Hello,
I'm pretty new to the whole car scene. I just purchased a 1984 Mazda RX-7 GSL last Monday and I've already had trouble with it. I anticipated this upon purchase though so it doesn't bother me all that much. Although there are less than 500 miles on the engine and clutch I know it's an older car and I'm going to be running into some problems with the rest of it. While driving it around that night the clutch went out on me and I haven't been able to drive it since. I took it to an automotive shop this morning to get it checked out and I'm waiting until this morning to see what they have got to say about the problem. I have a feeling that's going to cost me an arm and a leg but until I get the whole "man's garage" going on I'm not going to be able to do much work myself. However, I have a list of other problems that I've compiled while reading through the posts on here and I'd like some advice on how to rectify these situations.

1.) My steering is rather loose. There seems to be a lot of play when turning the wheel. Are some of the steering components going out and need to be replaced? If so, which components could be causing a problem like this?
2.) My battery dies rather quickly. After the clutch went out I was not able to start the car. I don't think the battery is that old but around what time do they normally start to go out?
3.) I noticed that my front passenger side turn signal was not functioning properly and after replacing the bulb it still wouldn't flash. Is this a wiring problem or should I check something else?
4.) Some gross *** put some Wal-Mart **** tires on this wonderful car and I'm not too happy about that. Could anyone recommend a wheel/tire package that would help improve handling and not make me feel like an idiot?
5.) The engine starts up easier when I pump the gas pedal about 3-5 times. Does this mean that something is maladjusted?
6.) The left side rear view mirror is either broken or not put on correctly. My guess is that it's broken. Is there anywhere I can get new or refurbished body parts?
7.) Both the driver and passenger windows are rolling up very slowly. The driver's window will not roll all of the way up. I'm guessing this is because the motors that drive the windows up and down are failing. Has anyone else had this problem? Is there somewhere I could get new motors?
8.) My rear wiper does not function. Again, I'm guessing this is because of the motor. Does anyone know where to get a new rear window wiper motor?
9.) During my short stint of driving the car I noticed that there was a noise coming from behind me. I couldn't tell if it was coming from the "transmission lump" or the rear wheels (not enough seat time). Does anyone have any ideas on what this could be?
10.) My shifter leans to left (towards first gear) when it's in neutral. Is this because of worn out bushings? If so, since that's not exactly a high stress area I'm guessing a lot of the bushings and other rubber pieces on my car could be failing. What should I be looking to replace and where could I source these parts from?

I'm so glad I found a forum as wonderful as this one. You all seem very knowledgeable about the cars that you own and I look foward to reading through here late at night for a long time to come. I'm going to keep you all posted as I plan to restore this car and then make it as fast as it could possibly be while still remaining street-able.

Regards,
Alexander

 

You can fixed them one by one just like me evryday I am under the car have been doing this for over a year and I have not finish yet.. patience is what you need..and a lot of money jajajajaja have fun and good luck..

 

Thanks a ton for the encouragement!

However, since I'm an idiot, I'm looking more for some ideas or processes which will help me clear these problems up. Maybe even some listings of the parts I will need?

I looked through a few other threads and I'm gathering up ideas in a little Microsoft Word document as I go. I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to be working on this car.

Thanks a ton,
Alexander

 

1. Take the car in for an alignment, they will tell you which parts are worn and need replaced. If you can't do the work yourself, it gets expensive.

2.Take the Alternator off and have it tested at one of your local parts stores. Makes friends with them, you will be there often.

3. Check all bulbs on that side, including sockets for corrosion. Try the emergency flashers. If that side works with the emergency flashers on, the problem lies in the turn signal unit.

4. Aftermarket wheels are hard to find for our 4x110 bolt pattern. Watch the for sale section, eBay and search the forum for other options. Tires, your on your own.

5. Possibly, are you using the choke?

6. Back to the for sale section. Could be wiring, but that is rare on the electric mirrors.

7. Take the door panels off clean and relube the tracks and gears. Check for broken rollers in the tracks. The motors last a long time and are pricey new. Also check the contacts on the window switches for burn marks and corrosion.Cleaning and filing the contacts usually takes care of that.

