Hey guys,
I really feel like a complete idiot asking this question, I am at the end of my wits.
I have an 82 RX7 with 12A, manual tranny.
It flat out refuses to start,
I have replaced the dist. cap & rotor, plugs, plug wires...still nothing.
I have checked for fuel. (Plenty)
i have performed the deflooding numerous times...still nothing.
Most that it has done was a quick fire & die!
I have spark going to L1 & L2, absolutely nothing from T1 & T2.
I have checked the coils by switching them, still nothing...coils work fine.
The pickups and the ignitors seem to work fine.
Wondering if there may be a short somewhere in the electrical.
Anyone have any suggestions on what the culprit may be and a step by step guide for inspecting and fixing?
I would appreciate all the help I could get!

 

starter? since u mention that you arent gettin any trailing that might be another issue as well

 

Curious as to what kind of issue?
When I checked the wires leading to the coil, all I had to use was a test light, when I touched the negative power to the positive wires on each coil with the ignition in the on position, the test light lit up, I believe that would mean the wires leading to the coil on the positive side are ok, but yet when I did a reverse and checked the wires leading to the negative side with positive power I got nothing, for the heck of it I checked the negative to negative and got a test light on.
this happened on both coils, I do not know if that is normal or not especially since I got spark from the leading coil through to the spark plugs on leading and when I switched the leading coil wire to the trailing I also got spark through to the trailing plugs.
I switched the coil wires and still have the same problem, no spark on T1 & T2 but have spark on L1 & L2.
I need major assistance on this.
Would not having trailing spark cause the car to not start at all?
I am almost ready to use the car as target practice if I can't get this fixed.
HELP!!

 

I'm not sure what year it started, but some models won't run if the trailing ignitor is bad (which yours seems to be). It keeps the fuel pump from running.

 

but he said that he's getting plenty of fuel.

How do you know that your trailing ignitor is good? Did you test it per the FSM or Hayne's manual? Does your tach work for the split second that she fires? If it doesn't, then your trailing ignitor is Fried.

I don't remember if you said you did this or not, but did you hook up your leading ignitor to your trailing coil? If so, do you get trailing spark? If you do, then your trailing ignitor is bad.

Not having leading OR trailing spark shouldn't make your car not run. There is a thread currently about a guy that lost both ignitors at once, and he only had one spare, and the engine would run on just one plug, just really down on power. My car is a bitch to start, but that was, up until last night, partly becasue of a shoddy battery. Pull the battery out of a larger vehicle and see if you can get your 7 to fire. If you can, then you need a more powerful battery. I replaced my battery last night with a Optima Red Top, 800 CCA and 1000 CA. That problem is fixed.

Here is what you should do:
1) Check battery
2) re-set timing, per Alien-RX7's writeup here: http://mirotaryclub.com/forum/showth...9&page=1&pp=15
3) pull fuel pump fuse and one trailing plug. spin engine with starter. Should hear 3 strong pulses
4) replace plug and wire, take out other trailing plug and do the same thing.
5) if you don't have 3 pulses on both housings, you have a stuck or cracked seal. Pull your carb and pour 3-4 oz's of ATF or Diesel fuel down your intake, turn 1/3 turn w/ front pulley, pour ATF or diesel down carb, turn 1/3 turn, pour. Let sit for 1-2 days, turning motor 3-4 complete revolutions a day. pull plugs. Hold rag over plug holes. Have buddy turn over engine with starter. Repeat steps 3 and 4. If you still don't have 3 pulses, you have a cracked/missing apex seal and you need a rebuild.
6) replace fuel filter
7) pull fuel feed line from carb and test your fuel flow per the FSM or Hayne's manual, make sure that you're flowing enough fuel.
8) hook up your ignition system so you know that you have leading spark. Trailing is there to aid in the burn and reduce emissions.
9) pull plugs, hit them with contact cleaner and compressed air. put them back in block
10) start her up.

 

Thanks guys, I'll check on this and let you know how it turns out.

I took the leading coil wire from the Leading to the Trailing side on the dist and I got spark to the plugs, it was when I hooked up the coils according to specs that I got no spark to the trailing side, I even switched coils around to see if that was it, but no change.

But as I said, I will check everything you listed and let you know!
Thanks!

 

Get a fresh set of plugs, deflood again before you install them. If the trailing is not firing, dead ignitor.

 

Like trochoid said change the plugs even if they look ok and fire when you have them out and ground them against the engine. That may not be the problem but I have one rx that I had to do that to twice . Both times the plugs looked fine and sparked but they absolutely wouldnt start the car. Just to be sure I put the plugs in one of my other cars and to my suprise they wouldnt start it either.

 

I have flooded BRAND NEW plugs, first try and brake cleaner and compressed air would not clean them enough to get them to fire. I do have a sand blast cabinet though, that will clean them up, followed by brake cleaner can compressed air.

If you are on a budget, buy 2 new plugs for the leading, once the engine is running, the trailings should come back in, if you are getting spark.

 

I have a late 84 and mine will still run without trailing.

 

The fuel cut relay is for 1984-85 models only. Mazda12AGS. if yours work without trailing ignition the fuel cut relay was bypassed either by new wiring straight to the fuel pump or by doing the fuel pump relay trick. Or the connector at the trailing ignition was switched to leading.

 

A bit more data needed. Has it ever started? if so, was anything changed just before it refused to start? a badly re-positioned dizzy for example, which will mess up your timing, could be the cause.

 

Hey guys, have an update for you!

I have been racking my brain (What's left of it ), did some checking and cross checking.

I remembered that when I bought the car it did start but ran like crap. The kid I bought it from said he had recently changed the plugs and the cap & rotor and plug wires.

I went backwards a bit and figured that since I had replaced everything with fresh components that I had nothing to lose by backing up on it since the ignitors and everything else I checked seemed to be fine.

I did notice however, that when I did a manual check on the timing, it was off by 180 degrees. So I pulled the dizzy and did a rotation on it.

Even though I was also getting spark to the leading plugs, I decided to change the L1 plug with the old plug that I pulled from it.

I tried to start it and it fired up momentarily.

I went ahead and pulled all the plugs, did a deflood on it, cleaned up the old plugs with my compressor and put them back in.

Turned the ignition and sure enough, the beast came to life.

It does run rough, but at least it is running now, I just need to make a few adjustments on it, and replace the carb gasket since it seems to have a vacuum leak at the base.

All in all, Thanks for the input from you guys.