When I joined the Army they told me that they provide you with free shipment of your vehicle to wherever you get stationed. I got stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska which is in the middle of nowhere but they claimed they could get me my car at least. It turns out that to ship it here they use 4 different car carrier trucks, and a boat to get it from Seattle to Anchorage. It has to be started and driven on the transport each time and in between it sits outside in their yards, maybe for 2 weeks at a time! I asked them if they could just winch it onto the trucks since it is likely that their driver won't let the car warm up all the way and will shut it off cold and flood it when they try to start it again. They said no, it has to be in running condition. I told them it was in running condition but it floods easily if it isn't treated right. So they said that's fine, but if they flood the engine they will leave the car right there wherever it breaks down and it will be my responsibility to retrieve it.
So I called a private company and got a quote to ship it here. $3,100!
So I thought about driving it to Alaska, but I don't get any leave until July, right before we go to Iraq. It's a 3,000 mile trip and would take most of my time that I have with my family. So I guess I could do it, but I wouldn't get to drive the car til I get back from Iraq 15 months later.

It looks like no matter what my RX7 is doomed to sit and rot in the garage. I would think if the Army is going to pay a shipper over $3,000 to ship my car they could at least take care to ensure that they don't flood it, or take 5 minutes to de-flood if they do.
Are my oil seals going to be shriveled rocks by the time I get back? Are my apex seals going to rust weld themselves to the rotor housings? Ugh this is so frustrating. I can fight for freedom but I can't even fight for my car. Anyway here are some pics to remember it by.






Here's my new whip:


Arctic Warriors with no cars!

 

Most cars that are in proper condition are not really prone to flooding.. Is yours that susceptible?

 

wow that is hella clean. You could always just use aaron cakes guide to storing a rx7.

http://www.aaroncake.net/RX-7/storage.htm

 

your oil seals shouldnt shrivel and the apex seals shouldnt rust to the housings but check out here http://www.aaroncake.net/RX-7/storage.htm on how to store it properly if you cant get out to fairbanks

 

The motor has 90,000 on it but runs great. I know it's getting to be time for a rebuild, but if you treat it right it's not a problem. You just gotta let it warm up all the way before shutting it off and make sure the battery is charged. In normal conditions it wouldn't be a problem, but it's winter time and the car is in Minnesota. It might start in Minnesota weather but I have never even tried to start the car in the kind of temperatures Anchorage gets. It could easily be -20 once it arrives in Anchorage. I don't even have a proper antifreeze mixture or the right grade oil in it for that temperature. The fluids could be changed before it's shipped, but it's just never wanted to start in temperatures below zero. 20-30 degrees is ok but anything below that and it gets even trickier. Is there any way to fix the flooding problem without rebuilding the motor so it would be reliable for even an idiot to start?

 

If your that worried about it flooding, install a fuel cut off switch in plain sight and tape directions of how to use it on the steering wheel lol

 

My best friend back home is a mechanic and he said he could do some stuff to help me out. I found some instructions to the switch your talking about and it looks fairly easy actually:

http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/2n...ooding.html#a5
Ok so that would solve the flooding problem most likely unless it was a really really bad flood. But what about the cold? Would it start in below zero temperatures? I've never even tried. This car has never been driven in the winter time. I start it up during the winter on warm days, but not when it's below zero. I just figured it wouldn't start.

 

I just thought of something. A lot of the cars up here use block heaters. One design is vehicle specific and it fits into the hole where the freeze plugs go. There is another design which is magnetic and it just sticks to the bottom of the oil pan. If I could find either of those it would certainly help a lot. I don't know if it would do any good though because I doubt they have that many watts of A/C power on the ship or the trucks. I guess I could always call and ask if they would be willing to plug it in.

 

It's mainly an issue of having a stout battery and the properly rated oils in there.

edit: The FC has a cold start assist system, too, that may actually help you out at those low temperatures.

