Last night I read all of www.rotaryenginesillustrated.com and I just had some questions.

What can I do to a rotary engine in a 2nd gen 86 N/A to make it more efficient? I mean, I don't care about horse power, I just want to make sure the engine will last a long time and that everything will be working fine. Is there a way to make sure everything stays clean inside? Also, is there any small parts that you can buy for the rotary engine that make things work smoother or something? Thanks

 

If it's N/A, don't drive it like a granny, redline it once per trip. Let it warm up properly, tap the gas pedal at startup to kill the 3000 rpm warmup sequence. Change your oil every 2.5k - 3k. Keep your coolant clean so it won't eat up everything. And uhh... yea that's about it, no way to make it more fuel efficient though, that has to due with the overlapping port timing and the combustion chamber's shape.

 

A redline a day keeps the mechanic away.

... like xiaomingming50 said


Rotaries need kind of a tough love. Baby and pamper it in every NON-DRIVING way. That means do tune ups, oil changes, radiator flushes, etc... And then drive it hard. Dont redline EVERYTIME you accelerate, just once per trip. Keep it above 4000RPMs frequently to keep the 6-ports open. NEVER bog out the engine, you can shift at 3500 RPMs normally for good comprimise between fuel efficency and power and it'll be good. and by no means EVER use 5th gear below 60mph

The reason for this is that the internal engine parts spin at 1/3 the flywheel speed. So when you are redlining it up at 8k you're only spinning the rotors at 2666RPMs. At 3k your only doing 1k. Needless to say, carbon builds fast with such slow engine speeds.. carbon leads to seal failure, therefore HAVE FUN WITH IT!!

PS - NEVER EVER overheat a rotary, EVER. Get a temp guage and make sure it always stays below 200*F.

 

Here's the correct link (not typoed )

http://www.rotaryengineillustrated.com

 

What do you mean by BOG OUT? Is that like being in 4th at 1200 rpm? I tend to do that sometimes...bad thing?

 

I have a question. I have an N/A and i usually dont shift into 5th until im going 50... not 60. Maybe its because u have a turbo.....

 

He means bog as in low speed, high gear.

Think about it, at higher rpms, less of your combustion is used to move the car, because there's more combustions per unit time. Meaning that there's less force exerted on each apex seal/rotor by the combusting gases. At lower rpms and high gearing however, each combustion needs to try its best to keep your car moving, so there's much more stress. This goes for most cars, but definitely important for an old wankel.

 

1) Change the engine oil & filter every 3 months or 3,000 miles. See the FSM or Owner's Manual for oil weight for your area, and see the FSM for the proper oil changing procedure. Castrol GTX oil is very good in rotary engines. A Fumoto oil drain valve (F-106) will save you a lot of trouble for a minimal cost. http://www.fumotovalve.com/

2) Change the coolant every year. You can flush the system with a garden hose, but then fill it with DISTILLED water and ETHELYNE GLYCOL antifreeze (green stuff not the orange stuff). I recommend replacing the thermostat with a MAZDA brand component at about 80,000 mile intervals. See the FSM for the proper coolant mixture, and the method of changing the coolant and bleeding the radiator (most people do this incorrectly). If you have the crummy phillips-slot plugs, I recommend getting the better wing-nut type from the salvage yard or your local Mazda dealership.

3) Use synthetic oil in the differential and manual transmission, and change it every 30,000 miles. I like Red Line. http://www.redlineoil.com/whyredline.htm

Just in case you don't know, the FSM is available online at this site under How-To's/Manuals.
http://fc3s.org/