Kilo Racing 3 Rotor FD Conversion
07-25-09, 02:31 PM
#3052
Rotary Enthusiast
iTrader: (17)
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: Pluto
Posts: 878
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
So what has changed?----the alternator,the starter,the battery and the battery wiring harness.
So it should be a simple matter of elimination-----the battery harness could be it.
So it should be a simple matter of elimination-----the battery harness could be it.
This is an interesting one. When I had the old, but not remanufactured alternator on the car, no issues. In fact, drove it to DGRR and back and no problems. Took this one off for the new powder coated one and problems cropped up. Replaced it with the 150 AMP unit and new problems (i.e. the warning lights coming on yet no beeping from cooling warning light, just the coolant light, fuel light, abs light, and battery light). The battery is new and I took it to have it tested to eliminate this. The starter is also new and the wiring to the battery is new.
On note I forgot to mention last night is when I got back from the test drive, I turned the car off and then turned it back on to see if the fans would come on. They did, but when the ignition was in the first position not the second. Thought this was not right, turned the ignition off and then back on. This time, the fans didn't come on until the second position.
Ihor, I have a volt meter but how would I go about isolating this? Gordon, help me solve this and I'm coming up to the Chris Carlisi event
I think I will post this up as a new thread to see what advice I can get.
On note I forgot to mention last night is when I got back from the test drive, I turned the car off and then turned it back on to see if the fans would come on. They did, but when the ignition was in the first position not the second. Thought this was not right, turned the ignition off and then back on. This time, the fans didn't come on until the second position.
Ihor, I have a volt meter but how would I go about isolating this? Gordon, help me solve this and I'm coming up to the Chris Carlisi event
I think I will post this up as a new thread to see what advice I can get.
07-25-09, 03:10 PM
#3053
Ok let me make sure I am understanding this correctly. The car is dropping voltage while it is running? If so I wouldn't worry about looking for the voltage drop right now. It was my first impression that one of your accessories may be causing a drain but that shouldn't really matter if the car is on. I would really look into the altertnator/battery/starter harness. That harness very often becomes oil soaked and also gets damaged from heat when it lays against the motor it is very common for the power steering, oil fill neck, and filter pedestal to leak oil on this harness. The crappy mazda wiring likes to become brittle and crack under all the tape and loom they use, and is hard to see. The wiring also sometime corrodes under the insulation. Check it out and if its questionable replace it. It should be around $400. I don't know where your battery is but I would do this: Run a 0. Or 2 gauge power wire from the battery right to the original positive terminal location.There is a bus bar in there. Make sure it is secure and the positive terminal is bolted down tight.The factory hardware there is plated to prevent corrosion and get a good contact. Run 2 grounds to the battery to different locations. There is a spare bolt hole under the passenger seat belt behind the 1/4 panel that works well. The floor under the bins is another good one.if you want to get fancy you can use the gold plated stereo terminals. Crimp and solder all connections. Once your power and ground are solid, you can look at other areas is the problem persists.
Are you suspecting a faulty trigger signal? That seems logical since the alt connection could have been damaged when the other alt was removed, or during installation. If you are referring to the power harness, perhaps it would make sense to save some money and just make a couple jumpers of a thicker gauge?
Just out of curiosity, how would a deep cycle battery contribute to these symptoms?
-R
07-25-09, 03:29 PM
#3054
We unfortunately have a winner though - bad alternator. Started up the car, drove it to O-Reilly's and had them check it. Checked out fine - hmm.. Hung around a few minutes and the car heated up a bit. DING! DING! The warning lights came on and we checked the alternator again. This time - "Bad Diode":
So I am not sure it can be anything besides a bad alternator.
07-26-09, 06:53 AM
#3056
Better than a 550CCA battery? It tested out at 650CCA on the alt tester which is pretty darn high. I have run an Optima and an Odyssey battery. The Optima was fine but got replaced when I relocated the battery to the back bin. The Odyssey battery was a piece of whammy and would die periodically. It's fine if you drive the car everyday but if the car sits around a while (like mine did in the shops) it just died. The Acura battery hasn't had any issues.
