1988 Mazda RX7 GLX from North America - Comments

Engine blew - replaced by dealer.

Wiper switch failed 3 times.

Ignition module failed. Mazda dealer diagnosed ignition coils

by his "Master Mechanic", so had it repaired at a specialty shop.

Poor starting, flooding etc., put a huge battery in it.

Door handle breaks - costs a small fortune.

Radio antenna never worked, so pulled it up and left it.

I have had very unsatisfactory service from the dealer, and refuse to take the car there again.

I have complained to Mazda (Canada), without any satisfaction, as all their dealers are independent franchises.

I wouldn't deal with Mazda again if they were the only cars on Earth.

Sorry to hear that you've had problems with your car, as I have had some of the same. You may want to try going to junkyards as that is where I have found the parts for almost all of my repairs.

My problems: (I consider them to be minor as I like fixing things)

Door handle: Lock broke. Took handle and lock out of the door and apart, which was relatively easy, and the problem was a piece of plastic in the lock. removed it and replaced the handle. Works good as new now.

Antenna: Took the mast out of an antenna whose motor had gone bad and replaced it my self. The plastic tracks on the bottom of the mast have been known to break sometimes, but replacing it is really easy. All you have to do is take the old one out, turn the radio on, and feed the new one in while turning the radio off. Piece of cake, and once again, works good as new!

Wipers: Yeah, mine do that too. I'm working on that though. Does not seem to be anything too major.

Cruise control: Do not know what is wrong with that, but I don't really use it.

That's about all the problems I've had out of mine.

Your ignition coils would have probably been a lot cheaper if you had went to a junkyard, got them there, and put them on yourself or had a mechanic do it. As for your flooding problem a larger battery isn't going to help any really. As long as you don't start it up and shut it off without letting it warm up it should be OK. A friend of mine knows a trick about getting it to start when it floods by taking a couple of fuses out and then starting it. I'm not sure of the details, but you could ask around. I hope your bad experience with this one has not scared you away from Mazda forever. You may have just got a lemon, or if you bought it used somebody didn't take good care of it. As long as you love it, it'll love you. And as always, repairs are always cheaper when you do it yourself (and fun too).

With the starting problem, it's actually fixed simply by a kill switch to the fuel pump. My series 4 does the same thing, and now starts every time. This is because if it floods, you cut the fuel, it burns the excess out, and it starts every time. This actually works better than replacing the ECU with an after market one. Warm up is essential with these cars also. If you warm it up right, it shouldn't flood (emphasis on shouldn't). A flooding rx7 can also mean leaky injector, which is actually cheap to service. Never had a problem with any electrics myself though. That's just means the car needed a bit more TLC.

Re: Wiper switch problem.

Very common with all RX7's due to a poor choice for a relay.

Easy fix, anybody can do. remove the switch and open up the housing.

You will see a relay with corroded contacts. A relay is a an electromechanical switch that is activated by magnetism. It opens and closes due to a small current applied to a coil, thus making a magnet. Springs back into position after voltage is turned off.

Clean the contacts with a bit of fine sand paper or fine tooth file.

That's alll there is to it. Very common, happens to all of them.

I've seen a guy on eBay actually sell them and ask for the core so he can do the same thing and sell it again.