I just purchased a '79 rx7 and the previous owner warned me that it "ate" points and went through them every 3000 - 5000 miles. I was wondering if this is normal or if it could be something wrong with the electrical system or something else?

Any help or recommendations would be nice. I'm not completely new to working on cars, but I'm pretty close:P I just want to make sure my new acquisition stays with me for a while & gets treated right.

 

I would recommend that you spend some time searching in the 1st gen technical section for instructions on upgrading to electronic ignition. Swap in a new distributor, and get rid of the troublesome points system.

As far as why the car "eats" points like that? Could be a bad condensor maybe, I'm not an expert on points. I've always had trouble with them, so I've always upgraded the system. Going to electronic will give you better power, mileage, starting, and make you better looking to the ladies as well (not actually proven, but highly suspected).


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I'll definitely have to look into that. The car comes with 2 "spare" distributors from donor cars (along with a metric crapton of other spare parts).

The main reason I was asking about it possibly being power related is that he mentioned that he pulled the engine & wiring harness from an '83... maybe it's running too much power to the points? I'm thinking that it could be either that or he doesn't know how to set points up...

 

How much longer until you'll be able to post your questions in the 1st gen tech section? I'm sure we've got a few points experts who could walk you through the troubleshooting process.

Are the spare dizzys you got electronic, or points?

 

I to recently purchased a 79. Mine came with a new distributor and points but I'm not sure how long they will last. Not sure how hard it is to go to electronic ingnition but I will be looking into it. Does anyone know the approx. cost to go to electronic ignition? My last RX7 was a stock 83 and it seemed to have more power than the 79 I have now. Both cars have a 12A, I wonder if the ignition is the reason?

 

I'm not 100% sure on that. When I looked at the parts, most were in boxes... I was more interested in the car - the parts were just extra.

Once I get the car & parts here, I'll be able to take a better look at everything. I'm guessing, however, that they are electronic as they came from an '83 (I think they had switched to electronic by then)

 

This brings back memories when I had to adjust the points like once a week Mazda actually switch to electronic ignition in 1980, so your good with the distributor you got. Do some search and you'll find allot of information on this subject.

 

I had a 79 with points and it would also eat points. My distributor had lost several of the ball bearings in the distributor. These bearings allow the plate in the distributor to rotate for vacuum advance. I fixed it with a new distributor. Good Luck

Larry

 

It's not really worth trying to repair the points dizzy. Pick up a post '81 dizzy with the reluctor and ignitors. It's almost a direct replacement. Probably a lot of information in the 1st gen forum on this swap but if you just look at the wiring differences in the Haynes manual, it's obvious what you need to do.

 

Thanks. I actually just pulled it apart (the car was just delivered this afternoon) and took a look. It looks like one of the vacuum advances isn't working. The guy that had it before me also must not have known how to configure points as one was way too open & the other was touching. I readjusted them and dumped a can of carb. cleaner through it & it actually idles now & runs a lot better. I'm going to run it as is for now to see if it's fixed (aside from needing the second vacuum advance... which might be a pain to find)

 

older series first gen's had points set up which usually need to be changed frequently when the later models incorporated an electric pick up style that was much more efficient and needed less work through its life. the Haynes manual describes it in the distributor overhaul section