Ive been thinking about the 2nd gens for a while. When I brought it up in a convo with one of my friends, he was all like "No no no no no, they arent reliable, they always have engine problems, etc, etc." His knowledge of the rotary engine is minimal. He knows what I know, the manifolds on some TT FDs will glow when they get pushed hard. He talks about the rotory like its a 2-stroke bike. Hard to maintain, high mantinence, etc
Can someone please elaborate on some of the common problems of the RX? I want my next car to be a 2nd gen, but I want to know what Id be getting into. I apologize if this is the wrong place for this, this is my first post on this forum.

 

Ive been thinking about the 2nd gens for a while. When I brought it up in a convo with one of my friends, he was all like "No no no no no, they arent reliable, they always have engine problems, etc, etc." His knowledge of the rotary engine is minimal. He knows what I know, the manifolds on some TT FDs will glow when they get pushed hard. He talks about the rotory like its a 2-stroke bike. Hard to maintain, high mantinence, etc
Can someone please elaborate on some of the common problems of the RX? I want my next car to be a 2nd gen, but I want to know what Id be getting into. I apologize if this is the wrong place for this, this is my first post on this forum.

 

Sorry about the triple post...thats a first. My browser went awol and screwed up my post(s).

 

Check the stickies at the top of the page. The FAQ has some very useful information about the second generation RX-7 as well as just the rotary engine. If you have a specific question chances are it has already been asked. Use the search function at the bottom of the page. Oh yeah... welcome to the forum.

 

Yea, Ive been going over the different models and I read through the FAQ. As often as Ive tried to enforce the search button on the other forums, I didnt think about it here. My bad.

 

Archives.

 

turbos on a lot of cars will glow when pushed hard, so what... I remember a just broken in audi s4 with a glowing turbo after just one touge run.. not like its a bad thing.

 

go to the top of this section and read the FAQ thread, also the other sticky threads there....there are like 4 or 5 of them. THEN let us know what other questions you have.

 

I read through them but really all I saw was a bunch of "How-to"s. And some spec questions. I know I probably over looked something, Im tired as freak. I just wanna know of common problems found in the 2nd Gens.

 

Common problems:

1) PD failure - I think there are at least two threads on this page alone that go over this. Basically, it dampens the pulses in the fuel rail. After all these years, heat, and I am assuming not so good construction they are failing. Result: engine fire.

2) 5th/6th ports - Not really a bad problem, just annoying. Some people have trouble with their 5th and 6th ports actuators. Grime, grease has built up and made them stick.

3) TPS issues - Although I have not personally experienced this yet, many people find that they need to adjust their TPS to correct idling problems, poor fuel economy, so on.

4) 3800 RPM hesitation/grounding - Bad/old grounds in the engine bay and ECU cause a stumbling in acceleration at around 3800 - 4100 RPM. This is when the secondary injectors come online. To fix: ground the hell out of everything (alternator, ECU, engine).

That is what I can just think of right now. I am sure if you will look back a few pages you will find all kinds of stuff that plagues our cars. Not to say these cars are troublesome, just that they are getting old and need a little more care and love, lol.

 

Any car can be unreliable if not maintained properly.... The rotary is no different. Buy a car with as low miles as possible and a DETAILED maintenence history. Just because it has a "rebuilt" doesn't mean shizzle... Lots of shade tree fellas "rebuild" rotaries but they often don't last long.... Spend the extra bucks and get a low miliage well maintained car.....my .02

 

The FAQ covers this in what to look for when buying a FC

Please read the FAQ and search before posting

 

first get the basics down. http://travel.howstuffworks.com/rotary-engine.htm
then spend a day or so with some one i n your area that has one. i see your in sc there are a fue rx7s down there. that would be a good "hands on" learning experience. thats my .02


ej

 

Sorry for being such a newbie. Thanks for the info, my research is underway.
But I do have one more question. Compared to regular engines, are Rotary engine parts more expensive or are they about the same?

 

well think about that. the rotary has about half the parts respectivly. so even if half the parts were twice the price it woul dstill be the same. id say there about the same so i guess you could say the rotary is cheaper.



ej

 

well that was one thing that was bugging me. I thought that because the rotary is so specialized and original, I thought the parts might be alot more expensive, but thinking about it like that kinda makes sense. Ive been looking at the info on the engine and I had no idea it was so simplified...simply amazing.
Thanks