Hi



I'm kind of new to the rotary world but have just managed to get hold of a 1980 RX-7. It was running really well until recently. Basically I started it up one morning and there was a huge backfire...three lights on the dash came up (alternator, and a couple of others) and the tach went haywire (started at ~6000 RPM. So I kept it running for a little while and it basically ran out of power (lights gradually faded out and the car died). Anyway I thought it was an alternator, so I took it in had it checked (it failed) then I replaced it. Anyway, once the new one was in it didn't start at all. I also noticed the spark was pretty weak (kind of yellowish)...so I replaced the plug and distributor cap...and still the same issues. SO now I think it might be something to do with the "black box" ignitor thing....I was hoping to test the part before having to replace it...I've got the Haynes manual (it's not very useful)....so I'm wondering if anyone knows a good way to test this part...or has any ideas of other things that may be wrong.



Cheers

TC

when they went out on me it was just they worked or didn't. If I were you I would check your groundings and battery cabels. Does the engine turn off and just not catch or does it do nothing?

Do you have emissions in your area? If not, you could run DLIDFIS. It's a big ignition improvement, but it has a tendency to put the fire out inside the thermal reactor, so it's probably not the best thing on '80 or older rotaries unless you are emissions free, or have upgraded to a catalytic convertor or something.



The '80 and older rotaries are jetted rich from the factory and the ignition has semi-firing trailing. Sometimes the trailing is turned off which allows more unburned hydrocarbons to enter the thermal reactor and are burned inside, thus reducing emissions. DLIDFIS (or an MSD direct fire etc) increases the spark engergy, and the amount of sparks per rotor face, which burns more inside the engine and produces more power, but since little is left for the thermal reactor to burn, emissions can actually increase.



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All of my rotaries are pre RX-7, so they don't need to pass emissions in my area. I've got DLIDFIS on all of them and it's a great improvement over a simple FB dizzy, like so many have been retrofitted with. The exhaust doesn't stink nearly as much as it used to. Infact, they may even pass emissions without a rat's nest or air pump. https://www.nopistons.com/forums/pub...IR#>/smile.png



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