Michael Pierce

Hey guys, I am new to the rotory world, new to RX7's and new to this level of enjoyment when I drive! I have a few questions, I figured this would be the best place to start. Any answers and or tips you may have would be greatly appreciated. Please be gentle, like I said I am new, I am not here because I am a genius, I am here to learn from the genius'.

1. Gas, I have read that premium is a bad idea in these cars, why? I have no problem using premium and used to prefer it...I would hate to hurt my RX7 though.

2. Air filter, I know this has probably been asked a million times, but are there any huge benefits from putting a K&N on my RX7? Gas mileage? or power? Why would I spend $200 on one?

3. Are there any known issues with these cars(1988 RX7 NA 13b convertible, 10th anniversary edition.) such as how DSM has crank walk, and 3000GT/Stealth gets a lifter tick, stuff like that that I should watch out for.

4. How much oil should the engine burn? I know it is going to burn some, but how much? I read about 1qt. per 1,000 miles driven assuming you don't hot rod the car.

5. Redlining, I have also red and I quote just about every review I read "These cars love the redline." or "This little car does best while redlining." What is that and should I pay attention to that?

6. I remember reading about a problem with brass shift synchro's but I don't remember what that was. My shifter acts a bit funny...It wobbles and shakes pretty bad. Is this known to happen or a cause for concern?

7. Plugs, I know there are 4 plugs, 2 sets of 2, are they any different from changing plugs on any other car?

PLEASE! Be gentle and courteous, and let me know what you guys think! Any tips and or advice is always appreciated! Thanks guys.

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

1) Your engine is rated for 87 octane, so anything more is a waste of money. Premium just means it has a high octane rating, which is for knock resistance. This is unnecessary on an NA engine. In stock form, a TII engine is even fine using 87 octane.

2) A K&N drop-in filter will have a tiny effect on performance, and a $200 K&N cone filter kit will suck hot air from the radiator without the addition of ducting or a sealed box.

3) With age the oil control rings can wear. This will allow some oil to seep into the combustion chambers and cause some smoking.

4) With normal driving, it's more like 1 quart per 3000 miles. If it's a lot more than that, there could be a leak, you might have a lead foot, or the control rings I mentioned could be showing their age.

5) Peak power is made at 6500 RPM for an S4 NA. Redline all you like.

6) Replace the shifter bushings. http://www.mazdatrix.com/g4.htm

7) Nope.

driftxsequence

iTrader: (8)

i'm on month 3 of owning mine, so i'll go nice and easy read the forums, make sure you search (search titles only is best IMO). i spend more time on here than any other website.

1. Gas, I have read that premium is a bad idea in these cars, why? I have no problem using premium and used to prefer it...I would hate to hurt my RX7 though.

if you have an N/A its best to stick with 87 from what i've read. higher octane means it wont burn as easily and with the odd shape of the combustion chamber it makes it even harder to completely burn the fuel. e85 is actually good from what i read due to the lower flash point

2. Air filter, I know this has probably been asked a million times, but are there any huge benefits from putting a K&N on my RX7? Gas mileage? or power? Why would I spend $200 on one?

exhaust and intake are the biggest upgrades to the rotary. exhaust first, then intake. you can and will see a difference.

3. Are there any known issues with these cars(1988 RX7 NA 13b convertible, 10th anniversary edition.) such as how DSM has crank walk, and 3000GT/Stealth gets a lifter tick, stuff like that that I should watch out for.
rotaries explode! the AAS (auto adjusting suspension) on some models is known to never work, electrical gremlins, and the like. you learn to expect the worst with these when something goes wrong...


4. How much oil should the engine burn? I know it is going to burn some, but how much? I read about 1qt. per 1,000 miles driven assuming you don't hot rod the car.

1 qt per 1000 miles. the best thing to do is periodically check when you get gas. i am doing it so that every 3k miles exactly i changed at 80000, and will change again at 83000. easy math

5. Redlining, I have also red and I quote just about every review I read "These cars love the redline." or "This little car does best while redlining." What is that and should I pay attention to that?

it is good to bring it to redline because it gets rid of carbon build up which can kill the engine. carbon build up can foul spark plugs and make seals stick, which means lower, or no compression. there are videos of people taking a rotary and holding it floored (8-9k RPMS) for over 5 minutes before it finally dies due to overheating. imagine if they had air going over it while driving down the road.

6. I remember reading about a problem with brass shift synchro's but I don't remember what that was. My shifter acts a bit funny...It wobbles and shakes pretty bad. Is this known to happen or a cause for concern?

i'd like to know this too. mine is super loose.

7. Plugs, I know there are 4 plugs, 2 sets of 2, are they any different from changing plugs on any other car?

nope, unscrew them, and screw them back in!just make sure you watch your spark plug wires. it can be very easy to mix them up and mess your engine up badly...best to tackle them one at a time imo.

jpieps

Rotaries do not explode. The 1st and 2nd gen cars are every bit as reliable as many piston engines given proper care. The 3rd gen cars do have trouble sometimes, but your car is a 2nd gen, so you don't need to worry. Just do routine maintenance, and you should be fine.

20Bforme

heres something to check on with the shifter.

mine was acting a bit weird... so i removed everything down to the bolts that hold the shifter to the trans... 1 bolt was completely backed out and the other 2 were almost to that point...

tightend them down... and now my shifter feels solid again.

