Problem starting my FD
 

This has really thrown me for a loop here's my issue.

So, I just came back from Iraq and I picked up my Rx7 @ my parents house. My father told me that the battery had to be replaced because it was losing power.

Anyways I start up my FD and it's working good as new. I drive about 45minutes to my house. I get ready to go out for the night, the car sat about 3 hours, and nothing it doesn't want to start. I have full power, a/c, headlights, high beams, dash lights everything is working. It just doesn't even attempt to crank over, but I do hear the fuel pump come on. So I get my brother and we try to jump start it and it doesn't work still the same result.

I then roll it down and hill and pop the clutch and it starts, so I park it @ the top of a hill for the night so I can pop the clutch the next morning to take it to a shop. I try to start it for shits and giggles and it does the same thing as before. So it sits the whole night, and the next morning I go out to start it and it starts up fine like nothing ever happened.

I drive 45minutes to the shop to explain what's wrong with it and see if they can fix it when I tried to demonstrate what it was doing it started up fine like 5 - 7 times. So the Tech told me he really can't figure out what's wrong with it if we can't get the problem to occur.

Okay so I drive to my parents place it's about 5 - 10 minutes away from the shop, turn off the car and when I'm about to leave it doesn't want to start again. It does the exact same thing it was doing before. Car sat about 1 hour in the sun.

So I call the shop and they said try to bring it over. I was going to pop the clutch again but I decided to just try to start it up again. Again it starts up like there's no problem. So I get to the shop, and finally it doesn't want to start anymore, so they suggested maybe the starter is going out, so we buy a new one they install it the next day. He gives me a call and says it's working fine, so I drive to the shop to pick it up and I'm about to leave the shop when it suddenly doesn't want to start again.

So we replace the ignition switch, and it still doing the same thing.

Does anyone know what it could be?

I am having the same issue on my 93 Rx7. I have found 3 possibilities and have already fixed two of them to no avail. The third one is the ignition switch which just arrived today so I was searching to see how to replace it and stumbled on your post.

1. The first thing I did which was the easiest is bypass the clutch switch. It is easily accessible from underneath. I just disconnected the switch, cut the wires on the switch to remove the connector. Spliced the ends of the connector together and plugged the connector back into the wires from the ignition so now it starts even if the clutch is not pushed in. I cut the connector on the switch to allow me to re-install a new switch if I needed to. However, it didn't help.

2. Then I installed a new starter but it still doesn't start unless I turn the key 4 or 5 times. The fuel pump comes on every time but the car doesn't turn over.

3. Now I have the ignition switch which I am going to replace. If that doesn't work I'm not sure what else it would be.

Seems like you did the ignition switch and the starter which are the most difficut. It could be the clutch switch.

Ya, this is really mind boggling I have a feeling it's not the clutch switch either though. . . It's really frustrating. I didn't realize it but there's a post below mine that is having the same issue weird how we're all having the same issue so relativity close together.

FD won't start and then miraculously works fine
 

My empathy to you all stuck with an FD that at the worst possible time refuses to start and then miraculously after some wait time works just fine. I had that same problem about 8 years ago. I was going bonkers trying to figure out what it was. In the end, after many days of staring at the electrical diagrams I narrowed it to the theft deterrent cutout relay. If you want to finesse the fix you can try to replay the relay. I personally was so pissed at this hidden issue that I just wired around the relay. I have not had this problem since and am now contemplating putting in a switch so that I can disable the car as a theft deterrent. Just be sure that your wires are sufficiently low gauge (meaning thick enough) to carry the load.

The relay for LHD cars is on the left side of the driver footwell. I'm 99% certain this is your issue. Let me and the forum know how it turns out.

Lol I hope they figured it out 10 years later.....

About to put up a post related to this issue. But saw this and was hoping maybe to fast track some help on this. I'm 99% sure my non-starting issue is related to the OEM Theft deterrent. At the moment my car is stuck in a parking lot, and I will either have to have it towed or see if I can sort this out in the parking lot. Is there a "straight forward" way to bypass the relay to see if I can remove that from the equation before I get it either towed to my house or shop? Am I basically going to make a temporary jumper (what gauge wire do you recommend?).

Many thanks!

Just make a short jumper wire with a piece of 10 or 12 gauge wire and two male spade connectors.

Connect the black/blue wire from the ignition column directly to the black/red wire on the clutch switch. Bypasses the clutch switch and relay to give you a direct path for the power to get to your starter solenoid.

For people who find this thread in the future:

I had this problem on mine. It was the starter relay.

Installing a starter booster like this one fixed it.

Theft deterant relay preventing FD start
 

I'm not sure that 10 or 12 gauge wires (speaker wires) are enough to carry the electrical load. On my temporary fix that now has lasted 12 years, I just doubled the wires (connection in parallel) on each side of the relay.
As to making this repair in a parking lot, I would not recommend it. The space in the footwell is tight and the wire harness leads to the relay are pretty short so there is very little room in which to swing a soldering gun.
Haha, but definitely more room than dicking around with the lead that supplies the gauge cluster lights from the fuse box. That was truly a PITA and I had to use a tooth pick to jam and keep that connection in place because there just wasn't room for any kind of soldering.

Good luck making this repair. You will be a happy man once you do away with the car starting anxiety.

For bypassing the security starter cut relay 10 or 12AWG is fine.