So, I spoke with the maker of the alternator and he's reshipping a unit to me ASAP. In the interim, I am going to to verify the wiring harness is in good condition. If I recall correctly, the battery and alt are directly connected per wanklin's post above.
So, I spoke with the maker of the alternator and he's reshipping a unit to me ASAP. In the interim, I am going to to verify the wiring harness is in good condition. If I recall correctly, the battery and alt are directly connected per wanklin's post above.
07-26-09, 07:35 AM
#3057
Chadwick Idler Pulley
Wanted to post up pics of the Tweakit idler pulley I installed in the car this week. Had some water temp issues and thought this would help. The quality of the pulley is outstanding. It is made of billet aluminum and looks great. Install is pretty easy too, even for someone like me. The most time consuming part of the task is you have to remove both belts on the car. Took about one hour to complete but admittedly I wasn't pressed for time so I went slowly.
Water temps are now in the 85C range but not sure if this is due to the pulley or having temporarily fixed the alternator issue (more power/voltage to the fans).
Pics:
Water temps are now in the 85C range but not sure if this is due to the pulley or having temporarily fixed the alternator issue (more power/voltage to the fans).
Pics:
07-26-09, 11:02 AM
#3059
It's one pulley and installing it is pretty easy. You then need to get a larger belt and they are readily available anywhere. I got mine at O'Reilly's.
07-26-09, 02:20 PM
#3061
https://www.rx7club.com/group-buy-center-69/air-pump-deletion-idler-pulley-kit-807734/
Make sure you get the one for the single turbo setup. That's what you have right?
Make sure you get the one for the single turbo setup. That's what you have right?
07-26-09, 05:45 PM
#3062
Okay, so while I am waiting on the new alternator, went and checked the wiring for the alternator harness. The alt/battery cable runs thru the post on the main fuse box. Everything looks brand new here. No corrosion, everything is tight and nice beefy cables are being used. I still need to unwrap the alt pin wires to inspect but when I replaced the pin wire connection yesterday, the wiring I exposed looked new also. I suspect Jesus has replaced all of this given its condition.
This got me thinking about the grounds on the car and if I should beef them up. Background - my battery is relocated to the passenger bin. So my question - my battery ground (negative) is a beefy cable that terminates somewhere under the car. Can't see if without jacking the car up. Does it help to run any other grounds off of the battery? If so, do I jut add cable to the negative battery cable and terminate it to the passenger seat belt bolt or under the bin? How about other grounds? I have one off of the UIM to the firewall and a few others I can spot on the car. All are in excellent condition. No dirt, etc.
Any thoughts on this and what might help?
This got me thinking about the grounds on the car and if I should beef them up. Background - my battery is relocated to the passenger bin. So my question - my battery ground (negative) is a beefy cable that terminates somewhere under the car. Can't see if without jacking the car up. Does it help to run any other grounds off of the battery? If so, do I jut add cable to the negative battery cable and terminate it to the passenger seat belt bolt or under the bin? How about other grounds? I have one off of the UIM to the firewall and a few others I can spot on the car. All are in excellent condition. No dirt, etc.
Any thoughts on this and what might help?
07-26-09, 07:55 PM
#3063
Okay, so while I am waiting on the new alternator, went and checked the wiring for the alternator harness. The alt/battery cable runs thru the post on the main fuse box. Everything looks brand new here. No corrosion, everything is tight and nice beefy cables are being used. I still need to unwrap the alt pin wires to inspect but when I replaced the pin wire connection yesterday, the wiring I exposed looked new also. I suspect Jesus has replaced all of this given its condition.
