I recently bought a 91 NA rx7 in west Texas for 150 dollars (price drop from 500 after almost a year that he couldn't sell it ) from a guy down my street. With a few issues (That what i thought). ( but i can't complaint that much since i did pay 150 $ for it right ).

For some reason the car wouldn't go faster that 30 mph according to the guy (could it be a clogged exhaust ??? or maybe something with the actual automatic transmission ???)

It has a leaking radiator ( Which is not a big issue since the leak is right on top of the radiator )

It's missing a rim ( no biggy right )

no battery

and now the big problems........

1) When i was placing a new battery into it's respective place, i noticed that there was a brown cable hanging freely right next to the battery.. but it didn't look like any of the other cables so i just left it alone... when i tried starting the car nothing ... not even a click ... so i go back to the battery and for some reason decided to touch the brown cable to the negative terminal and the starter started... so i went back to the cabin and turn the key and the car started... but i didn't realize i left the brown cable still connected until a few second later.... after which i went back to disconnected...


2) this is when i notice that the car has a weird idle that sounds like as if it fluctuating.. it goes from 700 rpms to 1200 rpms and back down and up again only for a few second then it returns to regular idle of 700 rpms...so i stop the engine since it does have a radiator leak..

After adding water to the radiator (for now until i fix the radiator ) i tried starting the car the same way i did the first time,, it wasn't starting, but since the fuel gauge was low i thought it was low on fuel. After going for some NOT SO CHEAP FUEL, i tried staring the car the same way but this time the starter was making a sound as if it was just free spinning

 

3) how can i fix this so that i can just start the car with the turn of the key and not the brown cable

4) So the starter does fine in my home made bench test, it spins and pops out like its suppose to, but i took it to autozone to get a second opinion, but like my test, the starter was in perfect conditions, including the Bendix and the flywheel itself. After putting the starter back, i tried to start the car, but still the same, It was after a couple of hours of messing around that i was able to get to the conclusion that the starter cranks the engine when i place jumper cables on the starter like a bench test expect that the starter is in the car, but it wont crank the engine if the battery is connected at the regular place.

i did researched on this and it looks to be a grounding issues, but i'm not sure .. how can i check and double check ?

5) So i try to start the car once more again with it actually cranking but now it won't start ... i changed the spark plugs and the spark plug wires, but still it won't star.... Could my coils have died cause i don't see a spark coming out of the leading coils ? or could it still be dealing with the grounding issues ?

and well that's about it for right now .. I'm still unable to test the 30 mph problem since i can't even get the car to start ...

i know i wrote A LOT but i'm trying to be as specific as i can ...

PLZ HELP ME ...

 

dude i'll give you the best sloution.

go to the junk yard sell it for 200$ or 300$ in this way you would have gotten extra 150$ which is good. unless if yoiu want to pay another 2000$ at least to rebuild the engine, 1000$ transmition, 800$ at least clutch kit.....etc. i am sure too that it needs some paintjob the cheapest it goes 500$. so you will be end up paying without noticing over 4000$+150$ .


go buy a clean 91 rx7 for 3000$ it's cheaper.

 

wait I dont get it. you said its a 91 making it an S5 but yet it has an S4 body? something is not right with this car. as for the electric problem I have no clue as I have never gone thru this. also some people might need more pictures to really narrow this down. post more pics of what you are talking about. ESP some whole engine pics.

 

Looks like an S5 to me....

Anyways, Its going to be vey hard for someone to trouble shoot a random wire which is most likely coming from you're starter. Easy way would be to follow the wire back, rerun it from its current spot into the inside of the car, then put a pushbutton starter switch inbetween that wire and you're battery.

I agree this will cost more then just buying a good condition RX-7. BUT, I know if I came acrossed it I would fix it myself out of pride and joy.

 

what electric ptoblems are you talking about the guy s saying the car dosen't go over the 30mph. it needs a whole rebuild and pray to god that nothing is wrong with the housing.

 

part out the car. you will get bout 500 if the interior is good. the drive shaft, trany 02 sensor for 20$, oil sending unit, the engine the ecu, the mirrors, the lights the fenders the doors the bumpers....etc. if all that is in good shape then you will get another 7 just from selling all that.

