Long Distance Drives
 

I am going to be driving a car I am purchasing from Indianapolis to Duluth, MN. It was about 655 miles. Is there any kind of cautions I should take well doing this? I thought i remember reading somewhere, that rx7s shouldnt be driving for long distances. Should I just drive for a little bit and then stop and let her cool for a while ?

Also, I am going to be changing all fluids before I go on the drive. I have castrol gtx right now for the oil...Would that be fine for a long drive? Should I be using a different weight for the drive? I will be changing it again after the drive. Also what fluids should I use for the tranny and rearend? Is there anything else I should change before the trip ? thanks guys.

If you're changing all fluids and checking everything out beforehand, no worries. As long as the engine isn't a fresh rebuild out of the shop.

My advice would be to bring plenty of music.

what about ported/modded cars....any other risks for long distance drives. (ie sevenstock in september)??

The car is stock and has 50k on the engine so she should be fine if im changing the fluids?


Will def be bringing tones of music lol.

even if your motor is a fresh rebuild ur fine....the rex is great for the distance......i took my 86 across from OR to NC and then back....hell i even drove straight from omaha to portland just stopping to get gas......1677.71 miles in 23 hours.......so if someone tell you the rex isnt good for it they are full of shit......655 miles is a trip around the block.....ulll be fine

<-------Do you fear the apex seal?

Theres nothing different about taking a rotary on a road trip vs a piston engine. These engine go for 150,000+ miles the same way a piston engine does. They don't have a time clock that will trigger a self destruct mechanism if the engine is allowed to run for over 6 hours. Use the motor oil that Mazda says to put in it. Don't fear the engine because it is different. People ask the craziest questions about rotary engine because they either don't know how they work or just because the engine is different. People ask if back firing will damage the apex seal. Does driving in the rain affect rotary engines. If my neighbors wife is pregnant and is its a full moon in April, will I break an apex seal if I drive the car after midnight? Its like any piston engine or jet turbine engine. Take care of it and it will run right.

So, do you fear the apex seal?

LoL...That was really well put Project. Well I guess that all answers everything. This is my first rx7. I know all the mentience and how to keep her healthy. I just havnt learned everything on how they work and stuff too. Thanks for the advice. I can finaly start learning more about the car, now that I will have one in front of me :P ttyl guys and thanks

go to www.howstuffworks.com and search for rotary engines. It will show all the internal parts and how they move. Neat little video.

if you are changing all the fluids be careful about changing
the coolant if you have never done a coolant change
in a rotary you might not fully get all the air out and this
can cause really bad things to happen.
if it has coolant in it, your better to leave it alone until you get home.
if it was running fine on what's in it leave it alone.
matt

Not only will the rotary run for days on end (I drove from Woodstock, New Brunswick to Vancouver, BC in 3 days once with only 2 five-hr sleep breaks--- a distance of over 3000 miles--- in an'82 GX), but they can run at high rpm (ie: 6000+) for hours on end with less stress than would be exerted on any piston engine at those revs. People using these engines in homebuilt planes do this every day.

good to see you found an fc huse. a friend of mine and i went down to texas to pick up the one i just bought. we put it on a trailer and brought it back. i really didnt care to pay for the gas it would take. it is about 600 miles and took us 11 or so hours. congrats.

hey thanks...how are you likeing the car? I am picking this one up on the 19th. So I am getting pretty excited. :P

Guess you need keys to drive it huh :p:

Well, some of what you say is true, but ive never seen a piston motor run great one minute and need a TOTAL rebuild the next. Prime example is my 88GTU, ran fine, problem free with no warning at 67K miles on the car it stumbled one night cruising at 55MPH and boom, new engine time. Ive never heard of ANY piston engine just droping on down at 67K miles... ever... and if for some reason they do decice to go down it would either give me a warning, or cost way less than 600bucks for a rebuild. Sorry just venting about how much these engines give me trouble.

Roy James- You haven't seen that video of the new RSX have you? lol!

what video?
thanks

I remember it was in the lounge. and they had pics of what used to be rods, valves, pistons, etc.

Well was it stock and just driving down the road? or was the guy ripping ass in a modified car? We arnt getting into a piston vs rotary debate, as the fact of the matter is pistons are better overall, but we all are traped in love with rotaries.

it looks better in person, than what the photos showed. the custom exhaust and bridgeport make it sound kickass and the interior is i would say a 10 out of 10 for being 16 years old. and yes having they keys will help. :D

well I personally have given up on liking or preffering something that has pis and on in its name ;)

I don't remember if it was stock but he was racing some guy. But hell they are suppossed to be better right? lol

I just read my email, I got an email from the guy I am buying the car from. He told me this...

I took my car home yesterday after work and went to back into my parking
spot and she wouldn't go into reverse!

He is going to have it checked out.
Anyone know what could be wrong?

ok you win stupid triangles are better because you found one rsx motor riped to shredds by some dumb ass. not sarcastic not trying to start anything, ive had a terrible week and im ending this pissing contest here.

There's pros and cons for both engine types.
Rotaries give no warning prior to digesting apex seals (which usually happens only on high-mileage, poorly-maintained ones)
Piston engines strand you without warning by breaking timing belts/ chains, breaking con-rods, or burning a hole though the top of the pistons due to ignored detonation/ pre-ignition.

With piston engines there are many parts that can fail, but not all scenarios will require a complete teardown to rectify. (although once you get the head off you may decide to rebuild the entire engine since you're already half-way there).
With rotaries there are few parts to fail, but when they do it's overhaul time.
Take your pick.

Yeah, distance is no problem. I drove from Vancouver, WA to Dallas, TX in 4 days once. That's about 85-90 mph the whole time, and only stopping for gas.

Car is still just fine.

I drove my FC 220 miles back from Indiana with no problem...

in the last 3 weeks I've driven my car on three road trips, combined milage around 4000... no troubles.