8. Could be the wiper switch, the connections to the motor, the nut holding the wiper arm may be loose, or the motor. Start with the simple things first, new motors aren't cheap.

9. Need a better description of the noise and under what conditions it occurs.

10. There is a centering spring in the shifter housing that usually breaks. If it doesn't bother you, work around it, the spring is cheap, the labor to replace it is not. If the shifter is loose and wobbly, replace the shifter bushings. About 25 bucks.

If the clutch assembly is new, there is a good chance the clutch hydraulics have went out. Happens often with a new pressure plate. Replace the clutch master, slave and hose, should be good for another 50k.

Welcome to the forum and I must congratulate you a very concise and direct first post. Quite refreshing compared to most.

Most parts for the 1st gens are reasonably priced. If you are not able to do your own work you will quickly have more invested in labor to bring the car to optimum operating condition than it will ever be worth. In the long run it is much cheaper to start buying tools and doing your own work. While it may be a struggle and frustrating at first, it is well worth the effort. That is what we are here for.

A few cautionary notes. Check your oil every fill up and change it every 3000 miles. Overheating is a very quick death to a rotary engine, if the add coolant buzzer goes off or the temp gauge rise above 1/2, address the issue immediately. If you blow a coolant hose and lose your fluid, you cannot drive to the nearest service and expect the engine to survive.

There is a wealth of info in the stickies at the top of the page. I recommend reading all of it thoroughly to familiarize yourself with these wonderful cars. That should answer most of your questions, any others we will be happy to answer.

Btw, what is a hipple?

 

Thank you a ton for the reply and for the compliment on my posting. I cannot wait to see how helpful this site becomes once I know a little more about my car. However, because I do not know enough yet I have a few more questions and a few more pieces of information that may help you help me.

3.) ("Check all bulbs on that side, including sockets for corrosion. Try the emergency flashers. If that side works with the emergency flashers on, the problem lies in the turn signal unit.")

- I actually have tried the hazard flashers and the front right turn signal still will not activate while they're turned on.

5.) ("Possibly, are you using the choke?")

- I am using the choke when I cold start the vehicle. I've also noticed that it doesn't seem to retract as I've read that it should.

9.) ("Need a better description of the noise and under what conditions it occurs.")

- Unfortunately, I do too. Until I get the car running again I'm probably not going to be able to figure out what it is.

About my clutch problem...

You said that this happens often with a new pressure plate? When I checked up on the shop that I took it into yesterday they told me that everything outside of the clutch seemed to be functioning properly. However, when I looked at the hydraulic system I noticed that where the hose connected to the slave cylinder (actually right about the metal... "screwnut"?) appeared to be damp as if it was leaking fluid. I informed the front desk attendant at the shop of this when the car was brought in and he said that he would relay the info to the mechanic. I don't know if that just didn't happen or if there wasn't a leak and my mind was just playing tricks on me. The person that I purchased the car from said that it might be the Pilot Bearing since the hydraulic system is (supposedly) functioning properly. Would the bearing failure present me with this sort of problem? Also, for future reference, I was looking at RX7.com and saw that they had a stainless steel braided Clutch Hose for sale. Is there enough pressure being put through the clutch's hydraulic system to warrant this upgrade?

Questions and comments about your cautionary notes...

I was reading through some of the threads and saw something about the rotary engine burning more oil than a normal piston engine. I know that all engines burn oil because of the heat involved in operating them but is it normal for the rotary to do so more than a piston engine? I'm planning on following a very strict maintenance regimen for the RX-7 because I absolutely love everything about this car so far. Therefore, unless something abnormal happens I don't think I should have any problems with the oil consumption of the engine. One more thing about the oil change process though, the paperwork that came back with the engine rebuild said that I should use 20w-50 throughout the life of the engine. Is this a good idea? Is the heavier weight year round because of the design of the rotary?

My add coolant light is on right now so I figured after I got the car home and in the driveway I would perform a coolant flush and fill. Any recommendations on what type of coolant to use?

I've been trying to read through the stickies. Some of them are overwhelming so I've been jumping around but I'm going to force myself through them soon. Thank you so much for all the help so far and I look foward to being able to return the favor someday in the not so distant future.

BTW, a Hipple is me, it's my last name.