 

wat part of tx are you in, ill buy ur tail lights and maybe some other stuff off the car should get you your money back that you paid for it, ill give you my s4 tails for free if you want them lol pm me if your interested!

 

i am second in line if you decided to part the car.

 

.....

Not going over 30mph does not necessarily reflect anything on the engine.

I'm a total novice at these cars, and I can think of a half dozen reasons offhand that would cause that without being a problem with the engine itself.

 

The hunting idle and 30mph limit sounds like a) a large vac leak allowing unmetered air past the AFM, or b) a problem with the AFM itself.

Also, you need to trace where this brown mystery wire goes.

 

*The hunting idle sounds like a tps adjustment

*The starting problem may be bad wiring or a Inhibitor Switch out of adjustment. The brown wire may just have been a bypass for the Inhibitor Switch or the "S" terminal of the starter solenoid.

*The 30mph limit however really sounds like it is transmission related.
I just finished disassembling a '91 vert w/automatic and have been going over the FSM to try to learn the trans.
From what I already know about automatics it seems like your TCM is missing an input or two (or three...) to control the shifts. On our cars we have: TPS, AFM, ECT, IAT, MAP that all inform the ECM/TCM of current engine conditions and driver inputs TPS, PS, AC, BOO. From all of these inputs the computer makes a decision as to which gear to shift into

**If you can, make a trouble code tester (I believe it is in the FAQ) to see if the ECM/TCM has any trouble codes

Give me a couple of days to go over the FSM and I'll get back to you.


Here is the link.
http://www.cochran-racing.com/FSM/s5/index.html

 

also, stupid question, is there enough trans fluid?
May be a great idea to drain and fill with new fluid.

Use Dexron 2 or 3 (you will be hard pressed to find Dexron 2)
Dexron 3 is also widely refered to as ATF, Multi Vehicle ATF, Classic ATF

You need 8.0 quarts

 

The FSM hints to a "limp-in-mode" that occurs when inputs are lost. The TCM uses a default control map to allow the trans to shift, but "performance will be slightly affected" this is to allow you to drive to a repair facility without further hurting the vehicle.

 

I went and looked under the hood of my 1989 convertible. Like yours in is an S5 NA. There are two wires attached to the positive terminal of the battery. One is black, the other dark brown. My car runs just fine. When you connected the brown wire, it worked fine. My guess is that's the way it's supposed to be.

These cars have an automatic warm up sequence when you start it up. They race up to 2500 rpm for a few seconds and then settle down to normal idle. You description is different, but could you be mistaking this normal operation for a problem?

I don't have the automatic transmission, but I've been watching this forum for a couple of years. I think the not going over thirty problem can best be explained by the limp home mode already mentioned in an earlier post. If you have disconnected the battery for several minutes that should have reset.

Trying to track things down is very difficult when there are so many things that can mask the symptoms. My suggestion is for you to surf on Aaron Cake. He has some good essays regarding where to look for problems in an FC, what to do with a new FC and, especially, on grounding. I followed his recommendations religiously and, miraculously, many of the problems the car had when I got it went away without me ever really figuring out what was causing them.

Now, if my wife hadn't backed into it ...

 

Well i'm not sure i want to part the car just yet ... if it gets to the point that the repairs get to expensive ill be sure to post it .... i want to give the car a second chance on being able to drive down the road once again


I'll post some more pics later today
And i was thinking of doing the Push start button
i know what you mean ... thats what my plans were when i purchased the car

well it does have tranny fluid ... but it looks like it may have to much cause in the dip stick its like .25 of an inch above the full mark ... could this be a issues ???

Well the brown cable leads from the negative terminal in the battery to the ground in the starter were the plastic connector is originally

 

Not that I can see. Now if it way 1+ inches abouve the fullk mark, then that would cause a problem.

 

well when i asked the guy about the 30 mph thing he told me that it started when he took the car to the mechanic to fix the tranny because it had completely failed on him. ... but he never took the car back to the mechanic so he could fix his own mistake and just left the car in the drive way .... so i'm thinking that the mechanic might of just put things in the wrong place or maybe he just did a halfa&% job ??


and the housing is in good conditions ... i don't see or hear any sounds that would prove that wrong .. from what i heard when i was able to start the engine (besides the fluctuation thing ) it sounded perfectly...

