Hello out there. this is my first post. i have been working on my 79 RX7 for 4 years now. and i have finally gotten it to start. well sort of. when i put the key in start the engine fires up and runs perfectly. but when i put the key back to run it dies. Im not very good with wiring if anyone can help me it would be much appreciated.

 

As you probably know an engine needs 3 things to run, you might make sure the car is getting spark, fuel, and air. If it has all three and still doesn't run it could be a timing issue. Also if the car is excessively loud when you turn it over and makes a sucking sound you might have some seals out, i believe that's what's wrong with the S4 i pulled out of my 87 N/A. Also the best piece of advice i could possibly give is to search the forums and buy a Haynes or Chilton manual on your car.

 

As he said you need spark fuel and air
I think tut have all three but lose spark"power to your coil" when you let the key go back to run
Couple things
You could find the wire that powers your coil and see if you could jumper it to 12v to see if it would say running or you can see you your ignition switch is the problem"trace the wires" wiring diagrams help a lot

 

welcome to the board.

i'm not sure if i'm understanding what you're trying to describe. are you saying that once the engine fires, you have to manually turn the key to disengage the starter - as opposed to simply letting it go?

the only thing i can think of is maybe the ignition cylinder/barrel is worn or broken. i've seen them wear to the point where the key just falls out of them, but nothing like what i think you're describing.

 

First thing I'd check is if you have power to the ignition (coil and distributor) with the ignition in the "run" position. I've had issues with FB ignition barrels not making proper contacts in all positions, although mine was that it wouldn't crank unless you held the key "just so".

Also, are you sure that it's running properly when it fires while you crank? It might not run well enough to sustain running once you let go of the starter.