I'm looking at a 1983 RX-7, that has 75000 miles. I'm new to rotary engines, so I'm a little lost, but I'm calling about the car tonight and possibly going to look it over on monday.

can anybody suggest some problems that are notorious with FB's?? any help would be great, I need to learn as much as i can so i don't get ripped off.

 

windows suck.. power windows get stuck and run off track.. ummm.. my rims clear coat is all messed up ( easy to fix though).. and that is all i know..

 

well ... first of all ... how much is the person asking for it? 75,000 miles on an '83 MIGHT justify spending more than $1,500 for it, but as for how much more ... i don't know. i'm not too good with prices ...

secondly, what are your plans for the car? that will tie into how much you want to spend off the bat ... just food for thought.

well, as cory clay said ... the power windows can be a pain when they age.

mechanically, Rx-7s are sound, strong cars - but they can get a bit bitchy when you start to modify them.

so look if the car has been modified. simple things that are obvious are if it has headers, or missing cats, if all the pollution control hoses (rat's nest) are missing - stuff like that. search through past threads to see if you can get pictures of these things so you can bring them when you go to see the car.

-check the oil for water/coolant condensation.
-when the car is warm, bleed the pressure from the cooling system and then take the cap off the radiator - then start it and let it idle. if the antifreeze bubbles violently and never settles down, then that might indicate the water o-rings are going.
-check the rear rotor housing (right by the "Mazda 12A" forgings, see if there are pools of oil) - that can indicate a bad dowel o-ring or leaking oil cooler, or both.
-idle should be pretty smooth, but a little bumpiness here and there is fairly normal
-check the transmission for humming
-check the rear end for humming
-rust on the rear quarters and fenderwells is common, but the kicker is, if you can see it from the outside, then it's really bad ...
-their electrical systems do age (buttons stop working, etc.) but generally speaking they last and don't become health hazards , so if things aren't working or the car has blown fuses and such ... then question EVERYTHING.
that's pretty much all i can think of without making this thread any longer than it already is.
just keep in mind that i'm speaking generally and only from my experiences, you may want to hear what some of the other guys think ... just check through whole forum and the archives and see what's out there ...

good luck with it.

 

BE SURE YOU BLEED THE COOLANT PRESSURE before following the second point above. Otherwise, NEVER take the cap off the rad after warming the coolant! That can be a one-way trip to the hospital in a neat boxy vehicle with lots of lights and exciting sirens and you'll be the sweetest-smelling person in the burn unit.

Coolant is hottest in the 20 mins after you shut the engine off (no rad circulation to cool it so the radiant heat from the engine block gets absorbed, then it slowly cools)

 

check on oil changes if they can give them to you. i bought mine and noticed afterward that a oil metering line was off the carb. luckily no problems yet.