You're appreciated,
Alexander

 

Hey Alex, welcome aboard. Post some pictures of your car. You sound pretty excited, which is perfectly normal for a new owner of an 84 GSL (I was one once, could be the beginning of an addiction). You have a bunch of the usual maintenance items typical of a 22 year old car, take them on a few at a time, get some tools, a good place to work and the shop manual.

Here's some links for the factory manual that I copied from one of the posts below:

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-gen-archive-71/1st-gen-rx-7-faq-page-507782/
http://www.wankel.net/~krwright/cars/rx7/manuals.html

Let's see the pictures!

Oh yeh, try to post just one or two questions at a time so we can keep up with you.

Ray

 

SS clutch hose will give a little better pedal feel and a lifetime of service, pricing is similiar to the oem rubber.

20/50 wt. oil if the temperatures stay above 30*, iirc. A lighter weight is better for colder temperatures. Rotarys inject oil into the combustion chambers for lubrication. Normal oil consumption is about 1 qt./3000 miles.

Pilot bearing will not cause a clutch failure unless it has welded/jammed itself between the e-shaft and tranny input shaft. A throwout bearing is more likely the suspect. If the clutch pedal is going to the floor and not returning, or if the pedal feels spongy, it's the hydraulics. On rare occasions, the clutch fork can crack or the clutch fork pivot ball my break.

The normal ethelyne-glycol antifreeze is fine.

 

Welcome to the forum, I concur with trochoid, he is very knowledgable and a great resource. One added point, are you looking to restore or mildly modify the car to improve performance?

 

RE: ray green

Thanks a ton for the reply. Attached to this posting are some pictures of my new car. I'm so excited about fixing it up. I'm even more excited about just getting it back to the condition necessary for me to drive it. I loved driving it around for the one night I was able to before my clutch went out. I'll keep in mind what you said about the questions and what-not. What year and model do you own? What have you done with it so far? I look foward to talking to you more in the future!

Regards,
Alexander Hipple

RE: trochoid

Thank you very much for the info on the oil and the coolant. I'll have to check for the throwout bearing failure when I start poking around for the cause of my clutch problem. I've decided to do the work on it myself since the shop I took it to told me that it would be about $440 before they dropped the transmission and told me what was wrong. What year and model do you own? What have you done with it so far? I'm really thankful for all of your help here and I know I'll be asking you some more questions when other problems pop up down the road.

Regards,
Alexander Hipple

RE: aussiemg

trochoid does seem very knowledgeable and I'll make sure to heed his advice when I'm working on my RX-7. As of right now I plan to restore the RX-7 as best as I can (with some modern touches... a sound system, better lighting, maybe some performance modifications to the suspension and braking systems). Wayyy later down the road I want to do a TurboII swap. The idea of a fuel injected turbo rotary in this little car makes me want to run straight into a wall, head first. It seems like the only way I'm able to contain my excitement. What year and model do you own? What have you done with it so far? Well, I'm about to go get some dinner, it was nice to talk to you. I'm looking foward to doing it again the near future.

Regards,
Alexander Hipple

 

Maybe I can help a little.. I think trochoid has it mostly covered

1.) steering loose. ahh the ever popular 1st gen steering lose snydrome. Its most likely the steering box. try this----> https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ing+adjustment or this https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ing+adjustment

3.) light not working. Check to see that the wire is connected behind the light fixture. Its very possible that has come off.

4.)wheels. Kosie K1 and Panasport are the two most common suppliers for NEW 4x110 wheels.

6.) need parts go to the wreckers. or check ebay.

7.) windows. Both my windows are doing the same. They arent aligned properly do as trochoid says take apart door and lube and examine to see if its alight.

8.) rear wiper not working. Check your switch , also check to see if the 2 wires are attached to the rear glass passenger side. I believe there is a inline relay as well.. the relay might be gone. I doubt its the motor.

 

you can tell if your throw bearing is going out on the clutch.


when you let off the clutch in nurtrel I think thats how you spell it

if it sounds like its rubbing aagainst something like scraping paper constantly

thats when you replace that.

gotta replace mine lol

 

You've come to the right place for help with the repairs Alex, these guys know their stuff.

