I just bought my friends 88 Rx7 with a bad apex seal on the front rotor, he told me that you needed special tools to replace them, I was just wanting confirmation that it does require special tools and was wondering if I could get some tips on how to replace them

 

Hmm ditch the friend. You need to open up the motor to replace the apex seals. You're looking at over a grand when all is said and done.

Or maybe he isn't scamming you, maybe he just doesn't know what he's talking about. In that case figure out what the real problem is. Look at your symptoms and search the FAQ and forum for answers. To check for a bad apex seal, get your compression tested with a Mazda compression tester. A piston engine compression tester won't work unless you remove the check valve that makes the needle hold the reading. Then what you need to look for are 3 even bounces of the needle. If 1 bounce is high and 2 are low, then you have a bad apex seal. If the needle bounces evenly 3 times your compression is good. A mechanic or Mazda dealer can check your compression for you. Just explain the above to the mechanic. There are 3 seperate pulses so you can't let the compression tester hold the reading or it will only show the highest pulse. You also might need to tell him that there are 2 spark plugs per chamber, so he is testing only 2 chambers not 4 chambers (even though there are 4 spark plugs). Not that it'd hurt to check each rotor twice.

 

listen to ericgrau. a few things you will need to look into. if its a turbo motor and the apex seal went then your prolly gonna need a new turbo, a new housing, rotor, seals, and a few other things. i suggest you look into sending the motor off to get rebuilt by someone who knows what there doing.

 

ok thanks, he had it tested before and found out the seal was bad i don't know where he heard you had to have special tools

 

I know this is going to sound stupid, but whats the best way to hook a rotary up to an engine stand?

 

Apex seal replacement = new or rebuilt motor.

You cannot "CONFIRM" that an Apex seal is broken without opening up the motor. You can only be somewhat sure.

Imagine replacing piston rings on a piston motor......same general idea.

 

Either fab up an adapter plate or buy one from Pineapple racing.

It bolts up to the front iron

 

you a bucket. no joke. lol.

also, you can be sure an apex seal has popped. just look into the exhaust ports.

 

Having done that before, just invest in the 65 bucks for the pineapple adapter plate, it pays for itself in the disassembly alone, let alone when putting it back together.

 

You can get a pretty good idea by looking through the exhaust ports. You can also test the tension by poking it with a pencil eraser. I would not poke it with a screwdriver because it will cause the apex seal to tear apart and seize your engine the next time you turn it over. Ask me how I know...