Further Reading for GSL-SE Owners

This document last modified September 5, 2003.
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: a genuine Mazda workshop manual is essential for any first generation RX-7 owner. See Shop Manuals if you’ve never been subject to my rant before.

The shop manual makes an excellent reference and procedural resource, but it falls short as a tutorial for explaining theory of operation. And considering that the GSL-SE variant of the first gen contains systems that are completely unique among all of Mazda’s rotary-powered vehicles, further reading is warranted. I’ll recommend three books that I consider an excellent supplement to the shop manual. Read all three, and I’m sure that you’ll be able to look at your GSL-SE’s engine with a new understanding of these systems.

The 1984 Mazda Training Manual



Over two thirds of the book is devoted to explaining changes in the RX-7 for 1984:
12 pages about the operation of, or changes to, the engine internals.

8 pages about the operation of, or changes to, the lubrication system.

5 pages about the operation of, or changes to, the cooling system.

22 pages about the operation of, or changes to, the carburetor on 12a models. (Most of this is duplicated in the shop manual.)

56 pages about the operation of the fuel injection system and emissions control systems in the GSL-SE model. About half of this is text and diagrams that does not appear in the shop manual. This section alone makes this book very valuable to the GSL-SE owner.

6 pages about the operation of, or changes to, the electrical system. Only one of these pages appears to be unique to the training manual, as the rest is duplicated in the shop manual.

29 pages about the operation of, or changes to, the automatic transmission. This appears to be a very good tutorial about how the transmission works. This section supplements, not duplicates, the shop manual.

16 pages about the operation of the power steering system. This appears to be a very good tutorial about how the power steering system works. This section supplements, not duplicates, the shop manual.

23 pages about the body electrical system. With the exception of a few rather inconsequential paragraphs about the heater and air conditioning controls, the rest is duplicated in the shop manual.
Because the 1984 Mazda Training Manual is long-since out of print, it will be difficult to locate. Try some of the sources that I mentioned in my shop manuals page.


Bosch Fuel Injection and Engine Management

by Charles O. Probst (Robert Bentley Publishers)


The fuel injection system in the GSL-SE is a licensed variant of Bosch L-Jetronic, manufactured by Nippon Denso. As such, any common introductory text about Bosch fuel injection systems will be invaluable to understanding the basic operation of the major engine control components in the GSL-SE. Charles Probst’s book is among the best. Your local bookstore will probably stock it, or you can order it from Amazon or any of a number of other online sources.

Be aware that there are only two chapters devoted to L-Jetronic, but the other chapters - covering both earlier and later Bosch fuel injection systems - will come in handy when it comes time to work on newer vehicles, or if you’ve chosen to switch to an aftermarket fuel injection controller. In fact, the concepts described in this book are applicable to an understanding of all modern fuel injection systems.

Highly recommended.


How to Tune and Modify Bosch Fuel Injection

by Ben Watson (Motorbooks International)


For learning theory of operation, I consider Probst’s book to be slightly superior to Ben Watson’s book on this subject. If you can, get both, as a little redundancy will not hurt when learning about systems like these. If you can only get one or the other, either will do, but I’d still prefer Probst’s book. Watson’s book will be a little more difficult to find at your local bookstore, but Amazon will get it to you quickly.

Significantly, though, Watson's book is the only one of these two books that describes how to tune an air flow meter by adjusting the spring that loads the vane. (This job is not for the novice mechanic, however, and I would strongly advise having a spare air flow meter onhand before you start messing with your only one.) The unique explanation of air flow meter tuning makes sense in light of the book's title, which implies that this book will have a little more of a hands-on emphasis than Probst's book. It does.

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