Electrical issues 82 rx7 GSL possible bad alternator
 

Hello guys.

So when I flick the headlights on my radio (aftermarket kenwood) shuts off and the fuel pump loses power. Actually when I use any electrical (powered windows, etc.) the fuel pump loses power. Do you think this is an issue with the alternator not having enough amps or what? I've checked all the wiring on radio and all the wires are correct the car is apart at the moment so If you think I should look into something let me know!

Thanks all.

It could be the alt or a bad ground.

+1 check your grounds ensure they are clean and connected. Also check voltage at the alt using a multimeter. Whilst the multimeter is reading the voltage have someone turn the lights on and see if it drops significantly.

I like to run an extra ground from the alt to the drivers side shock tower factory ground location. I use the long alt bolt as the attaching point. I just used a two foot pre-made battery cable that has an eyelet on each end.

Will do ill check all those today although i think im going yo grab a taurus alt at upullit today as well 22$ but if i dont need to put it in that would be great. Ive gutted the car as of now and there are a lot of shotty wiring jobs done here and wires that lead nowhere its very scary.

From what I can tell there is no ground on the alternator itself but the battery has a 12-14g wire that is grounding it. As fro the multimeter reading it seems very good. 14.1 on idle and 13.6 or 13.7 with headlights on. But still my radio issue is shutting off unfortunately. Not sure what it can be. Ill take a pic of the wiring set up for the radio and see what you guys think.

Yellow is connected to a yellow wire that plugs into the defrost switch i think and the red wire is connected to a Red/white stripe wire that connects into the clock and then I grounded the black wire myself So i feel that is should work but maybe im wrong about my wiring.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...50e1bc7219.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...73a7780453.jpg

If this was mar car, I would redo the radio wiring to utilize only the factory radio connections for power and then ground the radio to a screw/bolt in the center console/dash.

Can you direct me to somewhere that has the factory connections so i can do that. Thanks.

Exactly have a search on the forum or online for the factory service manual and try use the factory radio harness.

If for whatever reason you decide not to. Check which colour wire is the constant 12v and which is the switched 12v using the multimeter. What I think might be happening is for some reason when you turn on your headlights it's cutting the feed to one or both of the wires causing the radio to turn off.

So test which is which, then have the multimeter read the voltage as you turn headlights on...I rekon one or both of the wires will drop to 0 causing the issue.

But as above, try utilise the factory radio harness for your connections. Wiring circuits are designed and use gauge wire according to their load. If you add an aditional load to that circuit (in this case a radio) more amps are running on the circuit which means more heat, which can melt your wires/blow fuses.

Since you have the car stripped...do it once, do it right :) all the best.

Radio is fixed now and Ive wired up my new amp and sub seems to be working good but I have a new issue now. My popup headlights wont retract but they will raise on their own but will not retract they retracted previously so im not sure whats up.

I am not familiar with 1st gen tanks BUT on 2nd gen tank the fuel pump is inside and has a sock attached to it.
IF that is the case with you too then you'd have to access the tank.

You should be able to find how to do that in the 1st gen specific section and by using a quick search.

First gen pump is external, under the car, just rear of drivers seat.

You have have any ideas for the popup lights?

Try the 1985 factory service manual. it's close enough for the lights. There i a light troubleshooting diagram. Page 15-28

http://foxed.ca/rx7manual/manuals/19...Electrical.pdf

Got all the work done and fixed everything is working now. Thanks for all the help,

Please let us know what you did. This way if someone else has this issue they may get some benefit from your experience.