I am about to buy an '89 Turbo II. The guy I am buying it from says everything is stock except for the clutch (a.c.t.), the boost gauge and the a/f gauge, but in the pictures he sent me the intercooler does not look stock. Here is the pic what do you guys think? The car had a new engine put in in 97. I just want to make sure it is a series 5 and not a series 4. Do you guys see anything else shady in the pic? Oh ya one more question does anyone know how to decipher the VIN #? Sorry for all the questions. Im about to go buy this car and Im a little nervous. Its the first time I can afford a desent car that Im really into. Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Theres nothing wrong with the intercooler, he maybe have just cleaned it up. The portion your referring to is usually black, but its definately a stock interooler. As far as the sticker goes, I guess he didnt like the other one.

 

Also, there is a way to tell by the VIN, but theres alot of eaiser ways to tell its an 89 without much checking.

3 spoke steering wheel.
teardrop looking Spoked wheels
round, not wedge shaped gauges
automatic seatbelts

Those are all key features that distinguish an 89-91 car.

 

Oh, not to mention round taillights That's a stock intercooler. My Jspec intercooler had a silver arm and not black, not sure why mazda did that. But, check for the above things and be on your way

 

i think the s4 intercoolers had the fins and tubes painted black. i know thats how mine is. but ive seen a lot of ones that are all silver. i guess thats how the s5 ones are.

 

A ser 4 top mount cooler has a 1 3/4 inch inlet pipe from the turbo. (The one you say is ment to be black)

The stock ser 5 cooler starts out 2 inch then expands out to the shape of the tank, I think its around 2 1/2 inch but not round in shape.

I have also been told that the ser 5 cooler is a little thicker in size than the ser 4.

The only thing I can see wrong with this pic is the brake booster is on the wrong side of the engine bay...he he he he

 

My intercooler no longer says anything, I polished it! I noticed he has a rotor oil filler cap....kinda cool.

 

What do you mean the brake booster is on the wrong side of the engine?

 

Were you serious about the brake booster? Why would it be on the wrong side? I'm still pretty new to rx7's and Im about to buy this car but want to make sure everything is what the owner says it is first. I appreciate any help you can toss my way.

 

TKE, sorry. I was just having a joke. Im from Australia, the brake boost is on the other side over here... We drive on the other side of the car to you guys in tha states....
Im sorry. I was just pulling your leg.
I didnt mean any harm....

 

LOL no harm man, Im just a little nervous about buying this car. Thanks for the other info though.

 

looks like the ABS pump is right where it should be...thats another sign its a S5...not too many (if any!) S4 T2's had ABS...

 

TKE,

It also appears that the clutch fan has been removed so the car probably has an electric fan. This is a good thing, so long as it doesn't ever go over half on the water temp gauge.

Congratulations on finding a what looks to be very clean series 5 T2.

 

Also no A/C, P/S< or air pump. If you need to pass an emissions test, you will probably need to put all of the emissions equipment back on. The only obvious part missing is the air pump, but that usually means the rest has been removed as well.

 

TKE, Im glad you have a sence of humor!!!
I had another look at your pic and it looks like a ser 5 engine bay to me. It took awhile to figger it all out cause things are swapped over here.

It looks all good to me..

 

OK sorry guys, I just remembered that I'm a bit intoxicated, and I was looking at Boosted Rotors' picture. I certainly feel like an idiot. Anyway, nice clean car Boosted Rotors

 

He's got a "Home Depot" BOV. His stock ABV vents to atmosphere. No harm there.

B

 

Home Depot BOV? Wouldn't venting to atmosphere be bad since that air has been measured by the ecu and used to calc a/f ratio?

 

Since it's only during deceleration (which gets 0 fuel anyway) I don't believe it would effect A/F at all being open vented, if it leaked, then there would be an issue.

 

Would this "Home Depot BOV" be easy to convert back to stock or upgrade to a recirculating one?

 

Yeah that's a S5 alright. If it's a newer motor, then more than likely he went with the higher compression turbo rotors. (which is what you want), but unless he has receipts you'll never know for sure without taking the motor apart. Also S5 engines have the knock sensor pn the front rotor ( furthest one away from the firewall) above the trailing (top) spark plug. You won't see it on the other rotor, there's just a hole.

 

TKE: it's nothing really to worry about, and if you upgrade your BOV it will be to an atmosphere vented one anyway, so unless theirs issues with it right now, don't worry too much about it.