Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

First of all, welcome to the forum and to a whole new experience in automobiles.
The best and most important thing you need to do is purchase a decent repair manual like haynes to educate yourself about the vehicle. The vehicle is the same as most except one major thing, the rotary engine and how it operates and it's
proper maintenance needs. When first purchasing one i recommend the following.
1) Change all of the following; oil and filter including draining the oil cooler on ones with it located under the radiator. Get the correct aluminum washer to replace after
doing, copper will leak. Make sure it is a quality filter that has a anti-drain back valve that keeps oil in the filter so that there is immediate oiling. Check and replace
the air filter, plugs (ngk recommended, use anti-seize on the threads. Cap and rotor, test the ignition wires. Replace the fuel filter and get a strong fuel additive like BG's 44k available at most repair facilities or dealerships, yes it is expensive,
like $20.00, but worth every penny. Inspect all cooling hoses for crunchiness and
for being swollen, signs they will blow when you are on your way to work and you were just told if your late one more time, well you know what i mean.LOL. REplace any worn or frayed belts before they break. Flush the cooling system and replace
the t-stat and i recommend adding redlines water to aid the coolant in carrying away the heat more effectively. The most important thing you need about overheating, is don't!!!!!!!!!!! Unlike piston motors, rotaries are not forgiving, if that needle rises past 3/4, shut it down immediately or you will be buying a new one. Replace the fluids in the trans and diff, i personally recommend synthetic for both, especially in the trans, they tend to have a notch feel to them in cold weather with standard fluids and they protect from heat better which means longer life. Inspect the brakes, steering and suspension like any other vehicle.
One added thing on steering, inspect the idler arm bushings by lifting up and down on the arm for play, very common for wear and easy and inexpensive to replace. Change the brake fluid, recommend to purchase replacement speedy bleedrs that take the place of your original bleeders. They are a one way valve
and allow you to do it yourself, they only push out and do not allow air to enter
which we all know is a pain in the rear to even have some one pump the pedal and have to constantly open and close the valve. If that person pushes before your ready you wind up drinking fluid, LOL. Recommend that you use dot 4 fluid
because of its higher boiling point and doing this every 2 years or 30k. Do not
treat the engine like a baby, remember they were made to rev and if you dont take
it out and blow it out every once in a while you probably won't get the life out of the motor due to carbon locking. Do not just start it, move it 30 feet to wash it and shut it off, they are notorious for flooding, especially carby's. Keep her in tune, remember that rotaries are very hard on ignition components and they wear much
faster, but it is cheaper than replacing the motor. If all avidable do not put any
type of additives in unless it is a last ditch effort to repair something, reference,
slick 50, stp, oil stop leaks, etc.. Do not run it low on oil, most of the cooling is done
by the oiling system. Driving tip, do not get bold in corners, meaning going too fast
until you get used to the vehicle, you will swap ends and become the next part
of a tree. But most of all, do not be afraid to work on the vehicle and learn, if you get into trouble don't guess. Post on the forum about your needs with exact
description of the problem and what you have done up to that point. It is also critical to mention if it started doing the sympton or just started. And if so was it after you just performed some repair. Yhis will greatly help those of us that are
trying to diagnose your problem. Have fun and sorry about the huge posst but i see most of this common questions asked all the time and figured this would be agreat way for 1st timers to learn about their vehicle. If anyone has any tips to add to this that i have left out, please feel free to post. Thanks, rx7doctor
with advanced carpol syndrome now, LOL.

thricerx7

thanks for the write-up. im a first time owner, but 1) i know a little something about my car and 2) i've had it for like 2 years now so i would hope i know something about it and not be ignorant...

FB II

there's been a few of these write-ups done over the past here. good info nonetheless.

djjazzynads

Thanks for the post. Do you have any recommendations for someone who just installed a rebuilt engine into their RX7? How long should the break-in period be, should I use premix, and the like?

thricerx7

sorry for my unclarity. i think this is a good post. thumbs up!

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

Break in period should be per the rebuilder and is usually no less than 500 miles and no more than 1000 miles with varying rpms during the break in period. I dont think it is necessary to premix, others may have a different view point. One of the most important things to consider in rebuilds is making sure the radiator had been tanked and checked for flow and the oil cooler be flushed, Alot of rebuilders require proof of this or will not warranty their work. I have seen them broken in like a granny onher way to a funeral home with later problems of sticking apex seals that had to be refreshed with mmo to undo the problem.
I have always said that if you break them in slow they will run slow, if you break them in
fast hopefully theyrun much stronger and don't blow up on you, With the advancement of
quaility of apex seals today, they can take a betterrpm break in than our earlier rebuilds.
rx7doctor

Birdman-85RX-7

rx7doctor,

Super posting!! Being a new owner and working on the car myself, it is great to get all this info in one single post. Sure, everything you mentioned can be found thrroughout this forum, but to have it in a single thread... excellent.

A quick gear oil question...
The FSM calls for SAE90 gear oil for LSD. Just plain SAE90 for lsd cannot be found in my parts. There is 80w90, 75w90, 75w140, etc.

When I was picking up my NGK plugs at the dealer I asked them what they would put in the diff and tranny for my GSL-SE and they pulled out somethingW140 I think.

For part of my fall maintenance I have picked up 80W90 for lsd (not synthetic) for changing out the oil.

The only synthetic gear oil I have found is Quaker State 75w90 for lsd. Would this do?

The other items on my maintenance list soon is:
- plugs (NGK)
- thermostat with gasket (OEM from dealer)
- upper and lower rad hoses
- coolant flush
- diff and tranny oil change
- air filter (prob OEM from dealer, they have the best price)

The dist cap, rotor, and plug wires were replaced by the previous owner 10 months ago (6,000km), so for now I will wait on these.

Oil fluid, filter change and fuel filter change was done a couple of weeks ago.

Roger