So after just 3 short months I finally have title and tags for the 7!
However due to the cold and sitting some issues have come up on the car.
Firstly most of the instrument cluster has gone wrong. No speedo, No water temp, Odometer appears but doesnt count, Oil pressure unsteady.
The alternator stopped charging and the ABS and CHARGE lights on the dash stay on after start.
I know the ABS is working as I had it activate on some snow.

Can hear a relay in the front left engine compartment cycle several times quickly when key is turned to On.
Another thing I found is the Colorado license plates are very different dimensions then the Japanese plate brackets so I will be drilling the tags to match.

Charge light on means you have an electrical system issue, which I would investigate first since it'll likely factor into (or be the root cause of) the other issues you mention. Usually the charge light means the car has detected an issue with the alternator. Could be that the battery is dead and the alternator is struggling and failing to charge it.

battery is a brand new redtop. Holds charge good and cranks right up. while running the alternator is getting field excitation but doesn't seem to push any amps. Pulled the alternator will take it to get tested. Previous owner was jumping it and letting it run with a bad battery so I know its been overtaxed. Will take it to get tested. found some probable vacuum leaks behind it also!
The ECU has obviously been tampered with. has some auto boutique stickers on its seams and some splices on the connector.
I'm concerned with some of the aftermarket stuff having been poorly or improperly installed. (Blitz DSBC and turbo timer)
And now I cant get the passenger door unlocked!!!!

Rx-7's aren't exactly known for their electrical reliability. lol. I wish you the best of luck in sorting your troubles out. I would ask that when you find a solution to post it.. it helps out other Rx-7 owners. It may also be helpful when I have to rewire a rhd FD soon.. it's a rhd swap tho.

The door is unlocked! seems as though the cable that runs from the passenger inside lock lever siezed.
Been finding electrical troubleshooting difficult. The USDM manuals show things in different locations then on the JDM. And the labels on the car are in Japenese.[ATTACH]2649[/ATTACH]

lol. yep.. that would make things difficult. If you need help locating components.. I may be able to help a little. I'm helping on a project to convert an FD to right hand drive. The owner has so far pulled all necessary components out of a RHD front clip and transplanted them into a LHD car. My task is to make all the JDM wiring connect to and function with the USDM chasi harnesses... or build millspec harness for the entire car.

I've found and used a JDM wiring diagram for a toyota soarer before.. even tho its in Japanese it can be very helpful because the component schematics are distinguishable. I have yet to find a FD diagram tho but if I find one, I'll share.

That's interesting. will be a challenge for you! That kind of wiring can be a headache! Too many hours with a soldering iron. It will be a pain if you are keeping the USDM chassis harness as the door switches will have the wrong wires, you will have to make your own or splice in the JDM stuff.
Out of curiosity why convert to RHD rather than just buying one if RHD is his preference? Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to flame ya or anything but it seems like a huge headache to make a car look JDM. (Yes I know how ridiculously complicated it would be to import a JDM FD).
call or text me if you need a peek at anything on mine. (719) 661-4247
Also do you have any extra parts on that front clip you would be willing to sell? I need a few items......

Ewwww, electrical issues. Best of luck to you lol. I HATE electrical troubleshooting. I think it's pretty obvious you have an electrical issue from all your problems lol, but first thing I thought of too was the alternator. What happened with that?

Alternator is bad. I would normally attempt to rebuild it but I can see bits of solder that have been flung off of the rotor so I dont think there is much useable inside. No local parts stores have one so I have to order it. Also found a nest where mice had been chillin in the wiring harness just off of the ECU so that may explain my weird intermittent gauge issues. will investigate more when I can.

SpeedJunkie- what mirrors are on your car? I like the look of them.

glad you're getting it worked out.

Alternator should be in tomorrow. have some leaking OEM vacuum check valves I will replace while I have access. Hopefully will solve some issues with the idle wandering.

Alternator arrived! Installed it last night. That fixed most of the electrical stuff, however I still have some wacky instruments that I will investigate today if I get a chance. I suspect the ECU harness. New vacuum check valves. Started right up in 25 degree weather. Idled smoother. Its back on the road!!

Found a bad connection at connector X-14 behind the cabin blower motor. it solved all the remaining instrument problems!

Dwduc wrote:That's interesting. will be a challenge for you! That kind of wiring can be a headache! Too many hours with a soldering iron. It will be a pain if you are keeping the USDM chassis harness as the door switches will have the wrong wires, you will have to make your own or splice in the JDM stuff.
Out of curiosity why convert to RHD rather than just buying one if RHD is his preference? Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to flame ya or anything but it seems like a huge headache to make a car look JDM. (Yes I know how ridiculously complicated it would be to import a JDM FD).
call or text me if you need a peek at anything on mine. (719) 661-4247
Also do you have any extra parts on that front clip you would be willing to sell? I need a few items......

Oh you are very correct.. it will be a giant headache to convert it. The eventual plan is to rewire the entire car using mil spec connectors and wiring goodies. He is converting it because he just happened to have a spare fd roller setting in a garage and came across a front clip for a reasonable price... so he decided to build something very fast and jdm. Its going to be a 500whp rhd road race car.. completely impractical. But cool none the less.

It looks like all the rhd specific parts on the front clip have been taken. If there is anything you are looking for specifically, then let me know and I'll see if he has a spare one laying around.

Thanks, I'll save your number in case I need to take a peek.

Dwduc wrote:Found a bad connection at connector X-14 behind the cabin blower motor. it solved all the remaining instrument problems!

I was going to say.. you may want to go through the harness and disconnect and clean as many connectors as you can. I ended up frying a connector on my convertible after letting the car set for a few years. It looked like the connector got a little corroded and caused a lot of resistance to the point where it melted part of it.

Dwduc wrote:Alternator is bad. I would normally attempt to rebuild it but I can see bits of solder that have been flung off of the rotor so I dont think there is much useable inside. No local parts stores have one so I have to order it. Also found a nest where mice had been chillin in the wiring harness just off of the ECU so that may explain my weird intermittent gauge issues. will investigate more when I can.

SpeedJunkie- what mirrors are on your car? I like the look of them.

OK good to hear you got it all sorted. I was thinking the bad alternator could have been part of the gauge problem too, but I guess not. I've just seen some funky electrical stuff happen on our cars.

They are Ganador mirrors. They look cool but I'm taking them off I think. Since they are made for RHD cars you can't see shit out of them without excessive leaning haha. I think I'm going to get some APR mirrors. My only concern is them getting stolen off the posts while it sits somewhere. But I don't let it sit for too long ANYWHERE. lol Anytime I drive it I'm usually very close to it.