Hey guys I can't get my motor to have any spark.

It's a '73 RX2 (formerly auto) with an '81 RX7 12A transplant. My thinking is that it might have something to do with the igniters in the trunk from the '73 era schimatics (sp) but I'm not sure. Its damn rocket science to me.

Anyone ever encounter this problem? I would have posted sooner but I didn't want to post until I gave it a few goes.

Also it is using the same coils as previous with the old '73 12A

Thanks!
-Bob

 

did you run new wires from the coil to the igniters?
if no spark, then try running new wire from the battery + to the coils + terminals.

 

The old wiring is usually the problem. My REPU has benefitted greatly from a relay. Since my battery is under the bed, I ran a wire from the starter solenoid up to the relay. Then it goes into the coils and ignitors. This reduced the electrical load on the key switch and the wires no longer get hot because the realy requires very little amperage to keep it 'on'. Now they get full alternator voltage and it runs beautifully without the occasional blip at idle like it used to have.

 

Great I'll try both of those ideas... My 89 buick century custom blew the engine today so now i HAVE to get the RX2 running. Damn Sacramento heat wave...

 

bring it down to LA.....quite a difference.

 

hey we're almost local kinda. come down to the east bay and help me fix my RX-2 or you can let me near your car and see if I can fix it. I have a really cool shop manual from '73 for the RX-2 here.

 

you need to bypass that entire ignition system from the RX-2. You can use the stock mazda ignitors and a "universal" mazda ignition wiring diagram that is floating out there in the internet somewhere (search for rotary engine into a VW Bug), or you can use a MSD or Jacob's ignition unit. Make sure you buy new coils, wires, plugs and do not use any of the wires that go to or come from the ignition boxes in the trunk.

 

What was this "occasional blip at idle"? My repu will occasionally get these hesitations at idle and I have to increase throttle or it stalls. I have been thinking something in the ignition may be getting hot but didnt know for certain what.

 

I'm not sure how to describe it other than to say it would miss now and then before I did all my fancy ignition upgrading.

Touch your keyswitch wires that hang out the back of the cylinder like they do on our trucks. Well, drive around for like 10 minutes first at least to get everything up to normal operating temperature. Hot wires are common on these vehicles because they were meant to carry barely enough amps to run points. Now with upgraded ignition systems, the stock wires are not up to the task, especialy because of how old they are now.

My engine is so now hard to stall it's kinda ridiculous. I can get it down to where the engine's "put put" sounds are no longer occuring long after the tach has reached 0 and it still will continue to run. It goes quiet and then comes back to life. It's really cool.

I'm getting my sister into rotaries and this engine will be perfect for a beginner like her. It was for me back in the day.

 

Cool, I think I have a project for this weekend.

 

http://www.geocities.com/cd23c/dlidfis.html

Mike suggested trying this out, I'm wondering a few things though. If I wire this up, what gauge wire should I use, and is that a fuseable link coming off the positive lead on the diagram shown?

Anyone ever do this mod?

If this doesn't work, what is the specific MSD iginition alternative? It looks like the DLIDFIS is pretty straight forward, but I need a backup plan just encase.

 

10 guage works realy well. Read the "legend" for details.

A few people have done it. I personally have hooked up four vehicles and will do a fifth after a tranny swap. All pre RX-7 and non Mazda rotary vehicles.

I had an MSD hooked to my REPU, but then went to DLIDFIS.

 

I did it to my REPU, was quite easy and gave it a more powerful feel.

 

From reading that site on DLIDFIS I still don't understand which distributor(s) I need. I know it sounds stupid but this is for a dual-distributor setup using some sort of later distributors? Or is this for a single distributor?

Otherwise it sounds interesting and it's definitely something I could build in a couple days, and there are enough RX-7s in the junkyards here that I could get the parts he listed.

 

That's a toughy. In your situation, you'd be better off hooking the MSD white wire to your Leading dizzy points and running it to a DIS coil to have direct fire with 0&180º sparks.

Or you could try swapping front covers.

My '73 12A already has a single dizzy front cover, so I can use an FB dizzy with DLIDFIS with no problem.

 

Anyone near Sacramento / Bay Area ever setup a DLIDFIS? I just kinda want to see one in person, or if possible could someone post a picture of there setup in detail on here? (just so I kinda see what the thing should look like when completed)

Man I'm stuck in Reno right now but I can't wait to try this out when I get back home to the garage.

 

Ok so just to clarify for me: on my stock 12A I would need to upgrade to the later single-distributor front housing and ignition to use DLIDFIS?

Is I wanted to keep my current setup I'd want to replace the trunk-mounted uh 'stuff' with an MSD ignition box?

 

Right. Good luck with it.