I am looking at an 85gsl for my first car. I love the rx7's a lot, but heard a lot of negative info about the rotary engines. The car has 160,000 miles on it, and i do not know if the engine has ever been rebiult. If it hasn't, is it worth getting????? Because I don't have $1000-2000 to get it rebuilt. It NEEDS a clutch slave cylinder, oil cooler, and tie rods(eventually, not right away). All of these i want to replace myself, will replacing these be fairly easy, or would I have to pay a mechanic an outragous amount of money to have it done????? It has a new clutch, front brakes, stereo, and cat converter. He wants $1000 for the car. I know this is too much, i'll offer him like 700, IF YOU GUYS think this is a good diea. I do plan to do SOME performance stuff, but nothing drastic.
At 160,000 miles, is it past due for a rebiuld, or is it a myth that rotary engines don't last long?????
The rest of the car is in good shape.
THANX EVERYONE

 

depends on how the engine was looked after. Regular oil changes, especially.

Rotaries have a bad rep only because most people can't get their heads around how they work. People tend to dislike things they don't understand. Think of this though: A rotary only has 3 moving parts. That's FAR less to go wrong in the long term than cam shafts, valves, springs, etc.

 

The longevity of the engine is really only a problem with the turbocharged ones. 12A's are pretty solid engines that last a long while. The only 'real' problem they have is the infamous oil leak near the Mazda logo on the rotor housing.

If the oil cooler is leaking, it's usually just the O-rings. That and the slave cylinder are cheap easy fixes.

Save yourself a headache, and pull the storage bins out before you buy it. Look for rust on the inner wheelwell. If there is a lot, pass on the car. If it's minor, use it as a bargaining chip. $750 is pretty good for a decent condition series 3 GSL.

 

13B 1st gens aren't turbo'ed from the factory and tend to last as long as 12As

 

I'm well aware of that fact.

I believe the 84-85 13B was the most reliable rotary ever produced.

 

yeah, Felix, I'm letting the newbie know. You posted that 12As are solid, which infers by omission that 13Bs aren't, so I clarified.

My post wasn't directed towards you but to the new guy

 

I omitted it on purpose. The 12A doesn't get much love

 

My 1st ReX was a 12A. I freakin' LOVED that car so much when it came time to buy another, FB ReX was @ the top of my list. The 13B found me by accident (someone emailed someone else on my behalf, etc.) and I ended up buying a car sight unseen, 2,000 miles away... and was pleasantly surprised with the added performance of a stock 13B over a stock 12A.

whatever ReX you drive these cars rock.

 

thanx everyone for their input, but what are storage bins?

 

and where can i find just the oil cooler o rings?

 

storage bins are behind the seats. Trust em those are a bid thing mine did not have rust but they had both been redone. Look at the logo on the back housing near the firewall and if there is oil around it then it has a leak and those rings are pretty cheap and easy to fix and racingbeat.com and mazdatrix.com sell them

jr

 

i have heard from others that like 84-86 rx-7s had electrical problems, but one thing i know to be true is that unless replaced with a different driveline, i have heard of people doing that, the 84 rx had a NON-replacable u joints which meant when they went out, time to buy a new drive shaft. even with the before mentioned facts i would still buy it unless you drive over 150 miles a week. And even if the motor goes unless you pay to have it overhauled, provided you can perform such a task, overhauling a rotary doesn't cost a lot in terms of parts.

 

Here's some helpful tips:

a) What's wrong with the oil cooler? OIL=LIFE for rotaries. If the oil cooler has been f***ed up for a long time plan on a new engine cause this engine has probably been damaged.

b) Run engine till hot, shut it off and listen for any sounds of gases escaping out the overflow line. That means the car probably was overheated and you have gases seeping out.

c) If the enigne was a rebuild, most companies will stamp RE and the date on the first rotor above the trailing plug on the housing.

d) Check engine for new paint, most companies repaint the blocks.

e) Check the clutch resevoir and brake resevoir for contamination.

f) Biggest thing, when was the last time the car was smogged. If the car went through smog good, then the engine is in descent shape compression wise.

g) Check for rust in radiator. Excessive rust means probably overheating. People tend to fill a car that's always leakign or overheating with ground water and you can see obvious signs by excessive brown rusted water.

h) If the car has any serious areas of neglect or hasn't passed smog, don't pay over 500 dollars for it. Also, make sure there are no tickets/leans and that the vehicle is current in registration or close to current. You can easily pay 500 bucks just in registration fines.

 

Best thing to address the aircare/smog, collision, etc. mentioned above is to run a carfax check on it.

 

Yes, 84's and 85's have sealed u-joints. You can buy the joints however, and then be faced with the challenge of removing them. The shafts are factory balanced and sealed by Mazda. I had to replace my current cars with my other cars because the rear was worn and rattling. My current shaft has over 270k miles on it and is still tight. So check the shaft. If it doesn't have any play your fine. If it needs to be replaced get one from a junk yard.

As for electrical problems I had a problem with my windows blowing fuses. I removed the wiring from the previous owners CB and have not blown a fuse in 4 years. I do have a problem with my high beams not coming on. But they never did since I bought the car. My other two cars have no problem. I drive my car 300+ miles per week, they are very reliable if you keep them maintained (as are all cars).