84 GSL-SE

[~Groll69~]

Well i have finally expanded my tinkering.  I have just received delivery of an 84 GSL-SE to my house to get running.  I am doing this work for a gentleman named Mike out of Northville MI.  He wants the car running again as a daily driver.  It had some issues of blowing the 20 amp engine fuse in the interior fuse block.  Since the issue of blowing the fuse, the car has sat in a garage for 8 years.

I will be bringing it back up to daily driving condition.  I will post pics as i go.

This is the first year that mazda installed the 13B into the 1st gen.  They only installed it on this variant for 1984.

[joe1573]

Sounds like, mice have eaten some wires and you have a short. I hate chancing wires, good luck.
Joe

[~Groll69~]

My first step is start with changing the ingition starter wires since that is where i here arcing upon turning the key.  I am hoping that particular fix is all it takes. 

Question Joe, do you know where to get the fusable links at that are in the engine bay? I found Atkinsrotary.com carries them.  Is there anywhere else?

[~Groll69~]

Last night i moved the car formally into the garage and i started to put the to do list on my wipe it board.  I removed the hood and hung it on my wall for better access to the engine.  You can see how dirty the engine bay is.  I plan to clean it up so i dont get as dirty working on it.  It will also make it look a lot nicer when I am all done with it.

[~Groll69~]

Eight years of sitting, there are sure to be some things that need replacing. one example is this upper radiator hose connection. It has some holes rusted through it.

[joe1573]

Question Joe, do you know where to get the fusable links at that are in the engine bay? I found Atkinsrotary.com carries them.  Is there anywhere else?

New, I try You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login or You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login and don't forget local auto parts some times have what you need. For example; Mazdatrix sells an idler arm for over a hundred and autozone sells the same one for under fifty. I may be picking up a parts car this week if I do and you need parts let me know, after I get what I need everything else I going super cheep. Good luck

[~Groll69~]

let me know if you pick up the car.  I really need to get this short tracked down.  That is the number one issue with the car.  turn the ignition and it blows the 20amp engine fuse on the inside of the car.  I have gone through about 7 fuses today trying to find the short.  I wonder if I jumper it that it would help me to find the problem.

Right now I made some non fused jumpers for the fusible links.  That way I don't have to worry about blowing them since they are harder to get ahold of. 

[toplessFC3Sman]

Well, if you suspect the ignition switch, I'd start by disconnecting the battery, unplugging it & checking each wire going into the switch vs ground as you turn the key.  There *shouldnt* be any grounds going through the ignition switch, but check the FSM to be sure.  Then, check all the wires on the harness side of the connector vs ground.

How much leeway do you have with the FB?  Would you be able to replace the fusible links with a more modern fusebox that would be easier to find?

[~Groll69~]

I could if it didn't cost him hardly  anything to do.  right now I figure to leave the fusible links.  I have a few things that he will have to buy.  I need to find the short first.  I am not sure where the most likely wear spots would be.  I switched the connectors with on from a 79.  it was still blowing the fuse.  the wr and bw connector was the same between them.  The alternator is disconnected.  The starter is connected though. 

I know I wasn't getting any voltage to the starter solenoid.  I did replace the positive and negative cables from the battery.  I know there is power down to the starter.  I am trying to follow the electrical diagram to identify most likely culprits that would short and cause the problem.  Just frustrated with this part.  That is the biggest issue to getting it going.  everything else is fairly easy I am doing, replacing minor parts and changing the fluids, etc. 

[~Groll69~]

I am hoping I found the short.  I removed the starter and took it to be tested.  There was a black with yellow wire connected directly to the starter, that had me wondering why it was there.  After the starter checked out as it should, i consulted the wiring diagram and realized that the wire was connected wrong.  According to the wiring diagram it had to be connected to the solenoid of the starter.  I redid the connection so it would connect to the solenoid and then reconnected it to the solenoid.  Now when I turn the key the starter tries to turn over the engine.  It is not blowing the 20amp engine fuse either.

Still a lot of work to go, but that is definite progress.  I replaced the clutch slave cylinder, but the clutch master cylinder is not pumping the fluid so I will have to replace that too.

[toplessFC3Sman]

Glad you found it!  Don't you just love hacked wiring by people who don't know what they're doing?

[~Groll69~]

oh yea,  got to love it.  there are some other wiring issues I noticed.  I plan to try to clean some of it up depending on time.  make it so both headlights work properly and all.

[joe1573]

If you need any cheap parts to fix the head light, let me know. I got the parts car, 1979 limited edition. Both light work if you need them. next week I am going to start taking what I need off then everything after that will go cheap.

[~Groll69~]

Joe, Yes i will need cheap parts.  The drivers side light does not have the rod to push the light up.  I havent checked to see if the motor on the drivers side works our not.  I noticed the wiring was cut there so that would have to be fixed before making an assesment.  What color is the parts car you picked up?

[joe1573]

It was grey but the guy i bought it from started to paint every thing black. I wish people would stop painting every thing black. Every time I look at a cars for parts, its blacked out. I got five limited edition wheels with this car, four are painted black. I hope I can save them.