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Starter
To start our LS3 we used the stock LS1 starter we pulled off the old engine but we’re wiring it a little differently than before. We had intermittent starting problems with our old setup that forum research suggested was due to the LS starter solenoid trying to draw more current from the circuit than the RX-7 ignition switch could handle. Remember that extra relay we had in the fuse/relay box with 30 amps of fused power on it? Well now we have the perfect use for it! Instead of applying power to the starter directly through the ignition switch, we’re running the wire from the ignition to the trigger side of the relay and letting the relay send clean power to our starter solenoid. Got all that?
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| The light blue wire above was the E-ROD’s wire to power the fan. The red lead sticking up is a new wire we’re running to our starter solenoid. Since we’re not using the blue wire to power the fan, we clipped the end with the female pin on it, crimped it to the end of the red wire and plugged it into the normally open throw of the spare relay we’re using to power our starter solenoid. |
Being the packrats we are, we had plenty of wiring from old projects and were able to find an old door harness from a Sentra SE-R that had just the right amount of wires and a connector on the end to make the loom for the engine bay and have it disconnect at the firewall for easy removal if we ever need to pull the engine.
We laid out, measured and cut all the wiring for the starter trigger, our gauge senders and our transmission switches and wrapped everything in split-flex tubing and heat resistant wire covering where necessary. Inside the car we connected the other end of our makeshift harness to the appropriate RX-7 body harness wires and we are happy to call our E-ROD’s wiring complete! PHEW!
Technically, our E-ROD RX-7 should start now if we did everything correctly. But you’ll have to wait till the next article for that! 🙂
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