This got me thinking about the grounds on the car and if I should beef them up. Background - my battery is relocated to the passenger bin. So my question - my battery ground (negative) is a beefy cable that terminates somewhere under the car. Can't see if without jacking the car up. Does it help to run any other grounds off of the battery? If so, do I jut add cable to the negative battery cable and terminate it to the passenger seat belt bolt or under the bin? How about other grounds? I have one off of the UIM to the firewall and a few others I can spot on the car. All are in excellent condition. No dirt, etc.
Any thoughts on this and what might help?
This got me thinking about the grounds on the car and if I should beef them up. Background - my battery is relocated to the passenger bin. So my question - my battery ground (negative) is a beefy cable that terminates somewhere under the car. Can't see if without jacking the car up. Does it help to run any other grounds off of the battery? If so, do I jut add cable to the negative battery cable and terminate it to the passenger seat belt bolt or under the bin? How about other grounds? I have one off of the UIM to the firewall and a few others I can spot on the car. All are in excellent condition. No dirt, etc.
Any thoughts on this and what might help?
For the battery ground, we used a Dremel to remove the paint from both sides of the passenger seat belt mounting bracket and chassis and then bolted the lug directly on top of the bracket utilizing the original seat belt bolt. Everything was coated with lithium grease (a trick I learned in my audio installer days) to protect against future corrosion.
We also went over the top in the engine bay daisy chaining grounds from engine to frame rails, engine to trans tunnel, engine to shock tower; always grounding from different parts of the engine. In your case it might be good to ground to one of the irons in addition to the aluminum manifold.
The way I see it, if you go overkill on the power wiring now it then allows you to eliminate the possibility of a bad power connection or ground later.
07-26-09, 08:32 PM
#3064
Well, can tell you that I noticed a night and day difference when I improved my grounding and power wiring in my FD with the help of my friend Joe. The car starts up more quickly and the electronics and ignition seems to be a little more lively, plus a slightly sharper exhaust note is audible.
For the battery ground, we used a Dremel to remove the paint from both sides of the passenger seat belt mounting bracket and chassis and then bolted the lug directly on top of the bracket utilizing the original seat belt bolt. Everything was coated with lithium grease (a trick I learned in my audio installer days) to protect against future corrosion.
We also went over the top in the engine bay daisy chaining grounds from engine to frame rails, engine to trans tunnel, engine to shock tower; always grounding from different parts of the engine. In your case it might be good to ground to one of the irons in addition to the aluminum manifold.
The way I see it, if you go overkill on the power wiring now it then allows you to eliminate the possibility of a bad power connection or ground later.
For the battery ground, we used a Dremel to remove the paint from both sides of the passenger seat belt mounting bracket and chassis and then bolted the lug directly on top of the bracket utilizing the original seat belt bolt. Everything was coated with lithium grease (a trick I learned in my audio installer days) to protect against future corrosion.
We also went over the top in the engine bay daisy chaining grounds from engine to frame rails, engine to trans tunnel, engine to shock tower; always grounding from different parts of the engine. In your case it might be good to ground to one of the irons in addition to the aluminum manifold.
The way I see it, if you go overkill on the power wiring now it then allows you to eliminate the possibility of a bad power connection or ground later.
07-26-09, 09:02 PM
#3065
Adding an extra grounds in the way that I or Ihor described will decrease the circuit resistance so an additional wire, leaving the current wire in place, from the battery to the chassis is a good idea for sure, but I would also ad a couple more grounds in the engine bay to eliminate all causes for doubt.
07-26-09, 09:30 PM
#3066
Yes sir, the black or negative side of the battery is what is grounded, that way anything that is bolted to the chassis is effectively connected to the negative terminal of the battery. Just FYI, your starter and alternator only have a positive power wire connection and their grounds are supplied via the engine block -to the chassis -and finally to the battery.
Adding an extra grounds in the way that I or Ihor described will decrease the circuit resistance so an additional wire, leaving the current wire in place, from the battery to the chassis is a good idea for sure, but I would also ad a couple more grounds in the engine bay to eliminate all causes for doubt.
