Hey all,

This is my first post so ill introduce myself first. Names Patrick, I just bought an 84 rx7, 74000 miles, really well taken care of. I am very interrested in rotary motors and Japanese cars. I apologize in advance if I ask stupid questions. I usually work on datsun 240z's so a good amount of the rx7 is a.giant leap from what I'm used to seeing and working on. I plan on creating a build thread for my first rx7 asap.





Now to the heart of my issue. I was driving home from work, when suddenly all my dash lit up like a Christmas tree. Fitting considering today is Christmas eve, although its not welcome. Nothing seemed drasticly wrong, I figured it was just some dumb electrical issue which it seems all my cars are plagued with. Once I arrived home I shut off the car and immediately popped my hood, the alternator belt was destroyed. I plan on throwing a new one on as soon as a parts store opens on Monday. However, my concern is with the face that my car no longer turns over when I turn the key, head lights turn on just fine but no start. The strange thing is I stupidly left my ignition on and went inside to do some research, I come back out to the car and the signal light was on, I turned the key and it fired up, no problems at all. Turned it off and tried to start again, and no turn of the engine again. A huge Wtf moment.



So here are my questions,



I noticed the belt that came out of the engine bay was only about a foot long if it was still a loop. Does it only connect to the water pump or am I crazy?



What could be going on with my ignition, I'm hoping its just a fuse, the car started perfectly every time I've run it.





If there's any details needed let me know.





Hopefully I can get this resolved soon.

Thanks,

-patrick

P.s. I apologize if this issue has already come up in a thread, I'm having a problem searching the forums.



First rx7 already love em as much as I do Nissan s30's









my other projects 1971 240z & 1964 260z

 

Sorry for blowing up the forum. Gotta love doing anything Via cell phones.

 

I'd have to look at my car to be sure but I'm almost positive the alternator belt wraps around the alt pulley and the eccentric shaft pulley which is the piston equivalent to the crankshaft pulley. As for your car not starting back up, if you blew a fuse then other electrical things would have gone out as well. My guess would just be that the battery doesnt have enough juice to crank the starter motor. I'm actually surprised that it ran off battery juice alone for any extended period of time. So I'd say get a new belt and charge the battery and give us an update after if you have any more issues. What many on this forum would also advise is to buy the Haynes manual for it. It covers 79-85 and has a supplementary chapter for the 84-85 gsl and gsl-se although it's mostly for the se cuz of the different engine. Hope you enjoyed your holiday despite this unfortunate setback, and welcome to nopistons!

 

The battery could easily have enough juice to run the car for 30+ minutes without the alternator. And it could very well still have enough power to run the lights while not having enough to trigger the starter solenoid. The solenoid activates the contacts that spin the motor, so if the solenoid cant activate, you wont get anything out of the starter.



Do you still have the air pump? Was there still a belt driving the water pump after the alternator belt broke? Was the car running hot while you drove it home?



If your water pump was still being driven, and the car wasnt running hot, you probably just need to charge your battery and replace the belt.

 

Hey guys thanks for the information, sorry its taken so long to reply. I did a whole ton of research and a diagram of all the belts and pumps, I popped the new belt on the car and it still didn't want to start. same issue as before, no electrical except head lights. As it turns out the previous owner had melted a fusible link and just twisted it back together. I ended up rigging up an in line fuse with spade connectors on each end, turned the key and it fired right up. It's really nice to drive this car with no belt squeal. Hopefully I can find a haynes manual at a local autozone or something. Thanks again.

 

Hey guys thanks for the information, sorry its taken so long to reply. I did a whole ton of research and a diagram of all the belts and pumps, I popped the new belt on the car and it still didn't want to start. same issue as before, no electrical except head lights. As it turns out the previous owner had melted a fusible link and just twisted it back together. I ended up rigging up an in line fuse with spade connectors on each end, turned the key and it fired right up. It's really nice to drive this car with no belt squeal. Hopefully I can find a haynes manual at a local autozone or something. Thanks again.

 

interesting. Don't you love some old owners with excellent electrical knowledge?

 

Grab some fuses from your local parts store. I think I have a 30 in my top and bottom and a 60 in the middle. Solved all of my ancient crusty fusible link issues. I'm attaching a photo...ignore the dirt.



As far as the 'Christmas tree' thing I started to get that after my first alternator went bad. The replacements I used were from a second gen...90 Amp I think? I figured out if you don't leave the head lights on the stupid thing over-volts and starts doing the Christmas light flash...so I just always drive with my lights on. Problem solved? I guess.