Gridlock

Hey guys!

Would appreciate some quick opinions. Thinking of buying an 87 NA, and its listed as having the following problem:

leaking coolant somewhere and i dont have the time or knowledge to find the leak and fix, steams off coolant when engine temperature warms up and has a "add coolant" buzzer go off while at low rpms

Now, I don't want to get too deep into it with the owner, but this has that "either its truly screwed, or I get a smoking price on something he doesn't understand" vibe to me.

Now I was doing some searching, and came across the check for a blown coolant seal which puts this in the do not buy category for me. So that's fairly easy to check when I look at the car.

From his description, to me it reads like its a cap/sensor/air bubble type problem.

I guess the other thing to look at is the running temperature creeping while its warming up.

Does anyone else have anything I can look at?

dwb87

iTrader: (22)

^This..... (Not to be a dick) But if you do not have the time or knowledge to repair an FC... You may not want to buy one. There are going to be plenty of things to fix now, and down the road.

Gridlock

Sorry...I should have used actual quotations. That part is his sales ad. He's taking your advice and crashing out.

I'm looking to pull up quick and retrieve.

Gridlock

I will ad that I would go and modify my post, but apparently I can't?

I really should post here more.

dwb87

iTrader: (22)

Ah, okay! I get it now... Of course he is going to try to sell it off as if it is a simple fix. He wants it gone. Ha - Have you seen the car in person, or just reading the ad? I am curious as to how much this guy is looking to get for it... Are you looking to rebuild an engine??

Gridlock

He's asking 1200. I'll be honest about my intended level of cruelty. I want to lowball him and fix the problem.

I do not want to rebuild the engine. I have other projects to take on far more pressing. I was doing some reading on coolant problems, and this to me, from a crappy description in an ad, and he wasn't too forthcoming on the entire subject of the car seems to go down the middle of..the engine is baked, or its something stupid.

I have enough knowledge to be dangerous(to my bank account), but not to rebuild the engine in my spare time. I'd hedge my bet on parting it to recoup initial payment.

dwb87

iTrader: (22)

Try reading this... Aaron has plenty of great information on his website.

Aaron Cake's: How To Buy An '86-'92 Non-Turbo RX-7

Derekcat

iTrader: (8)

errr.... $1200 for an FC with a maybe bad coolant seal..? Need to know more about the car. Is it Turbo or a vert? S4 [86-88]? S5 [89-92]?

For an NA S4 $1200 is way too much with a bad coolant seal [unless it were very low mileage or *super* clean]

+1 for Aaron Cake's guide.

Also the engine rebuild is very easy, if you're somewhat mechanically inclined.

dwb87

iTrader: (22)

Yeah... Even though you're planning to shoot him a low offer, it still may not be worth it on your end. Even if you talk him down to like $800. I've seen PLENTY of people purchase these cars for ~$400 or less running. Maybe you should keep looking... Unless you can properly diagnose the problem, and convince this guy of the true issue, causng him to dramatically drop the asking price.

Gridlock, you may be motivated to rebuild after watching a rebuild video. Here's a great one: Aaron Cake's rebuild video

durtled

got mine for 500 running with bad coolant seal drove it all last summer (not for very long....but). ended up finding a tii in the impound lot at my old work and got everything i wanted for 300 bucks....now im in the process of working on the ol girl....but like derekcat said...1200 is too much seems like hes doing that i dont know anything about rotarys know something about rotarys relying on other people to think hes ignorant when in reality hes playing potential buyers

Gridlock

Thanks for all your help everyone. I really appreciate it.

I decided to pass on this one. There is a chance that it could be something small, or it could be a rebuild.

If I'm going to gamble, I'll just go and drop a grand on black-seems to be about the same probability of winning.

Besides, if its something more and I have 2 red 87's sitting in my parking lot, I'll never hear the end of it from my girlfriend.

TheAbsence

iTrader: (19)

I would be super hesitant to buy that car. Even if it overheated once, it could have killed the engine.

Good choice on passing this one up.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

if it's on the original engine i will give you the advice i have been giving everyone lately:

if you cannot afford nor want to dump an additional $2000-2500 into a rebuilt engine in the near future then look for a car that has a rebuilt engine already installed, with reciepts and hopefully some warranty from a reputable shop.

the original engines have been dropping like flies due to their age, owning one with an original engine now is just rolling the dice everytime you go to start it up.

Kstout24

iTrader: (1)

ya i would say either needs a new waterpump or waterpump gaskets. if you do it your self you can keep it under $100. i just bought a 91 FC that had the same problem. i was leaking coolant from my waterpump due to crappy gaskets. i was able to limp in back to my garage from the purchase place and put about a hour of work and $100 into it and now i got a great RX-7. so i would realllllly look at where its leaking from when you go and look at the car. and make sure its not a bigger problem