Is that when the motors will just stop working an dyou need a new engine or is that just when major stuff starts breaking and you need repairs?

How much does a new 13b cost?

 

normally when an engine does go on someone that person would just get it rebuilt...instead of buying a whole new motor. the more care the car gets the longer the motor will last..theres not really a set mileage. theres rotarys out there that are going strong far after 250k... plus 150-200k is a lot of miles on any car.

 

I agree that 150-200k is alot on any engine. Im just runing in to a problem of finding a lot of cars running close to the 150k or over the 150k mark and i was just wonderin ghow bad it was. Im still trying to find one. So far ive seen 3 and i dunno if its just my luck. But 2 didnt have A/C's in the car at all. They were race ready. Which is strange considering i live in FL. the other one has a A/C leak. Finding a N/A hardtop FC is hard as hell. I dont care what year it is anymore, i just want a fc ive given up on the 89+ ones.

 

Hey check out www.autotrader.com they have alot of stuff on there normally! Let me know if anything comes up.

 

If you buy an older FC, accept that you'll have to rebuild the engine. A properly maintained (religious oil changes, regularly redlined, never overheated, premixed (debatable)) rotary can last a LONG time. However, most aren't maintained that well, and will die around 120-170k miles.

At this point, you need to rebuild the engine, which normally involves replacing the housings, a new rotor (if you wait till it eats an apex seal), new apex seals, new o-rings, and assorted other things. Depending on what goes bad and what it damages with it (a motor that's still running will have a lot more usable parts), and where the rebuild is done (www.rotaryresurrection.com does quality rebuilds for not a lot of money, you can do it yourself, avoid Mazda stealerships at all costs), you can get the engine rebuilt for $1000-$3000.

While it's out, you may as well port the engine. This involves slightly (or majorly) enlarging the intake/exhaust ports, which lets the engine flow better, which lets it make more power. It's something that you have to do with the engine apart, so you may as well do it at the same time (or you'll kick yourself later for not doing it - trust me).

The rest of the car is decently reliable, though as with any car, it will need work. The synchros on the transmission will probably be going out (Redline MT fluid can help that a lot, or you can get a lower milage transmission fairly cheap), you'll want to replace all the coolant lines & such (they normally don't get replaced until they fail, which sucks), etc.

Remember, reading a forum like this, you only very seldom get a lot of posts saying "Hey, my car runs great, no problems, having a blast." There are a lot of us who put a lot of miles on the cars with no problems.

Also, you'll want to learn to work on the car yourself. They're easy to work on, and unless you have a local rotary specific shop, most places will hate you just as much as you hate them.

-=Russ=-

 

ive seen em go at 353k. and it ran strong. FB BTW.

 

fb's have 3mm apex seals and the rotors are smaller so it makes sense they would last that long. as far as the 2nd gen engines go i'd say about 150k to 200k, even less for the turbocharged models. if your getting a high mileage 7 then prepare for a rebuild. my s4 n/a started burning coolant at 165k as a reference.

 

even the 13b gsl se, that is the same size as FC engines? cuz thats the one I saw with 353

 

the gsl se engine is the same size as our fc's (13b) but still have 3mm apex seals.

 

I tried auto trader but they most have convertables. They ahd 1 hardtop but had serious problems with it. Thank you though.

 

yeah avarage is about 150-200, engines tend to run perfect then blow up out of hte blue... lol

id say most NA engines go between 150-200K
and turbos more like 125-175K depends on who took care of it or neglected it.....
of all the FC i have owned and come across.
2nd gen NA ,
still running strong : 175K , 165K
dead ones , 136K, 150K
2nd gen t2
dead : 160K ( my fault leaned out...)

1st gen, 150K blew up
then my one with 90K is still kicking like new!

rebuilding now... well that can be crom about 800on up to 2000 or more dependong on who or if u do it your self or not.

 

I have a 88 se that has 163K miles on it and still runs great. I run premix. I vote HIGHLY of premix and I wish the parts for a premix injection kit were more available then they are. Burning motor oil is not good for our engines or ANY engine for that matter. That is one reason why the motors get carboned up and fail.

From 140-210K miles is where an unmaintained engine will most likely fail. I know mine will last to 200K miles

The one thing you have to watch out for are coolant seal failure. The engine may still be running and kicking strong. But a coolant seal will lead to a lot of head aches if its not taken care of and may lead to a stuck APEX seal or worse, brake or cracking a seal. Coolant seals fail fairly early on our cars. But then again. If you keep up on the maintenance such as replacing the thermostat every couple years, flushing the coolent system and replacing any leaking parts. The seals will last a lot longer then they usually do.

 

If properly maintained, you can see 300k miles out of a non-turbo 13B.
I would call 150k miles to be middle-aged.
200k miles would be golden-age.

There is no such thing as a new 13B.


-Ted