Just purchased my 1st RX. (advice on U-joints)
 

Well this weekend certainly was interesting but not really that much fun. You see I am not a huge RX enthusiast as most of you, in fact I would have never purchased the car if things didn't happen they way they did.

I used to own a 2000 Audi S4 which I loved very much. After a few years of ownership and replacing expensive parts (can you say $4000 turbo replacement or $1000 ABS controller) the bills from my credit cards started to pile up. I decided to ditch the Audi so I could afford continuing with my college, so began the search for another car.

It just so happened that an old friend of mine is a big rotary fan and owned a very nice 1st gen GL. He told me he would sell me his car for $3100. It has a new engine (12a with clutch. Additionally the interior and exterior are in perfect shape.

I sold my Audi Saturday and picked up the RX7 immediately afterwards. My what a humbling experience it is to step out of a 300+hp car into one with 100hp. Overall I don't really mind, in fact I am rather enjoying the RX and took a nice drive today with it. This is when I started noticing something isn't quite right.

Since this wasn't his daily driver I doubt he was aware of a few issues, hence why I am posting here. It appears my front U-Joint is going south and I need to replace it before the drive shaft comes free from the trannie. I didn't notice the noise earlier since I mainly test drove it on the highway and it only makes noise occasionally.

As far as U-Joint replacement goes I know many people (including the previous owner) state that it is impossible and a entire new shaft must be installed (generally from Mazdatrix for $250). I am fine with that option if it is required however a few people seem to have posted with claims that their local prop-shat shop was able to rebuild the shaft with new joints (possible cutting required).

I was just curious to what options are available and what precautions I should take before pulling my driveshaft this week.

TIA.

What year is yours? rx7doctor

1983

Well, they stopped making relaceable joints in your year. Talk to your local driveshaft place if you have one about redoing yours. You can always buy a used one from a yard. There are
no special precautions to take on replacement, just cap off back of trans or you will be drowning in gear oil. The good thing about getting a driveshaft from mazdatrix is that afterwards you can replace the joints yourself. rx7doctor

Thanks for the info. I am hesitant about purchasing one from a wrecking yard, I would rather purchase the Mazdatrix shaft and be done with it. I guess I will yank it out of the car this Wednesday and take it over to my local shaft shop.

Also, does anyone have a walkthrough or info on replacing rear wheel bearings, I think my passenger side in the back is going out as it is making noise.

Its pretty straight forward, recommend that you purchase a haynes manual for reference.
You have to remove all the brake components out of the way and use a slide hammer to
pull the axle out. The bearing will have to be pressed off and on though. Have factory manual for your year if interested in purchasing. pm me. rx7doctor

Welcome to the club.....

Amazing, $3,100 for this car and still needs over $500 worth of work. Boy that is one hell of a friend.... :rlaugh:

I think I would verify the drive line u-joints before buying a new one, could be busted transmission mount or trans-tail shaft.

Axle bearings, just did them myself. Put in a '82 LSD 3rd member so I could do the replaceable u-joint thing. Damn shop charged me $105 to remove old bearings and press on my new Mazda bearing. Bearing cost around $45 a set with seals.


200k miles and still going..... Sevenstock here I come....................



John

To be fair the car has a new motor in it plus clutch and everything was done at the same time. For the shape it is in I don't think $3100 is bad. Also it has new Eibach springs plus a set of Roh rims in perfect shape. Overall the car is very solid and feels great at any speed so I don't think a bit of maintenance is too bad a thing.

Damn bro.
I'm not trying to slam on you or anything but that car only blue books for about 1800 bux in perfect condition.
Im selling my 84 GSL for $2500 with new tags and smog cert. It's even got new bridgestone potenza RE92 tires, new mazda factory discs all around with axxis brake pads, new factory shocks and struts and drive shaft and a racing beat lite weight flywheel and matching street pressure plate. I even have working a/c and a nice late model sound system. And it's got a new motor with only 90k miles on the chassis. I guess I don't realize how hard it is to find a 1st gen, maybe I should bump my price up on it! I need to look into the value a little more before I sell it. :(

Well welcome, to the Rx7's buddy