Phaxtris

im fairly new to rotary motors and i heard that the 12a only lasts a mere 100k.

i have 200k on my motor and was wondering if it would be a good idea to be swaping in a 13b any time soon before this one dies on me

by the way it is an 82 gsl with exactly 193k on the meter

Rex4Life

Mine had 215k miles on it when I sold it. Was still running strong and to my knowledge is still running.

Just keep up the maintenance and oil changes and these engines will last--provided you don't beat the living heck out of it every day.

WackyRotary

Thats great some FB 12a cars are driving around with such high miles, great trubute to potental longevity. The problem with them is they will have very worn down apex seals height-wise that work great but are more likely to break unexpectedly driven light or hard.

Rotaries are amasingly reliable when everything is in spec(seals/oiling/cooling/housing surfaces) and driven as intended. Turbo rotaries age them much faster if the boost is at a fun level that is applied often.

This is why I would rebuild or replace the engine at 150,000+orginal miles if I just aquired a '7 with that kind of orginal miles. I personally don't like taking chances since a engine that a apex seal failed on will ruin the expensive rotor housing and the rotor tip/surface it fails with it. Reusing as many parts(before a catastruphic failure) makes the rebuild cheaper if the housings don't have excessive flaking, but will be unusable if with broken apex seal(s) dragging into the housing damaging them permenantly.

I bought a 12a with unknown miles for $100, but guessed(knew) it would have 100,000+miles. Ran PERFECT...PERFECT for 2weeks and had great power, but then a apex seal broke with no prior idication of impending failure. Luckily I was 1/2mile from home, then when I pulled into my driveway, part of the apex let loose and locked tight. 2000rpm-0rpm instantly! Ruined the rotor and rotor housing. Luckily I only spent $100. And ended up with good sideplates and one good rotor and rotor housing, and pieced another pair for another project later on.

Phaxtris

ok. approximatly how much is it to rebuild a 12a?
I have seen those kits for 1000$ american but i am in canada and by the time it got here it would be 2000, is there any way of doing a rebuild for approximatly 1000 cdn?

claytonjh1223

mine has over 250,000

Phaxtris

hmm, ok so if i dont beat the car all of the time the motor should last?

also when i go to port the motor what should i replace?

Suparslinc

I did some research once for a speech I had to give; somewhere I found that a well maintained rotary will theoretically go 220k before needing a rebuild. I can't give you an exact source for that it was a few years ago.

Phaxtris

yea but i dont think this rotary has been well maintained, bought it from a guy for 500 bux, and plus ill have 220 on by the end of this summer

oh well new motor next year i suppose

LongDuck

My 80LS made it 212k before an oil leak that I didn't fix ended it's life. It was running strong until the end, and those last 15 miles went from 'just fine' to 'dead as a doorknob'.

Change your oil, check the level frequently, and never let it overheat. I will pull my 84SE over if the needle ever gets beyond halfway and CHECK OIL EVERY GAS STOP. Good advice,

Rex4Life

Rebuilding before an apex seal blows sounds like good advice to me.

vipernicus42

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, one of the guys around here is having his rebuilt... 1500-1700 I believe was the estimate, in Canadian Dollars... not bad.

I'd say throw in the extra 200-300 dollars and have it ported at the same time

Jon

Phaxtris

Hmm, thats not to bad, especially considering I would be doing the work.

Does anyone know what the parts cost would be approximatly in cdn dollars?

With say a street port, header, exaust, webber carb on this rebuilt motor how much power could i expect to make at the rear wheels?

hornbm

my dads RX-2 had over 250,000 miles on it when he got rid of it. And those 12a's reliability is considered to be a joke when compaired to the 12a's in the RX-7's!

djmickyg

my cars got 200,000km on the clocks and its had 4 engines already that i know of..

the last 2 were blown by the old owner and his love for burnouts.

MIKE-P-28

iTrader: (1)

I had 242k on my 85, when It finally died, it was proked by previous owenrs etc....When I got it, the oil looked like it had been changed maybe twice in the whole lifetime, but anyways,