So I got my first ever Rotary after being around my fiancee's FC for awhile and it has been a project! I'm VERY pleased by the overall condition of the FB(82 RX-7 GSL) and it's a blast to drive...but the previous owner(s) irritate me.
First thing was the oil change...torqued the heck out of the oil drain plug AND filter!!! Fixed. That was the first sign things might have issues.
Next, aluminum battery cable(red positive cable on negative lead...replaced with black copper cable, along with a new starter...fixed).
Oil cooler leaks at fitting(over torqued fitting most likely issue), have access to an FC oil cooler I'm going to install soon as well as replacing the hoses, just in case.
They also had an electric fan installed(good thing) and it was hooked up to a thermostat(also a good thing) but it was wired straight to an economy battery from Advance Auto...replaced it with a Silver battery from Advance and installed a switch inside cockpit.
Changed the plugs(which were GREATLY neglected).

She also had a shudder/jitter that seemed to be getting worse that occured when starting out sometimes...feared the worst of a bad differential, but after poking around this am found a loose tranny mount bolt. Tightened that, checked for loose driveshaft bolts, loose/worn diff, checked Watts linkage. All ok. Test run was good so far, so we'll see over time.
Changed the fuel filter the other day...interesting project. Old owner installed an inline fuel filter in the engine bay...was going to change that before I realized the OLD one was still in place and VERY dirty!!! New fuel line hose and got rid of the engine bay filter and replaced the stock one on the undercarriage. Also ran a bottle of techron and Sea Foam in fuel at half tank for each one. Tuned carb.
So, all that said...Anyone have an idea of other items I should check on to make sure she's running right? I'm just trying to get all the bases covered and I think I'm almost there. Changing out diff fluid this weekend. Any insight to what else I should do/check? Sorry so long, but even as guy that WAS anti rotary, I know things weren't quite right with some of the work. Almost all accessories work fine and I may be taking on the project of getting the Cruise control and rear defroster to work again soon if nothing else comes up. All other electrical buzzers and warning lights work fine.

Last thing...the other day the overheat exhaust system light came on. Anyone know what might cause this and if it could cause problems? Only happened once so far, but I wanna make sure it isn't something that will hurt it overall. Thanks for anyone who had the patience to read this far that can help with any suggestions. I'm LOVING the FB so far

 

congrats on the new rx7!

overheated exhaust is probably due to clogged cats- rb sells a cat replacement pipe, or you can just get new ones.

 

Congratulations on the new seven. Do you have any pics of this beauty?

 

Or I can just follow through with my prior plans and punch the cats out NC only does "safety inspections" on vehicles prior to OBD 2, so they just look to make sure the cat is "there." No emissions=punched out cat. Thanks for that tidbit of info. Guess I'll be punching them all that much sooner As for pics, I will have some soon. I have training all next week, but if I have a few moments after work tomorrow or Sunday I might dio a wash and wax and get some new pics of her to throw out here. She is far from perfect, but everything is small probs(well, appearance wise). Someone did a sheisty bondo job, so the paint cracked a bit, but once again, doesn't show unless you're up close. She will be getting a facelift(new body parts) and paint job to get rid of some dings and scratches. That's a ways down the road, but for now she is very strong and pretty as can be expected. Not much rust at all. The motor has 150,000 and was rebuilt at 100,000 and the tranny was replaced. She runs strong, like I said. I'll try to get pics posted soon. Thanks guys.

 

sounds like youve got all of your bases covered. im going through the same thing now with my new fb, i hate the ignorant previous owners....who the **** install a side post battery in an RX7, i mean what the hell?

 

That battery comment made me laugh so hard! I have come accross SO many reasons why some owners should NOT work on their own cars with this FB! I find more reasons every day. I just brought a dead thread on Cruise control back hoping for some light on my problem(which you may have seen), but the cruise control is hopefully a simple fix...either it's a simple fix from a dumb **** disconnecting a hose, or it can't be fixed without replacing something fairly big. I don't know though. I'm new to Cruise control systems. The SRT and FC(fiancee's) don't have it and I never used it in my eclipse.

 

Your girlfriend inspired j00, eh?

 

Lol, yes, she actually did. I used to be an anti rotor, piston head. I now firmly stand in the middle, lol. I'm still more into pistons, but I'm LOVING the FB!!! Like my sig says, the 7 handles the best of my 3 cars and is awesome to drive! It took awhile to finally decide I wanted a 7, but I've been a part of the Saturdays in Raleigh RRDI(Raleigh Rotary Drive-In) group for quite awhile now and the rotor heads there are AWESOME company and have persuaded me to cross to the dark side. 2nd gens have too many quirks and failure possibilities and the 3rd gens...well, they're just not reliable enough for my comfort. I love FD's, but I can't afford something like that when it breaks down all the time(at least all the ones I've seen do). So...FB. Bulletproof reliability and awesome fun when properly maintained and not neglected. Sounded good to me So here I am catching up on what the previous owner did wrong, lol.

oh...and in case you can't tell, I'm MASSIVELY bored on a Friday night to be posting this often, lol. Plenty to do, but my fiancee is asleep and I work in the am, so I'm just chillin and trying to figure out what to work on next for the FB, lol.

 

welcome to the darkside

congrats on the buy and u will hail to the rotary lord "i mean adiction"

funny po's ohwell u might just have saved the poor car

for the fan hook a relay to the traling coil for a switch power source since all the power for the fan will go off the bat from the relay

 

its kind of odd, cause i actually bought my car in fort bragg, and stayed the night in raleigh. and it turns out that one of the harder things im going to hav to fix on my car is a bent axle.

 

i got an axle if you want lol but im sure you dont want it since the car comes with it... congrats on the car phoenix_flame i wish i had a gf that was as cool as urs! lol

 

ooohh man, dont let her read that.

 

Naw, she will prolly see that anyway. She's on here, mostly in the lounge, and she helped me pick it out. She likes knowing how much guys wish they could find a girl like her. Confidence boost. I'm proud to have my baby. We aren't going anywhere without eachother Lucky dude right here I got a beautiful chick that's just as into cars as I am. It's funny though, we argue over which car we're buying next and what the mods will be, lmao.

 

i meant for rolf_7's gf not to read that. most gf 's dont like it when you wish they were someone else. ofcourse your gf would like it lol. i wish i could meet someone who was as into cars as me.

 

congratz on the new 7

i wish my lady was that cool...she hates my cars and doesn't really understand why i am sinking money in to them.....oh well...

 

haha i dont have a gf perfect_circle, partly because of my 7 hehehe she didnt take me serious when i said the car comes first

 

i thought you were selling it cause she wanted to keep her jeep.

 

Ah! Didn't realize he had(past tense I gather) a gf, lol. Now I get it.