And you are going to like this, my 84 GSL looks just like your 64 GSL. Here's some photos from a cardomain site I set up to document some repairs and keep a running history of my RX-7 commutemobiles:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/479957/16
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/479957/17

I'm into keeping these cars as nice as possible and driving them as much as possible while paying as little as possible doing it, so look here for some real cheapo fixes.

Good luck getting that bugger up to par, they are a real blast when everything is working well.

Ray

 

yeah mines anoying people say ya superchargers making a funny noise i just smile and say thanks mate

welcome alex theres lots of work ahead of you to me lots of fun im sure you will love it ounce u fimiliarize with how the car works

this fourm is like a big family we are allways happy to help nomatter how silly the question sounds someone will have an idea

and again welcome


hmm how ergent is it to replace the throw out bearing will driving?

 

What do I own, it's more like a question of which one to talk about. I have had 15 7's in the last 5 years and currently have 6. I have a 2nd gen as a DD and then there is this one: https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ight=unvieling . Of the other 4, one is pending sale, another 1st gen stripped down to the shell and ready for re-assembly/sale, a GSL, the 'turd' brown on brown that I will finish someday, and a TII that needs a new motor.

I am currently prepping everything that I need for the widebody to do a TII swap. I am getting to be a stubborn old fart and do all of my own work. I have about 6k in the widebody and less than 200 bucks of that is outside labor. Parts, parts and more parts.

The philosophy I have is it is mechanical and I am smarter than it is. I will take on a new challenge/project and build/learn the skill set that I need to complete it along the way. When it's done, it's done right and the money that I save by not paying for outside labor goes to more tools and better parts. I have always figured I can f..up a job as well as many of these so called mechanics. The benefit is I don't have to pay them and by learning the hard way, making mistakes and figuring them out, I learn more in the long run.

What I know about the 7's comes from this forum, the FSM's, and tenacity. Without the forum, I would be very far behind where I am now, so I give my experience and knowledge back whenever possible.

 

Hello,

I just got back from inside and I'm pretty excited. I may have found something with the car that will tell me what's going on with the clutch. While I was outside staring at my car and wishing I could drive it I decided to start it up to make sure that it was keeping it's charge (had a problem with that when I first picked it up). I let it warm up and then decided to play around with the gear shift and clutch pedal to see if maybe it had miraculously fixed itself. Unfortunately it didn't, but, when I push in the clutch pedal there's a noise coming from the area where the clutch is located that sounds a lot like someone shaking a cabinet with a bunch of bowls or other such vibratable items stacked on top of it. The noise is moderately loud (loud enough to hear it over the idle of the engine) and stops when I let off of the clutch pedal. Do you have any idea what this? Is this bringing me any closer to isolating the cause of the problem without having to drop the tranny? I appreciate all of your help so far and I hope that we can talk more about this soon.

Thank you,
Alexander Hipple

 

RE: ray green

Hello,

Thanks a ton for posting those cardomain.com links. I was looking through them and saw that you fixed your shift boot problem (the same one I've got, I didn't post a question about it because I thought it was rather trivial) with styrofoam. That's a wonderful idea and I'm going to do just about the same thing in mine after I get her back on the road.

RE: trochoid

You are what I want to be. Haha, I cannot wait until I possess the skills necessary to do close to all of my work all on my lonesome. I cannot wait to start working again. I wasn't going to do so since I will be attending school again soon but with this car in my driveway I'm not going to be able to rest until it's in optimal condition. Do you have any pictures of your widebody 7? A TurboII swap sounds pretty insane. I would love to do that someday. Like I said earlier, the thought of that engine in this car makes me shake. I sent you a PM about my clutch and I also posted back to this thread with a new discovery. I'm hoping that you might be able to tell me what's going on here so I know what to look for when I drop out the tranny. Thank you a ton for your help, you're all good people and I enjoy conversing with you about a shared love.

Thank you all,
Alexander Hipple

 

Hate to say it, but it sounds like the throwout bearing has gone bad. This entails dropping the trans.
Welcome to the forum. Most of the people that have replied previously in this thread, are the most knowledgable and helpful members. There are a lot of others, too. Along with a bunch of people that don't know much, but think they do......

 

Alex, pics of the widebody are in the link in my last post. PM'd you back.

