So I finally got some time to put a new starter in and try and turn over the original twin dizzy 12a. I pulled the plugs and opened the throttles so i can turn it over by hand. it moved freely, but just incase. i poured a little oil down the carb before i tryed cranking with the starter.

crank it a few times until all the oil shot out the motor, then shot a bunch of starting fluid down the carb to clean some of the oil out of the motor and cranked some more. but before i put the plugs in i tested for spark. and got nothing. now im completely new to the twin dizzy set up, and semi-new to distributors in general. I havnt owned a 1st gen in a while, its been all CAS and FC's for a few years.

soooo... can someone point me in the right direction on checking/inspecting the twin dizzy set up. I know NOTHING about points distributors. The wires all seem to be in the right place, but just incase, what goes where refering to the wires from coil to dizzy and so forth... thanks!

 

run a wire from the alternator's b-terminal to both leading and trailing coil's + terminal. this will ensure that you have spark. if you still dont, then there are other issues

 

You also might want to pull both distributor caps and rotors just to see what the points look like. You can turn the engine over and see if they're opening and closing rather than being run way far in or out.

There's nothing special about the twin-dizzy vs. other points ignitions, so I'm sure we can get you running.

 

unless ur partial to the twins, swap a 12a front cover in there so u can upgrade to electronic dizzy.

 

I took the caps off and everything looked real clean in there. Where do i look to see the points opening and closing?

one thing i did notice is, the NEG (-) terminal on the trailing coil had nothing connected to it. shouldnt it be connected to the NEG (-) on the leading coil???

 

the negative connection from the coils should be hooked up to the points in the distributors

 

^ sorry for my complete and utterly dumb question. but where exactly is that? pictures would help. man, i feel like such an newbie here. lol...

 

OK, i drew up a template so maybe someone can draw in what goes where...

and another on how mine is set-up right now. I know its wrong for the simple fact that theres nothing going to the NEG. terminal on the Trailing coil. I just dont know where it goes...

(any questions on the drawings just ask)








A few random questions also:

-How do i check to see if the coils are any good?

-what is the little bar with the two terminals connected to it (just left of the Leading coil)

 

you need power to the coils both during cranking and in the run positions... test with a test light
turn the key to the run position and check for power... then hold the key in the start position and check for power


the porcelain bars are resistors... just make sure you have power on both ends... if there is only power to one side then its bad... they usually don't go bad


if you don't have power at either time... then do as wacky Mel says and run a jumper from the battery wire off the alternator to the positive terminals on both leading and trailing

 

I need to have the wires in the correct position first. no need to test anything if wires are missing or in the wrong spot...

 

nah, just leave the negative wire on the coils in tach along with the + positive from coil to dizzy. just run a jumper to the coils as I mentioned earlier. This will ensure that you have juice to the coils. if that works, then you will have an idea why it it cranks and wont start. if it doesnt, by-pass the stock harness and run new wires straight from coils to the dizzy.

also, the old school RX has a start relay (totally different ignition system from a RX-7). When cranking the engine, the start relay provides juice to the coils. without it, engine will crank but it will never start.

 

wire diagram courtesy of crit and vintage rotaries

http://iwankel.com/manuals/public/RX...ng,%201973.pdf

 

for some reason, i cant see that diagram?

i do have this. (dont know his forum name, but big thanks for emailing this to me)

but im not to great at reading schematics... wiring was never my thing without step by step info and pictures... still learning.

 

post a couple pictures of your setup... pictures can be worth a 1000 words sometimes

 

when it stops raining, i'll grab a few pics. but the picture i drew above, is exactly how its set up right now.

 

i just want to see if the wiring is original or if its been jacked up... also want to verify the wire colors

 

heres a few shots... If you want to see something specific let me know.

 

oh... all the light blue (with black tape) connections i did. The original ones that were there looked far to corroded to make a decent connection. so i replaced most of them.

 

maybe this will help you, pics of my 73 Rx2, original wiring

 

that does help! i noticed right away i have a few wires in the wrong position!

thanks!

 

if you need more pics, let me know