i keep hearing horror stories and am about to order my motor swap. will be the 13b turbo motor. the one i am looking at right now has 34k on it, from a guy online. but i am wondering, what is the typical life of the apex seals on this motor? mileage wise. the only reason i am worried is because i have been dealing with my blown seals on my na motor.

 

Copied and pasted directly from the FAQ:

How long does a rotary engine run? Do I need to rebuild my engine?Most 13Bs can last over 150-200K miles, while most 13BT engines usually last 125-175K miles, but remember that regular proper maintenance for the engines entire life is required for higher lifespan.

Have the seller of the engine provide compression numbers and good high-res pictures of the exterior. From the pictures you can generally judge the care the engine has received, and the compression numbers will tell you what condition it is currently in internally.

 

appreciate it.... can i get anyones personal experience to confirm?

 

Personal experience will vary wildly. Some people buy used engines that are already blown, some buy used engines and the beat the hell out of them for another 200K. Personal experience will add nothing valuable to the thread other then a bunch of people saying "Well, my engine lasted 20K....", "My engine blew at 100K...".

You need to look at the engine that you are purchasing and judge it's condition, then decide if it is worth buying.

 

Well for a comparison my 13bt was babied, never drove hard, it lasted 109k miles. If i was the original owner i could have had the engine last well beyond 150k-175k miles.

 

Yeah, rotaries NEED to be beaten on once in a while at the very least, or you get nasty carbon buildup that will ruin compression and can make things wear prematurely. Today, once I finish the TB mod, rats nest removal, and pull the cold start, I might do a water treatment then put it through its paces. It needs a swift kick in the teeth for putting up such a fuss all this time.

 

my 87 turbo II had the turbo die at 167,000 and the gxl I bought had 180,000 before it lost compression on the front rotor. If I had them and took care of them like i would have they prolly would still be alive. I think the gxl died cause the guy had no air filter on it.

 

The first engine lasted 120k. I'm just over 100k on the second one.

 

ive had pretty crappy experiances with used motors always seem to last over 1-2 years im buying a jspec 13bt motor now and im gonna go ahead and rebuild this motor just for the simple fact that i know what i will be getting and take better care of it you might have a diffrent experiance but good luck

 

You should be able to get 100k miles out of even a big power 13BT - i.e. 400+ hp.
Of course, maintenance is the key.

Normal life of a 13BT running at stock power levels should easily do 150k miles.
200k miles is not unheard of.

This is all with Mazda OEM apex seals.
I don't trust any of the aftermarket apex seals, and engine life will vary with different brands.


-Ted

 

it depends on the owner of the car, i know people that have 120,150k and still running good but i know other that only last 10000k. is as simple as this, if you take good care of your car, don't usually race it'll last you long, now if you constantly abuse and love to hear the sound of a rotary engine at redline as many of us do here then it'll last you much less lol.

 

Would this be the same with a turboed 20b? Just wondering.

 

Also take into consideration of a good tune on a larger power 13BT. Stuff does happen though like injectors failing.

To be of relevance to the topic, I hit 167k on my S4 N/A before the oil cooler line came loose. The motor ran for another week though. Then said kapoot! I think that engine would still be running right now if that did not happen.