 

Well, it sounds like these guys have you pretty well taken care of. I also appreciate the accuracy of your posting! That's a very nice car you have there, and appears to be well worth any effort that you will need to put into it. You have definitely found the right place for information, and if you continue to post as you have so far, I can tell you're going to go a long way...

 

RE: trochoid

Thanks so much for your help. I'll have to look through my service manual to see how to drop my tranny and replace my throwout bearing. Is this very difficult work? I'll check the other ones while I'm in there. Is there anything specific I should be looking for that would show me other failures that may have occurred? Thanks a ton for the reply to my PM and I look foward to talking to you after this fix is done... I'm sure there will be other problems.

Thank you very much,
Alexander Hipple

RE: Rogue_Wulff

Thanks for the reply and the input on how to solve my problem, I really appreciate it. I can tell that you've all got more knowledge about this car than I do so I'm sure I'll be sponging it off of all of you for a long time to come. I look foward to talking to you in the future.

Take care,
Alexander Hipple

RE: Kentetsu

Thanks for the reply! I appreciate the complement on how I post. I'm trying to make them as concise as possible seeing as how it's already extremely difficult to diagnose some problems through a forum. Thank you for the complement on my car. I cannot wait to get her driving again, that first night (unfortunately that was the same night my clutch went out) left me starving for more.

Your '85 has close to 200,000 miles? Have you rebuilt it at all or are you the original owner? It must have taken a lot of care to keep her running strong for that long, eh? I really like the lights you have under your bumper. What are those? I'm guessing fog lights...? Well, I look foward to speaking with you more in the near future!

Thank you much,
Alexander Hipple

 

I had similar clutch problems on my white 84 GSL when I first got it last summer. It turned out that the previous owner had recently had a clutch put in by a local chain garage, I think it was Midas, but it could have been any one of these high profit, low competency "auto repair" companies.

Anyway, whoever did the work messed a bunch of things up in the process. The most critical was that one of the bolts holding down the slave cylinder had been stripped and this allowed the slave to move just a little bit when the peddle was engaged. You could barely see this happening, but because of the leverage involved, it was compromising the throwout distance needed to fully disengage the clutch. Securing that bolt made all the difference in the world.

I replaced the master and slave hydraulics while I was at it, but I don't think this was causing the original problem because it wasn't leaking fluid, the pedal always returned and there was good movement on the throwout arm, just not enough to fully disengage the clutch. I also added the stainless steel line, but this is really just cosmetics, the rubber hose should work fine if it's in good shape (but they can start to rot on the inside when they get old even if they aren't leaking, which can be a problem. If your hydraulic fluid is black and then gets black again fairly soon after you do a good bleeding, its time to think about redoing the master and slave and adding that cool looking SS line).

Also, do you have your dash lights? When they put my tranny back in they hooked up those wires underneath the shifter, which are supposed to be connected only on automatics. Connecting them takes out the dash lights and can burn out the dimmer switch.

Finally, and I almost hate to tell you this, you might be having transmission problems. Once I got all the clutch problems straightened out and the car was running fine, I started to notice that I was getting transmission noises, especially under load, like when I took my 250 lb genious mechanic neighbor for a test drive, which made the whinning even worse. And I was starting to get the symptom you describe - when you push in the peddle, even in neutral, there was noise coming from the clutch/tranny area.

Since I knew if it wasn't the hydraulics, it had to be a faulty clutch (unlikely, since it was practically new, but given all the other mess ups, this seemed possible) or the clutch peddle noise was related to the transmission noises I was getting under load. My neighbor suggested what I already knew, it was time to swap in the tranny from my parts car.

Fortunately we had some mild weather in January so I put the car up on jacks in my gravel driveway and did the tranny swap. The clutch was in good shape, but the pilot and throw out bearings were dry - you guessed it, they didn't bother to grease them before assembling the new clutch. So I added some grease, swapped in my spare tranny (from my 85 GSL with 170,000 miles) and the white 84 is now driving like a new car.

Hopefully your pilot bearing is acting up, maybe because they didn't grease it or replace it when they redid the engine (garages hate to replace pilot bearings, too much work). If that's the case, you will have to drop the tranny but this job is not as bad as you might think, an afternoon's work if you have the tools. And you will get a good chance to check everything out.

