lm0812

iTrader: (1)

Yesterday it seems my engine gave up the ghost. It's a 91 NA with 169993 miles on the original totally stock motor/car.

I had a feeling the motor wasn't going to last much longer for about a month or so. It felt like the car was starting to lose a lot of the pull it had so I started babying it. I was driving to SFSU yesterday and downshifted from 4th to 3rd and felt like something wasn't right. As soon as I put the clutch in the engine died. I was able to get it started again with a bit of cranking and gas pedal massaging and get it parked.

It seems to me like it's only running on one rotor. It won't idle, very hard to start, and the engine itself is shaking. Could I have lost a seal just through normal driving? When it was on it also had a pretty putrid smell and sporadic exhaust sounds.

The car has a perfect black stock interior and the car has been well kept it's whole life. It does have some body damage but everything else is just fine. I've been wanting to get a car with 5 seats for awhile, but I love my RX7 at the same time...I gotta figure out what's wrong with it first, how much it will cost to repair, and decide if I should put mrs money into the car...

Thanks for any help or advice,

-Lukas

RTRx7

iTrader: (2)

A seal that old can go at any time, even normal driving. Do a compression test to assess the damage and let us know from there. A rebuild kit costs from 500 to 1000 dollars and usually another thousand for the labor. Might be a good time to get that tii swap...

84stock

iTrader: (5)

repair, most likely about 5 grand if someone else does all the work including r&r. You can save about half if you do all to most of the labor (assuming new housings are needed).

sho_shane

Sorry bro to hear it. Im trying to figger out what to do to mine right now to.

Spirit-RE

iTrader: (25)

You could give me the black interior

Do you have the money too rebuild it? The way it sounds you need to be putting your money into getting a bigger car?

duo2999

iTrader: (1)

rebuild it

Chriz88DX

iTrader: (1)

are you kidding me 5 grand for a rebuild if you pull the motor and take it to get it rebuild it is rarely over 2k

lm0812

iTrader: (1)

I do have the money to fix it. The question is about whether I really want to put more money into it when I was looking to get a bigger car anyways. Though the desire for a bigger car isn't a necessity, it would just be nice to have a backseat.

The cars about to get towed back to my house and I just got it to fire up again. It actually didn't sound as bad as yesterday, engine wasn't shaking as much and it actually idled. However it started to smoke out the tailpipes so I shut it off.

Would it still idle if I had blown a seal? Could it be the coolant jacket? Not that that is any better.

Man this blows.

12AllWays

iTrader: (20)

Where are you located and how much do you want for the car?

lm0812

iTrader: (1)

The car is on it's way back to Berkeley now. I wouldn't even know where to start as an asking price. I'll post pictures once I get Internet at my new place tomorrow. Doing this by iPhone is lame.

12AllWays

iTrader: (20)

Your in california? That may not work to well for me...

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

IIRC it's typically $3000 for a decent rebuild and $500-$1000 for a clean shell w/o a motor. Usually $500 I think. Rebuild parts are about $1500 for OEM (recommended), or less if not.

It's strange for a rotary to fail slowly like that. Usually it'd be "My car was running fine but hot for a while then I overheated it, kept driving for a few minutes anyway, and that toasted it right away." I'd get it checked out before you do anything, maybe it's not even the motor. Maybe it's the injectors or ECU or wiring or plugs or etc. Mileage is not an issue on a rotary engine; they usually die suddenly from a single crazy event, or from years of neglect culminating in a single crazy event, like the example.

Oh yeah, a compression test will tell you for sure if a seal popped. If using a piston engine compression checker, remove or otherwise disable the check valve so that it doesn't hold the reading. You should get 3 equal pulses per rotor if it's good, around 90-120 psi IIRC.

RTRx7

iTrader: (2)

Where are those figures coming from?

lm0812

iTrader: (1)

Back again,

Finally got the compression test done. Front rotor looks to have lost an apex seal.

F: 0-0-50
R: 60-60-60

Not what I was hoping to see. I guess now I'm leaning towards the selling the car. Not what I want to do but it seems to make the most sense for me right now. If I do decide to sell it, I would like it to be someone who would plan to fix it and not just part it out.

How much should I be asking for it?

I don't have any recent pictures of the exterior but I'll post the damage to the rear quarter panel and the interior.













And a picture of the right side from 2 years ago, it has a few more marks than it does here.

EnjoiPugs

Blown apex seal probably.

clokker

iTrader: (2)

Man, you're in a tough position.

When shopping for a used car I place a higher premium on the body/paint than the mechanical and your chassis has damage in the absolute worst area.
That rear quarterpanel would be a bear to fix...certainly doable but very expensive.
So you have a blown motor and a bad chassis.

Which means the car is probably worth more parted out but that's a whole 'nother can of worms.
Lots of time and energy plus the fact that you don't get a grip o cash all at once, it'll dribble in piecemeal instead.

Tough break.

flaco

iTrader: (7)

rebuild +

pfsantos

iTrader: (1)

He said $5000 if someone else is doing it, about half of that if doing yourself.

See above. A proper rebuild will include a full set of seals, any housings or rotors maybe even bearings as needed, irons lapped is worth doing too. Add to that misc. parts and the 2000-2500 is easily reached.

Now if we're talking a budget rebuild, then the price goes down drastically.

edit: shop around for rebuilt engines by known decent rebuilders, and take note of what parts are replaced and guarantees. Also, Mazda may still offer rebuilt/reman engines. Got one 13 years ago for about $2000. It was a full keg, front cover to rear housing. I would NOT recommend rebuilding it yourself unless you have competent help and some time. That way you just you re and re.

flaco

iTrader: (7)

5k damn i can do it for a lilbit less with brand new housing street ported and pinned

rx7racerca

iTrader: (1)

The body damage is probably the deal killer, as clokker notes. Fixing that might be more expensive than repairing the motor, assuming no damaged housings or other big parts, which might be a stretch. A compression test will tell if it's mechanical damage, + maybe try seeing if you have any trouble codes on the chance it's fuel or spark.

A shame, less the rear quarter damage and the engine troubles a nice looking example.

FCJoe

Damn, it looks really clean besides that 1/4 panel. I would say the best thing to do would be part it out. Especially because that damage is not cosmetic, thats structural, any insurance company would deem this car totaled after seeing that. See if you could get $500 for it or part it out. I doubt anyone would pay over $500. Good luck with whatever you do.

w_opt7

iTrader: (4)

Sell it !!!!!!

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

how much you wanna sell the wing and mirrors for?

lm0812

iTrader: (1)

Glad to hear that others think I'm in a bad spot, thats what I've been going through in my head.

At this point I would not be willing to part out the car. I'm going to school fulltime and the car is at my parents house. I don't have the time to commute back home and deal with stripping the car down.

I got an estimate to repair the damage, $1500 if I brought him a large cut out quarter panel.

1984rx7

might as well buy a new one