I just recently bought a 1987 RX-7 GXL ,non-turbo, sort of cringingly. I love these cars but I a number of people I know that also have bought rx-7's have blow the engines (apex seals) on them within a couple months. Generally the feeling I've been getting is that those rotary engine just have problems. Is there anything I can do to prevent such a problem, or am I just paranoid?

 

your paranoid. ive had my gxl for a good 8 months and i havent had a single problem. its like a pet. treat it good and give it what it needs. im sure theres many on this forum that have had their car for years with no problems.

 

Yeah, they do have problems if you dont take care of them. How many miles are on yours?

 

Read the FAQ, especially the buyer's guide links. Do a compression test and a tune-up. Taken care of properly, there's no reason a rotary engine can't last to 200k miles.

 

Oh i almost forgot, welcome to the club!

But yeah, change the oil, all that good stuff, and it'll be a great car. Check out the FAQs too, you can learn a lot there

 

the car has had two previous owners, both ladies who babied it and never winter drove it. It has 114,000 kms (yeah I'm from Canada) so like 71,000 ish miles.

 

damn man that car should last you forever then. Dont use sythetic oil.

 

Royal Purple is a good synth =)

but yeah, Definatly these cars can last along time. Just treat it how you want to be treated, and that's exactly what you will get out of it =)

 

If your paranoid and dont wanna spend money then dont get a 7....all it comes down to is MONEY$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

The ones that pop in a couple of months are generally the turbos with mods. Not all of em, but you can't trust anything but a compression test. I'd check and see if the little lines coming from the OMP aren't missing or broken, those inject oil into the motor to lubricate the apex seals, if anyone was screwing around in that area they are brittle and break insanely easy at this age.

I've daily driven my gxl for almost 7 years, very reliable and fun in my opinion. I've had it since i was 17 and drove it hard, i have like 135,000 miles on my motor, most of that was by me. Just take care of it and you should be grand with that low of miles. Count on spending some money on maintenance at this age though. Make sure you dont let anything vital fail like the radiator, oil cooler, omp.

 

Uh..............................why? Don't give out false information, especially when there is proof it back up that it is indeed FALSE.

 

Ive had my seven for seven years before the engine went and I did nothing to it. I put a new motor in it and now I can't stop messing with it...**** I need a fix...addicted to the smell of no emmisions.

 

Rotaries tend to require more special care in upkeep such as not going over oil change dates. That's the main reason that the engines blow early. But, if it was taken care of properly, then the engine should be solid. Do a compression test and that will give you pretty good information about engine condition.

I'm not going to lie and say the engine couldn't pop tomorrow, but I wouldn't expect it to. I had a 1998 Ford Taurus engine die at 97k, my 7 engine got rebuilt at 120k but I could of waited (I had the money and it's a daily driver).

As a side note, the cars themselves (body, suspension, interior, etc.) are solid. Keep in mind that your car is 19 years old. Expect non-engine stuff to break or need replacing and budget it in.

For the love of god, lets not get into this. Just let it go everybody, we don't need to turn this into ANOTHER synthetic oil discussion/bitch-fest.

 

A compression test will only tell you so much. You could have great compression and pop an apex tomorrow. It will tell you the wear on the engine though.

Overheating is the nemesis to rotaries. That is why the oil is so crucial. It is used for cooling much more than a piston engine.

A lot of the engines you hear about blowing come from the following:
Turbo engines with lots of mods and the owner not understanding detonation
Overheating for various reasons
Letting a rotary engine sit for a period of time without starting

 

Ok sorry im just going by what most people say. I'll keep my mouth shut from now on.