Adding an extra grounds in the way that I or Ihor described will decrease the circuit resistance so an additional wire, leaving the current wire in place, from the battery to the chassis is a good idea for sure, but I would also ad a couple more grounds in the engine bay to eliminate all causes for doubt.
07-27-09, 05:22 PM
#3071
I think it makes sense to ground both directly to the starter and to the chassis if you feel like spending the time and money.
07-30-09, 06:20 AM
#3072
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Perth,Australia
Posts: 37
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
David , a while ago you mentioned about an exhaust gas smell issue, my 20bfd has the same fault , you mentioned about replacing the cat, did you fix the issue.
My 20bfd makes about 330rwhp with the stock turbos running sequentially, which is hard to control in fist and second, so yours making 500+, i dont know how you get any traction at all, you must have alot of fun in it.
My 20bfd makes about 330rwhp with the stock turbos running sequentially, which is hard to control in fist and second, so yours making 500+, i dont know how you get any traction at all, you must have alot of fun in it.
07-30-09, 07:47 AM
#3073
David , a while ago you mentioned about an exhaust gas smell issue, my 20bfd has the same fault , you mentioned about replacing the cat, did you fix the issue.
My 20bfd makes about 330rwhp with the stock turbos running sequentially, which is hard to control in fist and second, so yours making 500+, i dont know how you get any traction at all, you must have alot of fun in it.
My 20bfd makes about 330rwhp with the stock turbos running sequentially, which is hard to control in fist and second, so yours making 500+, i dont know how you get any traction at all, you must have alot of fun in it.
It is crazy fun to drive with the 500+ HP. Haven't tried to drive it yet under high boost (18) but at 14 PSI you can break the tires loose thru 4th gear. Too scared to try romping on it in 5th
07-31-09, 07:34 AM
#3074
Senior Member
Be sure that the powder coat on the housing isn't causing issues with good contact to the engine. The positive is obviously the big nut on the top right but the ground should go through the alternator housing. It's been a while since I had a good look at the FD alternator so I could be wrong....been away from the FD for 3 years..../cry.
I too have the battery in the rear bin and found that using a REALLY big eyelet connector and 4 gauge wire to the seatbelt bolt works great. I used automotive stereo cable. Also used it for grounds the the engine and chassis. Obviously for safety reasons you need to make sure the eyelet is thick and won't get "squeezed" in the event of an accident God forbid. Make sure that all paint is removed from the bolt area to get good contact.
Beautiful car btw...
I too have the battery in the rear bin and found that using a REALLY big eyelet connector and 4 gauge wire to the seatbelt bolt works great. I used automotive stereo cable. Also used it for grounds the the engine and chassis. Obviously for safety reasons you need to make sure the eyelet is thick and won't get "squeezed" in the event of an accident God forbid. Make sure that all paint is removed from the bolt area to get good contact.
Beautiful car btw...
07-31-09, 08:08 AM
#3075
Be sure that the powder coat on the housing isn't causing issues with good contact to the engine. The positive is obviously the big nut on the top right but the ground should go through the alternator housing. It's been a while since I had a good look at the FD alternator so I could be wrong....been away from the FD for 3 years..../cry.
I too have the battery in the rear bin and found that using a REALLY big eyelet connector and 4 gauge wire to the seatbelt bolt works great. I used automotive stereo cable. Also used it for grounds the the engine and chassis. Obviously for safety reasons you need to make sure the eyelet is thick and won't get "squeezed" in the event of an accident God forbid. Make sure that all paint is removed from the bolt area to get good contact.
Beautiful car btw...
I too have the battery in the rear bin and found that using a REALLY big eyelet connector and 4 gauge wire to the seatbelt bolt works great. I used automotive stereo cable. Also used it for grounds the the engine and chassis. Obviously for safety reasons you need to make sure the eyelet is thick and won't get "squeezed" in the event of an accident God forbid. Make sure that all paint is removed from the bolt area to get good contact.
Beautiful car btw...