my gsl's 150mi short of 220k and runs like a wet dream. so im wondering, whats the longest a 12A has lasted? im torn between a pre-emptive rebuild/port job or trying to see how long she'll last. im gonna go with the rebuild, eventually, but i just wanna know how much longer i might have to save up for it.

 

Wow, that's a lot of miles. I would rebuild it, but realize that the housings will need to be replaced.

 

Nah, if that things been taken care of its whole life you'll easily hit 300K. Also if it's unmodified.

My friend's car is modified (ported and a **** ton of goodies) and he's pushing 220K and his car's going strong.

 

i have 275k and mine still runs strong

 

all ive got is an exhaust system. air pump's not attached, so i was thinking rats nest/air pump removal too

 

230k when I switched to a 30k mile motor, still had 100psi on each face of the rotors too. Going to rebuild and port the motor. To note I run premix in my car since I got it with 185k on it.

 

my wifes 79 had 480K miles before she sold it and it ran perfect.

 

rotary crazy- the sa with 480K, was there ever a rebuild? if the origanal 12a lasted that long... thats insane

 

If taken care of and given a free breathing exhaust, they WILL last forever. CONSTANT care is needed, though .
Always keep it lubed (wether through engine oil and OMP or premix), oil change every 2500, keep it cool with fluid topped off at all times and changed at a consistant rate, and a clean, high quality air filter at all times.
If you're running the OMP, an oil change every 2000 is more acceptable, so you can change the filter more often.
I do a good tuneup (plugs, oil, air and fuel filters) every 4 large.

 

And rev her up on a daily basis! My personal belief is that the more you abuse her(speaking in terms of a piston engine only, since rotarys love to rev) the more she'll love you for it. I bought mine with about 170k on it, and it ran like crap. No power, chugging idle, etc. After reading up on these motors (yes, I was a noob once too) I decided that she must be plugged up pretty good with carbon. On the way home that night at 3am, all alone at a stop light, I decide its time to clean her out. Took her to the redline in 1st and 2nd for the first time since I bought it, and when I looked in the rearview there was this huge cloud of smoke! I thought I'd blown my engine, it was that bad. But I drove through the cloud and it had no odor to speak of (not oil or gas). Then once I calmed down, I realized how much better she was running. And the only way to describe the power difference was that now it was kind of "snappy". Anyway, I've been redlining probably a dozen times per day since then and she still seems to love me for it. This is my daily driver (except for the snow months, then I pull out the money pit, er I mean the Audi) so I put probably 60 miles per day or so on it. I race autocross any chance I get. She's never been rebuilt, and has over 206,000 miles on her now. I was going to rebuild due to the mileage, but now I figure I'll just rebuild the "young" engine that I have in the garage instead and let this one keep going for a bit. I wonder how long it would last, and would be tempted to find out if I didn't have a hunger for a nice big streetport.

 

Oh yeah, two rules of thumb: If she's feeling sluggish, and down on power, feed her Seafoam (through the gas tank). This keeps the apex seals and other moving parts in the "combustion chamber" moving freely, which maximizes the compression. The second thing is; if she smokes (oil, that is), use Lucas in the crank case. I've done some pretty good testing of this stuff, and if you search you can probably dig up the threads on it without too much effort. All I'll say in this thread is, the stuff works....

 

He's right, as usual. Lucas does wonders. I'm yet to use seafoam, I just blast some MMO into the carb every so often.
And AMEN to the redlining thing. You just have to rev these things every so often.

 

Good stuff as always Kent, I always read your insights....I'm also a believer in reving them out daily, I drive mine 1000 miles a week, (about to be put away for winter, damn salt) premix, 2GCDFIS, Mikuni and RB exhaust, I get at least 23 mpg and now have 148K on her, building fast....lol

 

I knew I have seen someone post a 450k+ mile reading up on here before. That is crazy insane.

 

If you've never used Seafoam before, then you're in for a really big treat! I do this every 3 - 6 months, and I always feel a gain in horsepower. No kidding. The longer its been since the last time I've used it = the bigger the return on investment. So if you've never done it, well all I can say is take a clean pair of underwear along.... 1 can Seafoam + 1/8 tank of gas + a good hard run = YEEEHAAAAA!!!!

 

well she drove the **** out of it always filled the oil up when it needed it change the plugs regulerlly and oil every 3K miles and put gas in it. And it was the original engine there she bought it from a guy that owned a mazda dealer with something like 80K on it and drove the other 400K in a couple years on to it.