I just recently acquired my first rotory powered car, an '85 RX-7, and it's changed my life.

What are some things I need to keep up with as far as maintenance?

Things i need to look out for?

 

keep it full of oil.

 

and watch your temps, they are not as forgiving if overheated

 

I would do a tune up first....then go on to the things to watch for. Change the fuel filter...one of the best things you could do. Good to do once a year anywho. They are built to take some of the engine oil and pump it through the combustion chamber to help lubricate the internals better. Thus, the average car owner would think there was an oil leak even if there wasn't. They tend to leak oil anyway.

Check it, then check it after a tank of gas worth of driving. Should gauge you for how often to top off the oil. Other than that, as long as it's running well for you, just do some replacements of hoses and other maintenance/preventative maintenance operations and enjoy your 85!

 

yeah, as far as maintenance is concerned, just make sure your temperatures (oil and coolant) are in check at all times.

this ... and either make sure your MOP works, you premix or both.

 

MOP-
(actually: OMP) - Oil Metering Pump - wee mechanical doodad on Front engine cover (passenger side under the water pump near main pulley. This is what pumps metered amounts of oil from sump to carb - you'll see the 2 plastic lines running up to carb. Its because it is taking oil away from the system that the car loses oil as part of the combustion process. And thus VERY important to gauge HOW MUCH oil your car burns (varies from a quart every 500 to 1500 miles -ish) so you can keep on top of this. "Supposed" to be an oil-level warning light but these don't work often as not!

COOLANT: unless you KNOW the recent service history regarding rad flush and new coolant AND hose changes - you would be wise to do ALL THREE: get rad professionally flush at a reputable rad shop. Fresh coolant with DISTILLED water. New thermostat. NEW upper and lower hoses AND HEATER HOSES!!!! no point in new rad hoses then have a 25yr old heater hose pop - it WILL kill your motor. As mentioned above : Rotaries demand a properly maintained cooling system! Overheat it once and your likely a goner.

Welcome - !
tons of great info and people here.

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Don't baby it like you would a piston engine these engines need to be redlined on occasion to prevent carbon build up. So every couple of days or so just go out and have fun driving this **** out of it! Or if it's you daily driver redline it about once a day on the onramp when your hitting the hwy heading to work or school.

 

Check the oil on every gas fillup, until you are really comfortable you know the consumption rate for your engine. more than 20 years I've had mine, and I still check oil on every fill-up. Keep a quart in the car.

By the time the "low oil" light comes on, you're minutes from engine failure.

Redlining isn't 100% needful (article of faith among many, but not all long-term owners) but it is good to keep RPMs in the comfortable power band well above 2k under constant load. Because of the long skinny combustion space, 'lugging' the engine under load at low RPMs does tend to carbon things up pretty fast. Most new rotary owners under-rev, as they're not used to the higher rev arc of these engines.

A can of Seafoam in the tank every so often will help keep things clean inside.

Older engines like these need plug changes quite frequently compared to modern cars; follow the maint cycle in the owners manual on that. Luckily, plug changes are dirt-simple on a first-gen - you don't even get your hands dirty, and nothing has to come off. Don't over-torque them, as the aluminum rotor housings can strip easily.

 

Make sure the grounds are well secured. Theres one on the drivers side shock tower
down a bit low. The negative from the battery connects there and then continues
on to the starter where its grounded to the engine block on a bolts. A second one
is up under the dash just in front of the gauge cluster. You can only see it if you
are upside down with your head resting on the pedals and looking straight up
under the dash. A third one is from the rear tailight area down to the muffler.

You want to make sure these are all secured well and that the wires are in good
shape. Typically folks have had the most issues with the front end ground because
the neg battery cable has disintegrated internally and can't handle the juice
anymore. This causes poor runnning, missing and backfiring and can be a beeotch
to diagnose. The dash ground may just cause gauges to be flaky and so on. The
muffler ground causes some radios to have poor reception.

Also check your starter wiring. It can easily be loose and cause you fits at random
times trying to start the car. Especially the small spade that connects to the
soleniod which activates the starter. This comes loose easily and often if not tight.

 

Nice one t g
hadn't thought of that check-

I'm with DD re "Italian Tune-ups". twice yearly can of Seafoam easier/healthier way to keep engine de-carb'd than hi revs IMHO

Stu Aull
80GS
Alaska

 

Good info! Thanks

 

I have owned 4 1st gens, and in every one, I needed a new idler arm

 

Check for rear storage bin rust. If caught early, the cancer can be cured.

 

check and keep the rear hatch drain holes clean and sunroof

 

Keep an eye out for cops as you're blasting down the highway going a little faster than you should in your sporty new rx7

 

If you have a "beehive" oil cooler, change the heater hoses that go to it. I had a nice "surprise" blown hose when i lost all my coolant on the lower firewall hose. I walked three miles home, got the other vehicle, went and got the hose and did the repair on the side of the road.

Coolant hoses are no fun to have go, as those "surprises" are usually inoppurtune.

Lastly, never use Fram Filters LOL

 

+1 there!

After a couple month of owning my 7 i ran into issues with loss of power, it's advisable to change the fusible links to modern fuses for reliability, as the old links tend to crack internally after 25 years

 

Congratulations and welcome to the world of 1st gens Like others said make sure its full of good oil all the time, I would steer clear of synthetics unless the motor has been using it consistently for a good while. Make sure the cooling system is good as well, overheating is a big no no for rotaries. I got a brand new radiator and a fc oil cooler in mine to make sure the engine would be running at safe temps. Using a good oil filter would be a good idea too, heard the k&n ones are good. Other than that just make sure the engine stays clean, especially internally! Good luck!