 

im not sure about the carriers your TMO office would use but most carriers WILL take a nonrunning car it just costs an additional fee like 250 bones or so. also you are paid a certain amount for the weight of items shipped during your PCS and most of the time you make money on this especially to alaska and back to the lower 48. but if it costs you more than that amount they will not reimburse you...basically what im saying is that you should be able to talk with your TMO office to get it shipped "non running" and you pay the difference/additional fee. it should be substantially cheaper this way now this all sounds good but i also know how the military is so you could just be screwed if they wont do this
hope this helps
z

 

Yeah it seems ridiculous to turn away non-running cars. I have no problem paying an additional fee for them to push/winch my car up the ramp. I can't be the only person who's ever tried this? I'll ask them again and double check that there isn't some extra fee I can just pay to get my non-running car shipped up there. I'll ask to talk to a supervisor this time too. I may have gotten their secretary or something last time.

I took the cold start system out. There was a service bulletin to remove it so I just took the liberty of removing it myself. Apparently it didn't do anything anyway. The cold start fluid tank was just ethyl glycol. I still have it and could put it back in if it would help.

 

I can't personally attest whether the cold start assist would help or not, most people remove it. I probably will when I swap in my rebuild.

 

If you really want to put that nice car through the pains it'll go through up there (I don't drive mine in the winter), then check out this. It's really a band aid for cars that flood, but it requires no one to do anything special:

http://www.mazdatrix.com/c-bleed.htm

It essentially bleeds off the pressure in the rail when you shut the car.

If you have someone to start the car once in a while (record odometer reading just in case) and drive it around the block you can do that. If you store the car properly (someone referred to Aaron Cake's site), then you'll also be fine.

So you really have a few options.

BTW, keep your *** safe out there.

 

So I called up to the Seattle and Anchorage vehicle processing centers and I asked them directly what they do with cars that don't start. They told me it happens all the time and they just push or winch the cars around and I won't have to worry about it. The straight forward answer is that my responsibility is to make sure the car reaches the first vehicle processing center in running condition and after that it is their responsibility to get the car to me no matter what. So the lady in my local Army transportation office that told me they would abondon my car and such was just lieing. I guess she was trying to discourage me from shipping my car to cut costs. That pisses me off because that's one thing the Army promised me when I joined. I didn't join to tinker on cars, but they promised me my car. So I am pushing to get the Army to do it now. Thanks for the encouragement guys, I think it's going to happen.

 

how sad may it rust in peace

 

just wanted to say thanks for fighting for our freedoms and i am joining the army as soon as i pay all my legal fines(i.e speeding,speeding and speeding) good luck in iraq and be carefull

 

Well I've been in Iraq for about 8 months now guys. I got blown up by an IED once and I watched 48 people die in a restaurant suicide bombing but I am still alive, everyone in my platoon is still alive, and I went back to visit my RX7 in February and it is still very alive! It started on the first try!
It was the coldest day that I have ever tried to drive my car so it had a little trouble, but man was it exhilarating! After driving nothing except maybe a Stryker for so long it was invigorating to feel feedback through the steering wheel, a strong clutch, tight shifter, and well the engine was there but it isn't a turbo lol. I got some pics of the new S5 intake manifold because I realized I hadn't taken any since I put it in.








The car has some problems that are getting worse. The brake fluid leaks out and is gone every time I come home. The coolant seal is leaking so bad it's a constant drip or a light trickle now. The tires are just garbage, the interior is still shredded, and there is a screw driver shaped hole in the passenger door from when someone broke in in 2006. It really needs some work but I can't be there to work on it, I can't get it to where I am or where I will be, and I don't know or trust anyone in Minnesota to work on it. The dealership did a nice job changing the fluids, but that's all the service its gotten.
Our unit is going back to Alaska in September. We get a nice month or so of leave after that but I am going to Japan and maybe Europe, not to Minnesota to work on my car! I probably won't be able to work on the car again until I get out of the Army in December, 2010. That really sucks because I have a body kit for this car in my garage in Alaska and there are so many nice things I could be doing to it. I've already paid over $2,000 in storage fees for the car, that's more than the bluebook value! I was thinking about just selling it but I can't... Oh well it's not a bad car to have rotting in storage but it looks like this RX7 is still doomed to rot until 2011 when I can come back and give it the TLC it needs.






Three months until I'm back in the real world!

 

to the OP, stay safe out there man!

i was thinking why would he want to bring that fc, it looks like a stock s4,.. til i saw how clean the engine bay was. Good luck man

 

Those Alaskan temps don't sound healthy for any car, let alone a rotary. At least you shouldn't have to worry about cooling.

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