Hey there I'm new to the world of rx7's I've got a 87' fc that's NA, right now I'm having a problem with it, I soldered the ecu cause it needed it done in a few spots and well nothing started working again so I took out the clock unit and did the same to that and I put it back in and had to jump my car, after I jumped it it wouldn't run correctly, when I put it under a load the car starts to die and it smell like burning wires, I know that the burning wires smell can be the altornator going out but I'm not sure. Please help!!!

 

Why did the ECU need to be soldered? I would look over that first.

 

how did it run before u went messing with the ecu and what made u think the ecu NEEDED to be soldered? it may have been bad to begin with.

 

There were broken solder points on the ecu and it ran fine befor I soldered it and also after I did that it was when a soldered the clock unit I had the promlems of it not starting on it's own and needing a jump to get it going. I jumped it yesterday just to get her to run for a bit and she started right up but once again I put a load on it and she started dying. Could it be my altornator? I have checked all fuses and they are just fine.

 

so u know what broken solder joints "look" like or ur experienced in this field and able to test for such breaks? now i'm not experienced in electronics but i would think that broken solder joints would cause things to NOT work right but it ran fine before u resoldered them? seems like a no brainer to me.

 

The solder points that were broker were just the lights on the clock unit like the open door and the hatch and a few others so it was nothing that had anything to do with the engine managment or anything like that, that's why I'm so lost on what is causing the problem

 

I would just double check the points you soldered using the wiring diagram in the maintenance manual. Also check the solder point to make sure they have good continuity.(it will take a long time) if it is correct then there could be a bad wire in the circuit that you soldered back into the ecu. In that case test for either shorts (they can be floating shorts) those are a bit tricky to locate sometimes. The burning wire smell.........if the wires are all original i would make sure the insulation on them are not cracked or faded/flaking that can cause a short too, either to ground or other circuits. If they are not original i would make sure that the wires are the proper size (usually says in the manual) also check all connections (even in the taped areas...if they are there) could be causing arcs if its a loose connection giving the smell.

If none are the problem or everything checks out then i would disconnect the solderes you did and study up in depth on all the electrical and trace everything out (this is very very time consuming).

The worst case scenerio is you might have to replace the ecu or re-wire the whole circuit all together yourself (or a friend) and then solder it back into the ecu, if you arent too experienced with electrical/electronics ask a freind to help or a garage (they usually charge a lot of $)

since you soldered it back in i guess you have some experience with electronics.
hopefully i didnt confuse the sh** out of you hehe. Good luck.