thanson90

I have been reading through a ton of threads here and collecting alot of information, Heres the plan I have come up with. Just want to make sure Im on the right track. I have been using the search function.

The 93 fd has been owned by my uncle for 15 years. He bought it in 2002 with 44k miles and a fresh rebuilt engine.

As of today it only has 46,500 miles on it. He only put 2500 miles on it in the 15 years of owning it. Its a beautiful car but I am concerned about the engine considering how little he drove it.

He does start it up every once in awhile, hopefully enough to keep those apex seals from siezing. He did tell me there is an exhaust leak but thats the only thing wrong with it.

When I do go pick the car up in a few months I will be driving it back home. (About a 3 hour trip so Before I do that I want to make sure its safe to drive.

Here is what I plan on bringing
-compression tester (I will purchase from rotarycompressiontester)
-new spark plugs
-oil change
-address the exhaust leak
-fresh premium fuel
-premix to run in the tank until i figure out if the engine is recieving proper amount of oil.

Am I forgetting anything? When I get the car home it will get a more thorough tuneup (flushing all fluids)

FourtyOunce

iTrader: (15)

I hope the coolant was flushed and changed out a few times in the 15 years. Old coolant can do a number on the irons ....

thanson90

I hope so too, but I'm not holding my breath. I'll put that on the list as well. I'll flush the coolant before I drive it home

EUROX

iTrader: (15)

Seems like a no brainer, but before you drive up you might want to call your uncle and have him check if the battery even has a charge to start up if he hasn't done so in a while. And arrange for insurance too. The small stuff like that can bite you in your *** too.

thanson90

for sure, hes going to get a brand new battery for it before I get there. I already called insurance (curious how expensive it would be) so they are all ready, I just have to call them to activate it when I get there

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Taking a car that's been sitting and immediately hitting the road will always be a gamble. It's impossible for us to tell you from the armchair what it needs.

I would plan on driving it around town for 20-30 minutes or so. You don't have to hammer the throttle or anything, just get it up to interstate speed, do some city driving on the brakes, etc. If everything is working, hit the road.

I would have some sort of backup plan in case it does have problems, some way to tow it home. Many insurance plans have a towing package you can add on for next to nothing, I think mine is maybe $3-5 a month or something. Well worth it. Even if it's out of the range for a free tow the add-on price would probably come out less than paying for a full regular tow. Again, check prices.

May even just be worth seeing how much it would cost to tow it home, if it's reasonable it may be worth doing that instead of all the hassle of trying to work on the car over there and hoping it makes it.

Also, the big one is tires. If it's on 15 year old tires that could be interesting. Seeing as your location is South Dakota, if you hit ice or snow that could be a serious issue.

Dale

DaveW

Carry a couple gallons of coolant with you on the trip - corrosion can ruin the thin ledges that support the coolant seals, and cause major leaks. More coolant won't fix the issue, but it can get you home if it happens.

thanson90

Absolutely, I'm not expecting 100% certainty, just trying to improve my odds and help make the engine happier.

I will do the little drive around town like you mentioned before leaving. The towing plan on insurance is a good idea too. thanks

The tires will be replaced as soon as I get home, I'm not worried about running into snow/ice because the only reason I'm waiting to go get the car is for better weather. We have a couple months of potentially bad weather left. I will reschedule the trip if it looks like there is going to be any weather at all.


Thanks for the advice, I will do that.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

With a couple of screw drivers, a pair of pliers, and 10, 12 and 14mm wrenchs you can practically take the car apart. So a travel box of tools might be worthwhile.

thanson90

great idea, will do

dguy

iTrader: (8)

So my suggestion is this: Don't drive it home.

It'd be really cool and a great memory to be able to do it however you may end up doing more damage to a car that is pretty cherry as you describe it.

Why not just have it put on a flatbed if its only 3 hours away? You can always meet the tow truck driver and be supervising it being put on the bed so you still get the "I received this badass thing" experience.

Just my two cents, whatever you choose good luck. Looks like an awesome car.

Montego

iTrader: (1)

^^ This

First thing that came to mind were old coolant hoses

HalifaxFD

iTrader: (18)

I'd trailer it home as well. Better safe than sorry. Safer to bring it home and work on it in your own space instead of on the side of the road.

thanson90

I totally understand the suggestions on trailering it but if everything checks out why not drive it? If radiator hoses and coolant are an issue I can replace them there and put new coolant in. He does have enough tools there to pretty much do everything.