Michael Pierce

3. Are there any known issues with these cars(1988 RX7 NA 13b convertible, 10th anniversary edition.) such as how DSM has crank walk, and 3000GT/Stealth gets a lifter tick, stuff like that that I should watch out for.
rotaries explode! the AAS (auto adjusting suspension) on some models is known to never work, electrical gremlins, and the like. you learn to expect the worst with these when something goes wrong...

Rotaries explode? Please clarify, and please say that is a joke. AAS doesn't work in mine, I was curious if it was supposed to.

5. Redline? Please clarify, keeping that annoying little beeeeep going is...ok? I did redline it once a little bit ago and it sounds like it honks or beeps at you...is that a sign of affection?

6. Shifter bushings? Which ones do I need? I took mine apart and one looks like it is in good shape, but looks nothing like the pictures on that link. Mine doesn't look to worn but certainly not as thick as any of the ones on the site.

8. I have a small (looks like a screw) that is spring loaded in the center console near the AAS and the security light, what does this thing do?

9. I was reading about carbon cleanup, I read about something call seafoaming, is this safe? I didn't see anywhere that it was a good idea for rotaries, but I did see alot of people saying it is great for carbon build up removal.

Michael Pierce

Any chance you could show me what bolts were loose? Maybe photo's or something? I took mine apart and didn't notice anything to strange, but it was a bit different looking than a 3000GT shifter, a 2001 Eclipse Shifter, and similar to an old rangers shifter.

20Bforme

http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/shiftbsh.htm

pictures 8 and 9 on this page are the bolts im talking about

driftxsequence

iTrader: (8)

i was joking about them exploding. but that is what is "known" about them. knowing you have good compression puts you ahead of the game so you know the condition of your engine. doing a "steam clean" can sometimes raise that number depending on how clean it is in there. it is very effective in removing carbon deposits.

5. it is safe to bring it to redline, and you could hold it there without knowing you will throw a rod or something.

6. 20bforme sounds promising.

8. no idea, take a picture.

9. seafoam can also be bad. i prefer the steam clean but its water, and it goes right into a vacuum port, straight to the engine and out the exhaust, which also cleans up the insides of your exhaust!

20Bforme

as for steam cleaning... refer to this page:

http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/2n...injection.html

Jimmy2222

iTrader: (3)

Rotaryrocket's oil consumption rates are a bit more accurate. 1 qt/1000 miles is not right, more like three. As for octane, like Rotaryrocket said 87 is recommended because anything higher is just to offer knock resistance (turbo applications), I think I read somewhere that rotaries are actually good with low octane fuels (diesel and there's some hydrogen powered RX8's now a days). As previously mentioned, there aren't many quirks, some cars have problems with flooding/hot starts due to bad injectors, just small stuff like that that routine maintenance can help cure.

These engines rev so smoothly and freely because it's rotating mass as opposed to reciprocating mass so feel free to take it to the redline on most occasions, the buzzer is just a shift buzzer telling you you're close to your rev limit, nothing serious.

Seafoam is NOT bad for your engine, it's perfectly legit, it's not a snake oil or w/e some people call it, it will not eat your seals, it's designed to clear out carbon. I used a can with no effect at all (or too much). Brought my car out of storage this year and it had a stuck side seal (well so I thought), so I dumped in the can of seafoam (as per instructions) and I saw no improvement the following three and a half tanks. Few months after using seafoam, was going half throttle'ish up a hill and finally one rotor blew an apex seal (most common form of failure due to various causes). But my car was in hurtin' shape already and it was a turbo, so I think the seafoam MAY have worked too well. Steam cleaning also works though.

Michael Pierce

Oh, Ok...I have actually heard a LOT of people say seafoam is great, I have heard a LOT say it will eat the seals that basically after so long get cracked then the cracks fill with carbon. Wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not.

For steam cleaning how would I do that? Same as seafoam? I was reading about it and it seems like you just find these two hose's and let the car drink the water while holding it at a high idle until it steadies out. If anyone can put up a video of doing it to a 2nd gen RX7 that would be awesome!

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

chenge out the clutch line ASAP, and inspect the pulsation dampener, and replace it with a new one, or with a banjo bolt.

20Bforme

seafoam is fine...

as for steam cleaning... go to the link i posted in my previous post and read it.

LunchboxCritter

iTrader: (9)

+1 Replace your pulsation damper

S4 models can/will catch fire due to a failure in the pulsation damper.

Michael Pierce

What would something like that cost me?

20Bforme

$137

http://www.mazdatrix.com/getprice.as...m=20-1800-JE27

or you can delete it.

rotorymanincraig

+1 on the PD. mine tried to catch fire while on a 700 mile road trip.

-Crash-

+1 for Seafoam, I put it in my oil, gas tank, and run it through a vacuum line that leads directly behind the throttle body or in front of it. Just read the directions and do as they instruct, its good stuff.

+1 for the shifter bushings it’s how I fixed mine, my shifter was all over the place before I put new bushings in. you'll want the upper and lower bushing plus the bushing that sits in the large shifter ball, also to help with the syncros get 3qts of Neo oil. If you do those things your transmission will feel almost brand new. Below are pics of the bushings you will need. You can get all of these parts from Mazdatrix.com.

rotary_bünta

iTrader: (3)

that was an interesting read. stupid question but is that same steam cleaning method possible with conventional engines? i would assume not

an engine with centrifugal force has that as its greatest asset.



??

20Bforme

banjo bolt