mazdaverx7

Good news!! I removed the starter and had it tested at two auto part stores today and both places said that the starter was good. I ended up buying a Napa battery and came home and re-installed the starter and installed the new battery. Just for the heck of it, I cranked the engine over and it cranked normally! No more slow cranking!! I'm excited!

Starter re-installed:



While I was under there, I did notice another thing that needs attention:

mel_t_vin

Glad to hear a new battery solved your slow cranking problem.

Re: your new issue, I suspect one or both center brackets are bent. How do they, and the other side/drop link, look?

mazdaverx7

I'll have to get under there and check them out and report back with pictures. The car also needs both front ball joints in the worst way.

mazdaverx7

Took a few pics today when I was in the garage:



Original key:



Fuchs are original and in decent shape for the age and neglect:



Damage to the front nose panel:





Engine bay as it currently sits:



Fuel system components being replaced and cleaned. Fuel pump is bad and I plan on sending the injectors out to be cleaned:



Rear carpet is in nice shape still:

mazdaverx7

All of the lights are in working order:







Dash warning lights that come on. Not sure if this is all of them or if there should be more:



Cluster lighting seems dim and the lighting seems to be only radiating from the bottom upward:



Last shot before I went to work:

mazdaverx7

What surprises me is how many things work given the car has sat outside uncovered for the last 10 years...

mazdaverx7

Ordered all four injector seal kits and pintle caps. Won't be in until Monday though...

GRM1964

Nice looking car

mazdaverx7

Thank you! Just got a large order of parts in yesterday for the car. Hoping to hear it run by next week!!

mazdaverx7

Made some progress recently.. Found a bad reference sensor which was nice to discover and I found that the engine was rotating counterclockwise when I was trying to start the engine. I removed the starter and saw that there is an arrow on it that seemingly points counterclockwise. I'm thinking that the starter is not original to the car as it spins the engine counterclockwise. I got a new starter on order and it will be here in the morning. I also will order a new reference sensor as well as a speed sensor, just to make sure both are new. Hoping to hear the engine run once those are in.

mazdaverx7

Here are a couple pictures of the starter that was in the car:

mazdaverx7

Also pushed the car out of the garage and took a couple pics:

mazdaverx7

I installed a new starter yesterday before work and the engine fired right up and coughed to life for the first time in ten years!! I let it run and get up to normal operating temperature bled the cooling system and monitored the coolant temp and oil pressure. I saw no apparent leaks and the engine idled about 1300 rpm. I decided to drive the car up the road and back..I just couldn't resist. It drive great and all drivetrain components work as they should.

The only issue I noticed was that the engine rpms slowly crept up to 2000 rpm. So while its not perfect I knew there would be small issues to work out. For now though it runs and I couldn't be happier!

Here are a couple pics. One of the cluster and the other one my wife took as I pulled out of the driveway:

admiralkhole

Good job, it's a great feeling to drive it for the first time after so much work.

Scott at Team Harco

Awesome! Now you get to find and fix all the little things. E.g. why there appears to be no charging happening.

Might want to put more gas in it too.