SatMax

Before anyone screams, "Read the FAQ" I did. You'll have to excuse me because I know absolutely nothing about rotary engines. I'm in the military, and even your Mazda acronyms have my mind all twisted.

Now...

Recap:
88 RX-7 GT Turbo Limited Savannah (Japan), with a 13B (I knew that much, haha) lost a lot of power all of a sudden on the road. Brought the car back home, it becomes a little difficult to start and the engine sound is now accompanied with a "clack-clack-clack" sound that increases tempo with rpms.

The next day, car was extremely difficult to start. It would start and stop while the starter was running. Leave the key in run for a minute, and try to start it, it would start up and shut off about 2 seconds later. Checked out the fuel injectors, they are pumping while key is in run. Check the in-tank fuel pump... it's not making any noise with key in run. Using my Mitsubishi Eclipse experience, I pull the pump, clean all the contacts and place it back in the tank. Start the car... car runs. Extreme amount of white smoke which dissipates after about 10 seconds, and car no longer spews smoke while it was running. I get in car, put it in gear and attempt to drive. The car sputters with accelerator input while in gear. I stop for the night.

The next day, gas was almost gone. I go to a local Japanese gas station and get a tank of high octane and bring it back home and throw it into the RX-7. I start the car, it starts immediately and produces almost no smoke, only slight traces were seen. Car idles fine, revs up fine in park. However, the clack-clack-clack that increases tempo with the revving is still there, and I have no clue as to what it is. I try to drive the car again. No power, it sputters and engine quits.

I pull the spark plugs. They almost looked like originals they were so dirty! All the plugs looked like normal wear and tear except for the top forward plug. This plug had oil on it. I checked the block to make sure no oil from the filler tube had spilled down the side but I found no evidence of that. Changed the plugs, car still acts the same.

I believe whatever this clack-clack-clack sound is, it's keeping my car from driving. This car was never taken care of before I got it... and it was free. Several people have told me about a bad apex seal (?) and said I possibly have a dead engine. If these symptoms look to be an engine rebuild I will junk the car. I guess I'm more curious as to what had happened since I used to race/build Eclipses and Talons when I lived in the states.

I forgot the mileage, I'll post it here soon.

1987RX7guy

iTrader: (3)

The engine is dead. But don't junk the car. its tooo much to just throw away.

SatMax

I'll post a pic of this car. It's pretty much garbage. If I lived in the US and had this car, I'd give it to you for nothing.

I have no experience with rotaries, and I don't have the time to learn the workings of this type of engine.

I love sports cars, mainly Japanese sports cars, and I would hate to throw away anything. But this car is ready for that junkpile in the sky.... I need to pull the plug.

Another bad thing is.... If I was good at toying with rotories, it won't do me any good because of where I live in Japan... There are junkyards all around me. Whenever I have a part go bad in my Toyota 4 Runner, I just walk down to the junkyard and pull it. Whenever I'm at the junkyards, I have NEVER seen a 1st or 2nd generation RX-7. I saw one once, and I was lucky that I was able to grab the fan shroud because THAT was the only part left on that car. There's only a few 2nd gen RX-7s in Okinawa... and I have one of them.

BTW, what is your opinion on the origin of this clack-clack-clack sound? I can get a recording of this sound and put it up for d/l if you want. I am overly curious as to what happened to this car.

Dltreezan

iTrader: (3)

thats nuts...there are three second gens in the local junk...more here than there??..thats lika having more camaros ina junkyard there then here......about the noise..sorry....dont know....

SatMax

Yeah I know! Why would local Japan junkyards NOT have RX-7s? Actually, I do see a few Camaros over here... go figure... ?

Here are some pics of the car... Those are not reflections of clouds in the hood of this car, it is slowly being returned to the elements from which it came...

Rest in peace, old RX-7... I hardly knew you and didn't *sniff* get to care for you like I have previous sports cars *sniff* You're off to a better place now...







My mistake, this is not a GT.

Icemark

sounds like a blown motor to me

pmr2000

Not so sure about more RX-7's in Japan than here-think they probably sold more here, 2nd gen was definitely designed with the U.S. in mind. They have all those mini cars due to parking and tax regulations. U.S. is definitely the biggest market for cars, BMW and Mercedes sell more cars here than in thier own country!

Icemark

Yeah, Mazda sold around 70K FCs in 86, with over 50K of them just to North America

amused

anything that could be parted out on a jpsec TII? just curious what they have compared to our TIIs

ra ra rotory

ummm why are his side moldings painted on the front and rear bumper? other than that the car looks pretty strait......

Mephis

THATS NOT JUNK, ILL TAKE IT

Mephis

www.mazdatrix.com, ask for dave lemon, he can rebuild that engine and have it shiped back. Youll need to find out a good few things 1st, its worth saving man, dont throw it away thats a muscle car of the rx-7's

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Seeing as how the original poster is in Japan, there are definitly better choices then having Mazdatrix rebuild his engine. With a rotary tuner on every corner, he'd have to be stupid to ship his engine to the other side of the world.

Dltreezan

iTrader: (3)

lol thats what i was going to say.....read the posts.....

cbrock

iTrader: (1)

J-spec FTP's...I already got some, but someone else might be interested.

hypntyz7

IF that car were here I'd buy it for $800-1000 easily, even blown up. That car doesnt look a bit bad man. Body is excellent, just needs paint. Even if it needs interior work, that car, here, with a good engine, sells for $2000-3250 all day long.

Dont say the engine is dead yet. Pull both lower plugs, remove the 2 large fuses in the engine bay fusebox closest to the engine. Have an assistant floor the throttle and crank while you place your fingers by both open plugholes. You should get one pulse of air per rotation per rotor, front-back 6 times with no skips or changes. IF you do, all your seals are intact, and you have an engine that should at least run, if all the controls are working properly. Any skips or lack of pulses spell a blown engine.

Oh, and to relate to your eclipse experiences, turbo rotaries blow apex seals easier than eclipse DOHC motors blow headgaskets, and both happen for no real reason and without direct relation to mileage.

SatMax

Yeah, it's a shame that I am in Japan.

Unfortunately, in the part of Japan that I live, there are no race shops at every corner. My car is a rare one here. If I was back home in Oklahoma, I'd have no problem giving it up to someone who knows what to do with rotaries. It's a sad story really.

Of course, if you guys came over here, you'd be disgusted. Go to a junkyard and be greated with mountains of perfectly fine Skylines, 180s and Silvias... the engines and all, just need a little body work. Someone wrecks a car here or gets a little car trouble, and they junk it. Okinawa is COVERED with junk cars from the mainland. Some people I work with actually make money selling parts on eBay and mailing them to the US.

Hypnty, I'll try your test out, sounds easy to do. Besides, if it was really blown, wouldn't it sound like crap at idle and even revving it? It sounds great at idle, it just can't handle the load when the tranny is put in gear and it dies. Then there's that damn clack clack sound... I gotta record it and put it up for download...

If I do decide to junk it, does anyone want anything off the car? Computer? injectors? It has to be small, about as big as a wheel... USPS here won't ship super heavy stuff and stuff too big. Let me know.


My e-mail is satmax@postpet9.so-net.ne.jp

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