So, the moral is, if I can do it, you can do it and in the process you will learn everything you need to know about clutches and transmissions. More importantly, you will get it right because you own and care about the car.

It's hard to find good mechanics who like to work on rotories and aren't real quick to blame these pistonless cars for their mistakes, better to do it yourself!

Good luck.

Ray

 

Hi Alex, I see I'm having a hard time keeping up with you again! (I was writing the above post while you guys were already discussing the same stuff!).

About the boot shift trick, I must confess I had my doubts about whether that one would work. I expected the heat and vibrations from the tranny to eat up the low density styrofoam that I used and that at least I would have to replace it with some denser stuff. But after a month or two and a couple thousand miles it is holding up just fine. This job takes about 20 minutes, no special tools or materials required!

 

The reponses given to a concise and clear question, asked in well phrased English, so many others could take heed of your example.

I currently own 3 1st Gens all GSLs, everything in these cars is not too difficult for someone with some intelligence. You have shown the enthusiasm and used resources, the rest is just time.

As for headlights upgrades look at these links

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/105-amp-alternator-swap-how-%96-gm-cs130-504471/

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/headlight-modification-relay-installation-interest-491459/

Front suspension upgrade

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generation-specific-1979-1985-18/gauging-interests-front-suspension-package-469039/

 

I give this guy 500 forum bux. Just because he isnt acting like a noob and his descriptions of everything are very clear even to me and thats rare.

Even though you said you were new to this whole car scene thing.....you explain things better than I do. I usually end up saying whatcha macallit and stuff along that line. BUt if you want to know any info or are just looking for any upgrade sites here is a link to a thread I made a while back with a ton of sites. It should help you know anything you wanna know that you cant find on here.

https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-generation-specific-1986-1992-17/list-performance-sites-rotories-458668/

That should put you in about a years worth of reading.





And whats with people and owning FBs named Alex. If theres anymore on here im going to have to go by my last name. Just to many lol. So uh yeah... welcome to the forums. Listen to all that have posted here accept me. I was the one Rouge was talking about pretty much lol. Kinda the village idiot. Have fun with your car.

Alex Saunders

 

RE: ray green

Thanks so much for the reply, I really appreciate the time it took for you to help me out here.

- I figured that the previous owner must have FUBAR'd the clutch job (he did it himself) since there really should not be problems like this with a part that has less than 600 miles on it.

- I don't have that much money right now (I might be hired on at an auto shop soon though) so I won't be able to completely overhaul the clutch system. I'm probably going to pick up the clutch kit from RX7.com (it said something like 10% increase over stock holding power, I don't really care about the increase since my car isn't heavily modded but I figure it might be a good idea to get a kit like this from a specialty shop who deals in our RX-7s) and do the work myself. What tools will be necessary to make this job go as quickly and smoothly as possible. I could just read over my service manual and gather the information from there but sometimes people have different ways of doing things and somebody's way may work better than the Haynes mechanic's.

- I do have my dash lights. The dimmer switch seems to be more of an on/off switch though. I don't know if that's an indicator of a problem to come.

- I figured I might be having tranny problems. That's kind of upsetting but it's understandable. Would it be better to have my current tranny rebuilt or to look around for another used one? I would like to have it rebuilt since the motor was just done and it would be like driving a totally new car (well except for the steering that is), but, if it's really not worth it then I suppose another used tranny would be acceptable.

- I'm really excited to perform the clutch job but I'm a bit nervous at the same time. I don't want to go under there and then realize that my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I don't think that will happen but you never know, eh?

- I like the shift boot trick. I think I'll probably do that one of these days after I've cleaned out the interior as best as I can. BTW, any tips on stripping the carpet out of these cars? I want to take it out since it's getting a little older and worn down.

Thank you so much for your help so far and I'll let you know what's going on with the car as this project progresses. I look foward to talking to you again soon!

Regards,
Alexander Hipple

RE: fcdrifter13

Can I use that 500 forum bux to purchase my new clutch kit and the rest of the parts required to get my car back on the road? J/K, thanks for the welcome. I look foward to speaking with you soon!

Thanks again,
Alexander Hipple