The car hasnt been driven much but it hasnt been totally dormant for 15 years, like I said he does start it up and drive it around a little just to keep fluids moving.

if i have any question about driving it once I get there then yes I will have it trailored.

Gilgamesh

save your money from buying the compression tester and rent a truck and trailer to get it home.

thanson90

Even if I did trailer it I plan on never selling the car I figured a compression tester would probably be a good long term investment right?

HalifaxFD

iTrader: (18)

It not a bad idea to have a tester but, for a new FD owner, you'll be surprised to learn what it takes to maintain these great cars. Its ultimately up to you in the end, but for me, a 3 hour trailer ride is well worth the chance of a engine failure, flat tire, fuel leak then an engine fire, etc. Whatever you decide I hope it works out in the end. Please post some pics when you get a chance and maybe members on the form can help identify and potential issues. Good luck.

FourtyOunce

iTrader: (15)

Probably not a bad idea to get a trailer. If you don't have a truck, you can rent one. The cost won't be much and will save the hassle. Once the car is at your place, then you can take your time to address all/any issues.

ZE Power MX6

iTrader: (157)

Trailer it home now vs wait a few months for better weather to drive it home, I would trailer it just so I can have it in my possesion sooner. The 2 weeks I waited before I can fly out to buy my car was the longest 2 weeks ever, not sure how you can wait a few months lol.

deletedcold

iTrader: (1)

I've been through this EXACT situation before, and I drove it four hours in the summer. PO had it for 15 years kept good maintenance but never drove it. Made it home fine, but after having it for seven or so years I would have had a closed trailer pick it up and bring it to me.

Just my .2

dguy

iTrader: (8)

I don't know you/how old you are/how mature and responsible you'll be so please don't take this as any sort of an insult but here goes:

I wouldn't drive it home as a first time FD owner for a myriad of reasons:

Firstly the FD (any rotary based car really, but the FD more so than most) is actually quite a fickle bitch if you let it sit for long periods of time. This alone would make me want to trailer it, and I'm an experienced owner.

Second you're not an experienced FD owner. This isn't to say that you're not a capable mechanic or anything of the sort however the FD just has so many of its own idiosyncrasies that you may end up doing 10k damage (FPD fire?) now rather than just spending ~1k in preventative maintenance. Also, this would be a USDM FD with rubber factory lines that now has a shitload of cracked rats nest most likely. Bad news.

Thirdly, and this is where my 'I don't know you' comment comes in to play: Will you have the stones NOT to flog this thing just for one second on the ride home before having a THOROUGH end to end check on the thing? I'm a 34 year old dude and I'd like to think that I'm becoming a bit more disciplined but I sure wouldn't. I'm weak.

Again, these are just my opinions and I wish you the best of luck in whatever route you choose to go.

-David Guy

thanson90

Fair points, thats the first time I had heard of the FPD issue. Im suprised there isnt something about it in the FAQ or "reliable rx7" thread.

When you talk about rubber lines cracking are you reffering to all the vacuum lines?

I might just concede and trailer it.

this car is starting to remind me more and more of my 70s japanese two stroke street bikes. Super finicky

bpdchief

iTrader: (7)

There's just a lot of things that can happen just as everyone said. The fpr has a vacuum line that can crack because of age, but heat too. On a stock FD there's a ton of vacuum lines or "rat's nest" that become brittle and break not just from heat but from age as well. 15+ year old tires? Yeah, I don't know man. I'd trailer it. Besides, it's a rush looking in the rear view and seeing that FD front end following you the entire trip and knowing that she's all yours.

Montego

iTrader: (1)

The fuel pulsation dampener issue is well documented here, I'm surprised there isn't a mention in the FAQ thread.


I believe my first FD died in a fire because of the FPD.... The car had 36K miles and it was only 5 years old. The insurance company investigator attributed the fire to a faulty injector oring. Maybe, maybe not but at the time the forum did not exist, I knew jack **** about this car, and honestly I didn't care what the cause was as I just wanted to be reimbursed. Besides how much time did the investigator really put in? Given the car was stock (no funny business) so more likely than not, he just picked a common reason of any car and called it a day. As the years went by and I gained more and more knowledge about this car, the FPD seems like the likely culprit.

thanson90

Yea, I'm convinced. Its not that far away but I'm patient so I will just trailer it.

Yea after he mentioned it I started researching it and there are alot of mentions. Can't believe that they go bad that often and mazda never had a recall/got sued/ect...
Thats a serious issue.

Looks like I will get the Delete kit from Bonzai.