I have a 1987 rx7 sport. I get a high oil pressure on accelerating. I have been having this issue from the time I got my car. I blew it off due to my 1985 did that as well and I know rotary engine have a lot of movement in that area. I just changed the oil 5w-30 Castrol GTX and the oil filter to Wixs. Where should I start? Is it normal for a rotary?

 

That is not normal operating pressure for your particular model.
Factory specs are approximately 30 psi at idle and 60 psi above 3k RPM.
It is possible that yours may have been rebuilt and the regulator may have been modified, replaced with a later model unit or
It could also just be the oil pressure sender, or oil pressure gauge reading incorrectly. Check the single wire connected to the sender. On yours it should be a slip on connector. Its known to get pretty nasty since its right underneath the filter. Clean the contacts and reattach it. Start the car and see what the oil pressure looks like at idle and above 3k RPM.

If your oil pressure is indeed that high, I would recommend using a different oil filter with a higher burst rating. There is some data out there showing Wix/Fram filters bursting on RX-7's.

What is the history on the car anyways? has this problem just started? Ever had it rebuilt?

 

 

Well this hurt anything? If so what? If it is modified I assume that the engine can handle that kind of pressure?

 

like savanna said, do you know any history on the engine? if its been rebuilt theres a possibility that theres been a mod done to the oil regulator

 

That what I am asking if I do have a modified regulator could it hurt the engine? Why do they do that? I assuming (based on that there is a mod) that it can handle that presure?

 

the spec is 71 max and not 60. i would bet that somebody didn't get the needle on correctly when they put the gauge faces on.

secondly, higher oil pressure is better. the FD runs 110psi stock

 

Fram, sure, Wix, I don't believe it.

 

From the time I have posted I replaced the oil filter with another and replaced the sender unit. There is no change. Is there a manual way to test it? Like volt meter on the sender? Just to make sure the Guage is reading right. What about the oil cooler? Or should I goto the regulator? How do I test that the gauge is working right?

 

all honesty, i wouldn't be so worried about it

like what was said above, whoever put the gauge faces on probably didn't get the needle put back on right and its set a little higher than it should

 

Foxed.ca - Mazda RX-7 Manuals

section 15 gives you the methods to test both the sender and the gauge

 

Thank you for the link brotha . I lost mine awhile back and been using alldata pro at work

 

I have an FD reg oil regulator on my Tii and run the Wix filters, no problem here with ~105psi at top end.

 

i've actually never seen an oil filter pop on an Rx7, i can't say i've even heard of it. Mazda had a rash of filters in the 90's that had bad threads (US made), that would pop off occasionally, but even then only on the piston cars

 

A 30 year old sender and gauge should not be relied upon for diagnosis.

Verify with an independent gauge before assuming there is an issue.

 

^^Great advice from a great guy

 

5w-30 is too thin of an oil in a rotary.

 

nonsense, every Rx8 ran 5w-20

 

depending on where you stand on that point, one could take this as a way to prove or refute Styx's statement.

 

yeah i will grant you there are more oil related failures with the Rx8 than the Rx7, but the average Rx8 seems to have gone 80-100k miles without really getting any maintenance at all, so i think you can say 5w-20 is ok.

 

Not to mention the bearing tolerances are smaller on an rx8 to accommodate the 5w-20, but lets face it, 5w-20 is more for fuel savings than it is wear protection.

 

no, i hear you. i seem to go back and forth on it myself, though i think i spend more time being skeptical. but you're right, a lot of the engines that make it that far, do so without good or even decent maintenance while using the recommended weight.

for the record, i was only being partially serious. i made my comment mainly because i just found your reply funny. it was more me sharing "the joke" than anything else.

 

If I wanted to look into this what would I start with? Oil pressure realtor and oil cooler? What about the screen filter in the oil pan. Could that get cloged?

 

start by checking to see if the gauge is correct, then the sender, and then if you need to, get dirty

 

I replaced the gauge, sender, and the oil filter. If anything it went up. I want to check in to seeing how to check with a non-electrical gauge. After that whats next?