I recently purchased an FC (90 GTU). The engine is in immaculate condition, which was an incredible surprise when I popped the hood. The car has obvious wear and tear on the paint, on the interior, etc. It runs great, as far as I can tell, but I'm no rotary expert (I drive a 240, too). The car has 147k miles on it, and I don't know if the engine has been rebuilt or not. Either way, there are 2 minor things that I noticed. There is no intake filter or airbox. I have already countered this problem by ordering a blitz intake from racing beat. There is an exhaust leak, but it's luckily between two pipes meaning either the gasket is bad or it's just not tightened enough. Other than that, I would just like to know of other things to look for that I could find myself. It feels like there's some power being robbed somewhere... there's not as much kick as my 240, but, again, i'm no rotary expert. Finally, the battery is probably a piece of ****, but it could be something I don't know about. The car hadn't been started in a month+ before I found it, so the battery was obviously dead as it can be. It takes a few tries to start it now. I'll probably end up getting a new battery anyway, which will most likely fix that.

Also, I'd like to know some do's/don'ts to help prolong the life of my newly acquired rotary.
I know to let it warm up before driving it.
I know to check the oil every other time I put fuel in it.
I know to keep an eye on the oil pressure.
I also know not to use synthetic oil.
A friend told me to use 10w-40 for the engine. Is that good?
It didn't come with an owner's manual, so how many quarts does it take? And what kind of oil/filter combinations would you fellows recommend?

Any information would be helpful. Thanks.

Also, I just decided to throw all of this into one big post instead of searching for each individual thing. Mostly because I have class at 7:30 am and just found out about this forum! So sorry if something has been answered 900000 times.

 

Hey man! Welcome to the cluub.
Run 10w if you want, but no synthetics.It makes carbon buildup and all that crap.
Letting any car warm up before you are driving it.
Get a Haynes manual and if you got any dough left, do the 60K tune-up right away, from there you can start I think.
Good luck.

 

Toss out some pics...please!!! I love seeing what everyones got

 

from the FAQ
and post pics.

use a dino oil, i like castrol GTX.

 

i'll run out and get that oil tomorrow. and i need to know how many quarts it needs. also, that haynes manual. is there a website where i can find that?

and... pix! only one as of now. i'll take some more tomorrow after class.



sadly it has rice canister mufflers. i'll be replacing that with a racing beat cat-back exhaust next month, most likely.

i'm taking it to my mechanic tomorrow to have him check everything from top to bottom since he works on rotaries. hopefully all is well!

and a pic of my 240 for fun:

 

pretty nice 240. really nice lookin 7. need more pics.

 

the rx should have more a "kick" than the 240. ive driven both. if the car has been sittting its probly got old gas in it. let it burn off. clutch could also be slipping a little. youll probly read later on when you want to start modding the rx about the throttle body mod, and rats nest removal and all the other little do it yourself mods. dont do the airpump removal on your car becuase yours is and s5(series 5) and the 5th/6th port valves are operated off of it. also dont remove the omp (oil metering pump) its a hassle to premix everytime you fill up if you do. its contraversal weather to do all these mods. ive done both the throttle body mod and rats nest removal on mine and i did notice that it revs faster but no real hp increase. rotaries respond to intake and exhuast more so than a piston engine. theres alot of good websites out there for these cars. www.corksport .com , www.rotaryressurrection. com , www.mazdatrix .com , www.pinneappleracing. com , www.speedmachineperformance. com , just go to yahoo and type in mazda rx7

 

- 5 Quarts
- Purchase a Haynes manual at Autozone or Autoparts Warehouse

"I just got my car and I want to make it faster, what are the first modifications I should do?
Do a full 60K tune up, replacing all the fluids (including brake, clutch, tranny, engine oil, coolant, and rear end lube), spark plugs and cables, all filters (including fuel, oil and air), belts, any hoses that are leaking or bulging, and the O2 sensor. In addition if the car is more than 10 years old or has more than 120K miles on it, the Pulsation Dampener (or pimary fuel rail and integrated Pulsation Dampener on 89-91 FCs) should be also replaced."

- From the FAQ...be sure to check it. Check the archives too while your at it.

 

I pick up 7 toss some in the rear for when you need to top it off.

 

well, the clutch is apparently a stage 2 centerforce clutch. i don't know reputable those are on mazda's, but i'm a fan of them on nissans. but like i said, when it goes in tomorrow i'll have everything checked out and i'll get the 60k tune up and that pulsation dampener replaced. thanks for the help, this is great.

also, when the car was first started (after that month of sitting) there was a ridiculous amount of white smoke pouring out of the exhaust for about 5 minutes during revs and idle. it looked like we started a fire.

edit: what about the cat? is there a chance it could be a little stopped up? and how can you tell if it is?

 

If there's not a lot of top-end power, it's likely your 5th and 6th ports aren't functioning correctly. If the previous owner didn't take it past 4k RPM's very much, it's likely one or both of the 5th and 6th port actuators are stuck in the closed position--making the motor a "4-port" instead of the "6-port" that it is... The 5th and 6th ports are actuated around 3.5-4k RPM's and act like a 'mechanical V-Tec'.

Also, removing the stock cat or replacing it with a new high-flow unit will noticably increase power. Just gutting the stock cat(s) makes a noticable difference.

Regardless, I think a mostly stock s14 vs. a mostly stock N/A FC will be a pretty even race.

The smoke might've been oil or coolant that have seeped into the combustion chambers while it was sitting. I guess all that matters is that it doesn't smoke anymore when you start it, or when driving. Smoke is not good.

 

haha, smoke is never a good thing. i'll be sure to have the ports looked at as well tomorrow.

i figured it would be pretty even. the 240 is mostly stock, what with only having: high flow cat + cat-back exhaust system + jwt intake + short shifter. i actually expected the mazda to be a little quicker. don't rotaries rev faster than most stock piston engines?

 

No, rotaries don't rev faster than "piston motors" generally speaking. They do however, rev smoother than piston motors.

Yeah, it's not like the "ports" themselves that have issues, it's just the little actuators that open and close the ports.

 

I know to keep an eye on the oil pressure.
I also know not to use synthetic oil.


shitt, im new to my fc ( got it a couple months ago) but i used 5w-30 mobile 1 synthetic oil, i always thought it was better for ur car, is it diffrent for rx-7s or something, and should the oil pressure gauge be up past half way or what

 

30 at idle and 60 once you hit 2500-3K RPMS

the reason synthetics (mainly blends) are bad for our cars are the high ash content when they are burned, as you will read sevens have oil injection used to lubricate and maintain the apexseals but while doing so some (very little) oil gets burned, which using the 'right' oil is perfectly normal, but using oil that burns and leaves alot of residue or ash will create problems down the road

it is perfectly normal for a rotary to spit some nasty gas and shitty smells if it has been sitting for a month, no worries there, but keep an eye on it for a few weeks and make sure its not doing it any more

if you have leaky injectors (common problem) you will notice a nice strong gas smell when you fire it up in the morning or you may experiance some flooding, but it seems that your car isnt that old yet

how many miles?
how many owners?


hope this helps

 

Nice, I love those kouki s14's. Are you going to be keeping it?

Good find on the 7, looks clean.

 

yeah i'm definitely keeping my s14. it took 3 months to find that. 7 grand for the 68k miles on it.

i think my 7's injectors are a bit leaky, as there is a slight fuel smell when i get into the car/try to start it. (see my cold start problem in another thread!)

 

Don't forget to check the Fuel Pulsation Damper if you're getting a fuel smell.