 

hmm .. well i'm drain some of the tranny fluid just in case ... and it comes out with a burning smell or if i see small pieces of metal i'll just drain the whole fluid

 

Starter issue sounds like the starter ground isn't on anything and is just by luck arcing to a ground near by, making it only start every now and then.

I'm usually not one of the ones to be picky about searching, but this forum has a search function and has been around since like 2001. If your having a problem with your car and nobody else has had the issue, your car isn't really a FC. I searched for "brown wire white stripe" and this was in one of the first threads to come up.

About the brown wire:
Lumpy idle could definately be caused by bad AFM.

 

Now, that would have been helpful to put in your first post. If the transmission was rebuilt then there is a good possibility that it was done wrong.
I would recommend having your neighbor take it back to this guy to have it fixed. as long as it is in warranty. If not, then start looking for disconnected/broken wiring.

 

well i actually told him that but since the guy took to long to go back to the mechanic .. the warranty expired

 

Follow the wiring in the FSM. It sounds like the starter is wired improperly. Hook a ground to teh "body" of the starter (put a loop connector under one of the bolts that hold the starter to teh tranny). The positive from the battery should go directly to the "Non-occupied" post on teh starter.

There should be a third "spade" connection going to teh spade terminal of the starter. I suspect this one is the one that is not there.


Do a compression check to determine if your engine is in good shape.

 

fear,

Welcome to the board.

My first tip is to go to the top of the 2nd Gen forums and you will see Archives. Browse thru and get a sense for the topics covered.

Second, the third thread in the forum is the FAQ. There is a smiley faced icon next to it. Read it thoroughly. In the FAQ you will find links to the Factory Service Manuals and the Factory Wiring Manual in PDF format. They're scanned so unfortunately you cant search them but they have table of contents and page numbers so finding what you need usually isnt difficult.

Use search. I find the built-in search function has a tremendously high noise-to-signal ratio. So I built a search definition that uses Google. It's not perfect but I think you will find it very useful. There is a link to it in my signature.

One of the challenges of a broad community like this is that you dont know who to trust. I very much value the input of HAILERS, ReTED, Aaron Cake, IceMark, arghx and a few others. As you use the board you'll learn who consistently provides good, credible information.

On your specific car, I suggest a couple of things.

1) Follow Aaron Cake's procedure for unstoring a car. You'll find lots of other great write-ups there.

2) Use the FSM instructions to test the tranny fluid level. Note that in most cars you test it with the engine running so be sure you know how the FSM says to do it. In many cars having too much a/t fluid will result in failure. I dont know if that is true of this Mazda unit but I'd be careful and check it per the FSM without trying to drive it.

3) Address the idle. You probably have a vacuum leak and your TPS is out of adjustment. Check the FAQ and archive for walk-thrus. This is all super normal, common stuff.

4) Fix your starter wiring. It's really not that complicated. See the wiring diagram linked in the FAQ. This write-up tells how to convert an auto tranny to a 5-speed. If you read it you'll get a sense for how the starter wiring works.

5) Check the Check Engine Light (CEL) for error codes. The FSM explains how. If you indeed are in limp mode you'll find it here.

6) Finally, look at the auto tranny section of the FSM. If that is indeed a problem, then replacing it is easy and there are a lot of auto trannies sitting around from people doing 5-speed swaps. I have one in storage here in Austin for example! But if you're doing that I'd recommend a 5-speed swap if steps 1-5 all play out nice.

Good luck

 

OK well first of all thank you all for replying back fast i really appreciate the help...

ok so i was able to fix and find a solution to the starter issue .. first of all ... i know this is going to make me sound like an idi&* .. but i had the battery on backwards .. the positive terminal with the ground cable and the negative terminal with the positive cable .. i know ... this makes a noob ... After this i installed a push start button inside the cabin so the starter now cranks the engine ... but

know that the engine cranks .. the car still wont start .. I checked if i had a spark and nothing .. i also checked the fuel pump to see if it wound make a sound when i would turn the key ... but nothing also ...

could i have burn/shorten a cable or fuse that makes the coils and the fuel pump work due to my noob mistake of putting the battery on backwards ???

and is there a way i can test if the coils are no good no more ?? and as well as the fuel pump ??