i'm considering the purchase of an 88 turbo rx7. first of all, i come from a turbo buick background so i'll admit i'll have to re-learn about everything. my main concern as of right now is as follows, what is the "typical" life expectancy of the turbo motor in the 88's? i found a nice and clean car with 97,000 miles on it, the asking price is $3900, i can probably drive it away for $3000. am i purchasing a car with a motor that is currently at the end of its typical life or are they known to run 150K or so??? thanks for any help, aaron

 

Depends how hard you drive it and if its ported and how well you take care of it. Mine had 214k on it before it popped due to boost creep.

97000 is nothing if its been taken care of. Just make sure you do a compression test and the car doesnt smoke white or blue. I believe Ted at fc3s-pro.com has a "how to buy" write up for turbo ii's.

 

Direct link:
http://fc3s-pro.com/TECH/h2b.html

The motors usually last up to an average of 150k, if totally stock boost.

$3k sounds too high, unless we're talking about a pristine car.


-Ted

 

thanks for the input and link, good info here. ok, got 1 more semi-related question. i have also found an 87 turboless rx7 (13b??) with 76,000 miles. the owner says it started having trouble running, especially with cold weather and it got to the point that it was driven only in warm weather. this car could be bought for next to nothing. the question is: what causes this lack of power at cold temperatures and what is the remedy? thanks again, aaron

 

Too many things can be wrong.&nbsp It could be as simple as a basic tune-up (spark plugs, spark plug wires, fuel filter, fuel injector cleaner) can fix the problems.&nbsp If it's a flooding problem, there are several components that can be fixed relatively easy.&nbsp Be careful it's not a blown motor, as there engines can run pretty decently even though hurt; a compression check will show if the engine is in good shape or not.


-Ted