FC Background
 

I need to find out some known problems with FC's. Somebody please tell me what has been known to happen to them.

They catch on fire..:rolleyes:

there is a laundry list of problems... dont let it discourage you though. go to the FAQ section of the forum. i found a lot of answers there.

-chris

i don't think anyone will waste their time creating a 10 page answer... so i'll make a basic one.

they catch on fire.
they flood alot.
they are old, shit breaks.

Shit happens!

they all smell the same also... I have 2 fcs and been in others and they all smell the same... kinda odd.

Like it was said...

They can have alot of problems, (i.e. catch on fire, flood, blow up for no reason, etc.)

But, don't let it discourage you. You can fix 90% of the problems yourself for little to no money investment (resoldering pieces, etc.).

its one of those things. you ask a scary question, guess what, you get scary responses. fact is, they're old and yet we still drive em. i'm not so hard-headed that i'd drive a car just to drive it if i feared all the time how unreliable it was. thats not the case.

catch on fire: usually a pulsation dampener problem
flood: hasn't plagued me thus far
blow up for no reason: haha. "no reason," huh? riiight. there's always a reason. cause and effect.
electrical gremlins: i've seen newer (much newer) cars driving around with rear lights that didn't work. hell, for $500-$5000, you're getting a good deal. just know what you're getting.

Grinding tranny, broken inter piece, cooling system problem, speeding all the time, trying to race everyone on the street. :D List goes on. But my FC is one of my favorite car in the world! OH yeah did i mention i love the poping sounds 7s make when the revs come down from redline.

Flood a lot, people seem to have problems getting them started sometimes, usually when i cant get it started its because it flooeded (which is easy to fix) or because the battery is dead, or I forget to plug my Air flow meter in :)

Flood a lot, people seem to have problems getting them started sometimes, usually when i cant get it started its because it flooeded (which is easy to fix) or because the battery is dead, or I forget to plug my Air flow meter in :)

The car is at least 12 years old....Anything can happen... It's an old car that a bunch of idiots still drive because they are fun and addictive..Run don't buy one or you'll end up like the rest of us...with 5 rx-7's in your driveway only 2 of them run a garage full of "spare parts" and you'll buy any rx-7 you see for a good price....it's a sickness i tell you......

Wow, those were completely BS answers.

Check out the FAQ section at the begging of this 2nd gen section for details.

Like any used car it's as good as the previous owner's maintenance.

Flooding - not an issue if they had the injectors professional cleaned/blueprinted (restored).

Fire - you're suppose to replace the Pulsation Dampiner every 85K miles on the 1986-88 and 125K on the 1989-91s to avoid a fuel leak. You can also do the bajo bolt mod for cheaper.

Eletrical - pretty reliable, expect the usual fix/replacement of grounds on the engine & cleaning the grounds on the ECU. Some sauder joint bugs in the wipers (only work on medium) - several places offer repair services (remove old sauder, add new sauder).

Transmission - they should last forever, but you will need to do the usual used car stuff of replacing shifter bushings, replacing syncros, possibly the shift fork. That happens in the 115-150K mile range.

Engine - should last nearly forever if you replace Apex & other seals every 150-300K miles (Non turbo) or 125-140K (Turbo). First rule of buying any rotary car, get the Mazda dealership to do a ROTARY ENGINE SPECIFIC compression test that gives you 6 numbers back. That will tell you how the engine's doing.

Everything else is typical used car stuff.

Both of mine have been very reliable, but I did my homework, Researched here, and verified the quality of the cars I was buying.

These are some of the most affordable supercars with lots & lots of aftermarket parts, bodykits, performance upgrades, etc... The rotary engine & the RX-7 chassis will give you a REAL worldclass SUPERCAR with High-Revving, supergripping, superhandling, superfeel, super street car sports car for a very affordable price. And you can turn them into near-exotics in handling, power, & looks as well. If your a tuner, enthusiest, or sports car nut You won't be dissapointed - it's a pashion and it rocks. You will become a rotor-head if you buy one, which is a good thing :)

It is nice to see that we all have that "Love/Hate" relationship with our FC's. And that Pop off at RPM drop is nice...LOL! I just wish I blew flames out the back too!:)

yeah, i think alot of us were just trying to scare him a little...:)

lets not forget to mention that if you get interested in 1of the generations,you will probably want to try 1 of the other 2 as well! like vaughnc said, the car is only as good as it has been maintained! some things you can bring back with proper maintenance,some you can't. getting it tested by mazda OR a reputable rx mechanic can help, but when you buy a used 12+year old car,things do need replacing. I've heard of 2 catching fire, but if properly maintained,should be ok

Mostly stupid little stuff, remember no matter what you hear about what probelms they have a rotary engine has 3 moving parts, its pretty easy to break more parts than that in a piston motor

The internals have 3 moving parts.

It's the outside stuff that usually goes bad.

Pulsation Dampner on the end of the secondary fuel aril can quit and start leaking. This can cuase a fire if not fixed asap.

The Tranny is pretty strong. The 1-2 or 2-3 syncro might go but if your careful or double clutch then your fine.

The differential mount can break if you drag launch too much(14 year old rubber).

The alternator seems to go out pretty easy(very easy to replace/15 minutes)

COOLINGCOOLINGCOOLING! The main thing to do is make sure you NEVER over heat. If you do so then your fine.

The wiper switches tend to go bad and only one speed will work.

The bezel around the center console is known to break also the vents on the side of the dash.

Sunroof may be stuck or hard to move at first.

It's an old sports car. It will have problems. At least it's common enough that any question you may have has been answered here before so you know how to fix it.

guess most of us got this disease ....
i had 3, now 1