I did the usual; Remove fuses one at a time to see if it's one of those items. So far, no go! It seems to be something other than what the underdash fuses protect. Any ideas?

I've talked to two other 1st gen owners. They too have the same problem with their cars. Does anyone else have this same problem? Have any of you discovered what the cause is?

 

Alternator?

 

The previous owner said the leak was the reason he replaced the alternator. When I get the car home, I'll recheck everything he said he did.

I was wondering if this is a trait that other first gen Rx-7s had and how what was discovered as the cause. My first first gen also has an electrical leak. I never did find where it originated.

 

let's see. water leaks, oil leaks, never heard of an electrical leak. u mean there's a slight current draw on the bat causing it to go dead? unless it's a direct short to ground, removing all fuses should have eliminated the draw.

 

i heard that sometimes the retractor motors and relays get messed up and put a draw on the battery try pulling the fuse for that and see what happens

 

A quick online search for "electrical leak" will explain wow to find them, so there is such a thing as an "electric leak". Yes Bob, there is such a thing! As the gentleman who posted after you explained, things go wrong and electricity will follow paths of least resistance.

 

Reactor motor? Retractor motor? Please explain.

I think I realized, but haven't tested, what is causing the leak. The previous owner replaced the factory radio with an aftermarket radio.

My daughter found several items of interest in the car. All the maintenance records since the car was purchased! There is also the original purchase receipt for the car, dated in 1978. By the looks of things, I'm the second owner!

 

The retractor motor raises and lowers the headlight. If the limit switches are messed up or the assembly doesn't go down all the way, the motors will continually try to lower the lights. I believe that '78s have a fusable link on the headlights at the driver shock tower.

 

dude i know how to find them. i was just saying i've never heard such problem referred to as an electrical leak.

 

i would defiantly check the headlight because i had this happen on my 88 se the car sat for 5 years with the headlights up and the motors froze and they keep trying to retract and that would pretty much drain the battery in a few days so for now i have removed the 30amp re tractor and no more dead battery thank god they froze in the up position i cant even manually put them down. also check the relays for the headlight motors sometimes they can fuse together and stay on and that would keep the motors from shutting off easy way to test that would be to make the headlights go up listen for the relay to click and when it finishes you should hear it click again.

good luck hope everything works out

chris

 

Sorry dude. I was in a rush to get the message out. I made it a bit short without realizing I was stepping on toes. I have two girls, I'm a single parent, my older daughter has cerebral palsy, can't talk, is a quadriplegic, and is going to college. Between getting my girls motivated to get ready to be taken to their college, I was pressed for time to get to the Veteran's hospital for my own appointment. I didn't mean to seem like I was belittling you.

Cheers!
Allen

 

Could the headlight limit switches cause this problem even if the lights properly work?

Many thanks!
Allen

 

maybe. try this put the headlights up pull the fuse then see if the battery still goes dead
if it doesnt go dead then thats your problem