rotaryjunky

I'm just curious about what the currently accepted record is.

I got a generous offer for the car recently and it made me seriously consider going to an NSX. But the FD is just too good looking and I've owned rotaries for 14 years. I need to look down the road though, because I don't have a ton of money left for future repairs (only $5.2K for all three cars). The car has been maintained in the extreme, the original owner was a retired dentist and the shop he took it to did everything they could think of every season change. Much of it was unnecessary. I've only done the HKS downpipe, AST, ground wires, and boost gauge. The car has 47K now and I will be doing all of the work on it while I own it, except the engine rebuild when and if necessary. I built up my 89 turbo rx7 from a rolling chasis and loved that car. I've read that these engines last 50 to 75K, but this car will be seriously babied as it has been. I have the recently turboed miata and winter beater B16A civic to abuse. Sorry to ramble, I guess I'm looking for affirmation that I made the right choice.

SPICcnmGT

So you are going to sell your car to buy a more expensive car that probably cost more for normal maintenance, but you are complaining about not having enough money for the maintenance on this car??

But I'm sure if given the right situation and not really uping the boost it would last 100k+ miles pretty easy if taken care of properly .

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

NSX!! Don't get me started... Pass on the NSX and keep the 7.

rotaryjunky

Don't worry, I did not and I am not going to sell my RX7. I just need to take extremely good care of this car and a little luck wouldn't hurt either. I feel like a loser not tracking it or modifying it, but at least there will still be a nice FD left in ten years from now!

I was just explaining why I am so curious about what a babied stock motor is capable of.

herblenny.... Now I'm curious!?

BryanDowns

iTrader: (2)

Probably not. FD's seem to have coolant seal issues that pop up around the 50-80k range pretty commonly. So... even if you werent boosting it it would still likely go. You can blame mod'ing all you want, but I've saw PLENTY of stock FD's with replaced engines that were never modified.

I believe the highest mileage I've saw on a stock FD was in the 100-120k range. This was with all of the reliability mods, premixing, and religious maintenance.


On a side note, I was under the impression NSX's didnt really break too often? I mean, it is just a hand built accord motor back there isnt it?

rotaryjunky

Have you seen them in person, or in for sale ads?

The NSX is a very stout car, two of my friends own them, one is turbo with lots of boost. They do have the regular age/mileage maintenance as regular cars and some parts are really expensive.

Herblenny

iTrader: (13)

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...&highlight=nsx

dubulup

^gets good around page 10 or 11

JHew84

iTrader: (9)

i've read a couple people claiming 200K+ miles on stock motors. Just because it wasn't modified doesn't mean it wasn't well taken care of, with rotarys it's all about keeping up on maintance and making sure the car is running right at all times.

JConn2299

Engine coolant needs to circulate to maintain corrosion protection. Letting the engine just sit for extended periods of time gives time for water to start interacting with the metal.
In addition, it's not the anti-freeze part of anti-freeze that wears out. It's the additives that prevent corrosion. Which is why you have to change your coolant every 2 years or so. If you're the second or third owner of your FD how do you know this has been done religiously?
And how do you know if that previous owner got heavy on the boost before it was fully warmed up?

So, yes, just because it's stock and looks pretty doesn't mean it was given the care and feeding that's required.

rynberg

The typical FD motor lasts 80-100k miles......and "babying it" isn't a really good idea, as you can build enough carbon up to break an apex seal.

Given the fact that the car has only accumulated 47k miles in 13 years, I'd say you should be good for another 8-10 years....hardly something worth worrying about!

The above assumes good maintenance and avoidance of running hot. If you want to keep the car as stock as she is, at least install the FC thermoswitch to keep the engine cooler.

Montego

iTrader: (1)

my first engine went at 108K and my car was completely stock. pre-cat and with a stock AST.
it wasn't a coolant seal either.

Sobr609

iTrader: (2)

most people dont stick to original topic

rotaryjunky

The FC thermoswitch is next, although the car won't ever sit in traffic because of where I live. It only sits at idle to get it warmed up.

The maintenance receipts are insane and I only have the later ones. It was his 50 year old birthday present to himself, and he paid $38K and change for it. Must be nice.

RE-Amemiya7

My origonal motor went 120k, completly stock before the AST went and overheated the engine. If the AST never cracked, the enging would probibly still be running fine. I have heard of FD's going 200k+ but have never personally seen this myself

GoodfellaFD3S

iTrader: (213)

I've heard of 2 different FDs making 160,000 miles on the original motor.

DaveW

Yup!

IMO, one of the leading causes of coolant-seal failure probably isn't really a failure of the seal itself. It's corrosion of the surrounding metal forming a path for coolant to leak through - same reason FD thermostat seals usually leak.

Dave

rotaryjunky

So the title of the 3rd gen section should be "change your coolant now". I once drove a FC turbo with 199K on the stock motor and it pulled great. The motor that was in my 89 had 128K on it and was in near perfect shape when we pulled it, it was a bad fuel pump instead. I was amused because I wanted to start with a fresh motor anyways.