know so I can print them off and take to them. Thank you all very much. You all have the same opinions that I am coming to, but, unfortunately, I don't have the resources right now to have the car (and engine) taken to someone else (plus, they'd still want money for partial disassembly, diagnosis, and the engine). Please help me out
Tyler

TomsRX7

You can find the Mazda Factory Workshop Manual on line. I think I saw it on this site but you're gonna have to find it there (there are ALOT of pages!!!). http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/index.html

There are ONLY two major harneses, the engine harness that goes to the computer and the main harness that goes all the way around the front of the car. If you click on the link under my picture here, you will see the harnesses when I had my endine out.

I have to go eat with the family but I'll try and help you a little more today.

-Tom

Sprockett

I think this is probably the one they are having problems with, but could someone provide instructions on how to find/disconnect them with the engine in?

Also, I'm not sure what to look for on those pictures (I'm actually not 100% positive what a wiring harness looks like). I think I see them, and I'm going to print off a picture later, but if a good samaritan wants to use their abilities in paint and circle what I should be looking for on those pictures, I would be more than grateful. Thanks guys, I really appreciate your help

- Tyler

vudoodoodoo

Damn if I were near you, I'd go that dealer and smack to guys around. LOL!

Sprockett

Yeah, I wish I could - but then I'd have to worry about them sabotaging my car, or not doing it right out of spite. I just want to walk in, with a diagram and sheet of instructions that plainly shows what to do, give it to them, and say "here - now fix my car". That's what I'm looking for. My car has been over there for 22 days now and counting. I am getting really sick of hearing excuses and lies. I just want to give them the instructions and say "look - you called all these people, and did all this 'work' to try to find out how to disconnect this thing, and found nothing? I spend fifteen minutes corresponding with people who actually know what they're talking about, and I got results. No more excuses - I want my car done by five!" That's my dream, guys - that's what I'm looking for. Please help me out with this, and I appreciate what you've done already. Have a great holiday season everyone, and if your in Michigan at any time, look me up!

- Tyler

paw140

This thread might help. Check out the repsonse from turbojeff. There are other threads on this topic, but I couldn't find them very easily.

Paul

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...emoval+harness

paw140

From what I understand, the harness unplugs from the ECU inside of the passenger side kick panel. From there, you pull it out from under the hood, through the firewall near the ABS unit. I have never done the job myself, I'm just restating what I've read.

Good luck.

TomsRX7

Ok, I found the site that has the workshop manual: http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/shop_manual.html Also did you look at my pics?

Dude, trust me, you do not need to have a manual just to "disconnect" the harness. There are connectors....you disconnect them, and that's it!!! It's like saying you need a manual to unplug a lamp from the wall. They can either remove the upper intake manifold and disconnect all the connectors -OR- they can unplug the engine harness from the computer (which is inside the passenger kick panel inside the car) and pull the engine out with the engine harness still attached, like a tail. Bottom line, they probably know how to do it, but the last one they did was probably such a pain in the ***, they are not looking forward to this project.

And lastly, you really need to explain to your dad how they are F'ing you around and let him handle it while you take off for school. You should post a thread asking if anyone knows a rotary expert in your town. As a last resort, I would have your dad get on the phone with Mazda's Coorporate office, which is probably out here in CA. It is NOT the job of the customers to show their mechanics how to do this. If it's under some kind of Mazda factory warranty (as you mentioned) then Mazda would definitely be liable for the additional towing charges to get it to a place that knows what the F they are doing.

I know this doesn't help you much, but trying to get them idiots to do it is NOT the right solution. Get it out of there!!

vudoodoodoo

Bingo. It's a pain in the *** to do though. Stupid ABS is in the way. Not much room.

CantGoStraight

In order to get the ECU harness out with the motor the inner finder plastic will have to be moved out of the way (better if removed from car) then unplug from the ECU and pull from fire wall and feed through fender into engine compartment. You will also have to the battery harness from the engine compartment for it to come out with the motor.

TomsRX7

Sorry bud, not to be mean or anything, but you don't know what you're talking about. There is no reason to remove the inner fender plastic. Why would you have to do that when the engine harness goes right in to the firewall, no where near the fender???? paw140 provided a great thread link where TurboJeff spelled it out nicely.

jeff48

Remove all harnesses with the engine. Earlier posts are correct about removal of the wiring connectors from the ECU (stupid simple). As noted earlier pulling the ecu harness through the firewall with the big grommet attached can be a bitch because of the ABS but still easier than removing the ABS (do not let them do that or you may wind up with trouble going AND stopping). Put the ECU harness back in the same way it was removed (as a unit).

BTW another place for 3rd gen manuals in pdf format (adobe) is on www.iluvmyrx7.com Best site I know for scans of rx7 related print materials.

Sprockett

I am printing this off now, and, hopefully, will be able to take it to them today. Thanks a lot guys for all of your help - you came through for me again. If this doesn't help them, nothing will. I'll report back with progress when I can.

zyounker

I would really not let them work on your car.. Rent a uhaul trailer and take it somewhere else, Maybe try A-spec in chicago.. They do rotaries and WRXs..


IT WILL BE WORTH THE ~200-400 to tow it somewhere that knows what they are doing.


If you let them do it i promise you will regret it and be selling the car very soon.



-Zach

Meiogirl

iTrader: (2)

you should PM some of the guys from your state and ask them who they recommend you take your car to.

these guys might get your car running for the moment, but who knows what they might forget to do when reinstalling your engine

RonKMiller

Hmmm, a 19 year old customer who does not know anything about an exotic, high performance sports car taking it to a dealership that does not know anything about an exotic, high performance sports car........

Even if the jackasses can figure out your current problem this is just the start of future problems with them. They are ******* MORONS! OK? GET IT?

Taking out a wiring harness is absolute child's play for any competent mechanic, even if he's never worked on that specific car before. They don't have a Mazda shop manual for your vehicle? Why not?

Cut your losses NOW. Get the car back and take it to a competent rotary shop or store it. Put the charges for the dealership on a major credit card and dispute the **** out of it with the credit card company. Write everything down in a journal for future reference. You'll win easily. Make damn sure you get ALL your old parts back. You'll need every one of them.

Go to school and forget about the car for now.

paw140

Excellent advice Ron. FD's are generally hard to work on because of the complex turbo system, and the fact that it has a rotary engine. Unplugging a harness should be almost the same for all cars. And they should be intelligent enough to figure it out.

They are either complete idiots, or they just don't want to work on your car. Is this under warranty? Is it only covered through the dealership? Maybe they're trying to skip out on warranty work.

abflug-t78

man im so sorry, get your car out of there or have mazda fly in a expert mech