2nd Generation Specific (1986-1992) 1986-1992 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections.

Should i buy this car.?

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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 01:40 PM
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Should i buy this car.?

http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/cto/1009119956.html

This is by far not my first rotary keep that in mind. Called the guy this is the story on it.
He bought it for his kid, his friend rebuilt the motor (supposivly he knows rotarys, and i got his number to drill em)
They put the motor in ect. When he bought the car the car didnt have the ecu installed but it was in the car. They installed it. The car runs and drives. when its cold it starts no problem, when it warms up to operating temperature he says thats when the car wont start. ? So for 1200 bucks if this is a simple fix im gonna go ****** it up. But not starting when its warm? Thats a new one to me. Ideas?
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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 01:49 PM
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ask for receipts if he has them for rebuild parts or any kind of documentation proving a rebuild, unless his buddy works at a shop I would be skeptical about the situation.
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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 02:09 PM
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Hot start issues can be a problem on fresh rebuilds - for a couple of reasons.

See this thread:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ght=warm+start

That should give you a little insight.
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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 02:43 PM
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From: Tekisasu
doesnt the gxl usually have the rear wiper?

anywho, yea seems like a good deal.

i'd get it!
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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 03:21 PM
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its "by far not my first rotary keep that in mind" but you've never heard of a hot start issue? there are a number of reasons this could be happening...low compression, leaky injectors...
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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 04:29 PM
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I would say that's a decent deal, but hot start problems can be bad. but most of the time they are easy fixes (if you know what you are doing) . If the owner will let you i would check the compression before you make a decision.
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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 04:30 PM
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Go look at it, see if its what you want, and that it is indeed in the condition listed. If so i would say go for it.

Make sure you check out the issue, and verify what it will need.
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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 04:38 PM
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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 04:55 PM
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Yes you should buy
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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 07:30 PM
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thanks for the tips guys.
87-t66 yea dude ive had 6 of these cars now and have plenty of time under the hood of these cars, but i have yet to deal with any hot start issues. I dont see why that is a problem im sure there are guys that have had rotarys for 10 years and are still learning more to this day. anyways.

I went to look at the car. besides the front bumper not being a s4 purple bumper because they cracked the stock blue one taking it off a tow truck when the got it, this is what i noticed.
Straight body, good paint, no rear wiper, the sport suspension, manual windows???? Im gonna check the icemark thread on this one but im pretty sure from my other gxl's that they came with teh extra goodies and power windows ect. Dirty interior but might be able to clean it up. the guy has 20 rx-7's in his yard and has owned and worked on em for 10+ years. That was a little relieving. Most of these cars were rebuilt by him too, also relieving. He doesnt know the value of the cars though thats for sure, he picks them up cheap and then rebuilds them drives em for a while and will sell them when he needs the cash but im talking like selling a rebuild na fc for like 1200 bucks. He buys his parts from atkins, i saw receipts, they are local to us. Heres the important stuff.
Started up the car and started just fine, idles high. I asked him about it and he said he had to turn up the idle to keep it from dying. hmmm ok. This motor was built all new seals and 3mm apex. Car ran on its own for a while it was cold of course the idle is going to be a little high till warmed up. it ran for about 10-15 mins while i talked/bullshited ect. then just randomly died, he said that was the second time that has happened. I belive this guy is an honest guy, i was at his place a lil over an hour just talking and he seemed like a good honest guy. So ill take his word for it. Motor definetly looked like it had been gone through in the past few months. He rebuilt it about august, for his kid to drive but ended up buying him a 318 instead. Since he rebuilt it and slapped it together its had this hot start issue, the motor he estimates to have 500 miles or less on it, he doesnt want to drive it until hes figured out how to fix it, just to be on the safe side. I remember reading in some rebuild threads that fresh rebuilds have a hard time starting ect. Im going to re research it all right after this post. So the car rand for avbout 10-15 mins and then just died. he tried to start it again and it seemed like it was turning slow.?? hmm battery/old starter maybe? well we let it sit for a while to cool down then started it up and test drove it.
Shifts fine, good clutch. Power seatbelt was stuck in the front position. sunroof worked great. Seemed to drive fine, other than what could be my imaginination in driving someone elses car but seemed to accel a little slower than my own rebuilt s5. For 1200 bucks a running driving s5 rx-7. still seems like a deal but im might throw up a 800 dollar offer just for my own securities sake.
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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 09:51 PM
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hmm rear window wiper and power windows are supposed to be on this year gxl
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Old Jan 27, 2009 | 10:13 PM
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made a call to em and offered a 800, we settled for a grand. Gonna go to dmv tommaro and make sure its clean title and thats in fact a gxl even though i think its a gtu.
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Old Jan 28, 2009 | 04:19 AM
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any one else got some input before i pay for this thing?
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Old Jan 29, 2009 | 09:56 PM
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So went back to pick up the car today. Did alot of research on hot starting/problems with fresh rebuilds ect. Went to dmv with teh guy to check the title out and make sure it was clean. Eventually after picking through the whole car a second time, i paid the guy for it. Drove it out of his driveway to the paved road and KEEER plunk. car dies and would not start. Hmmmm i thought, havent heard of hot starting problems while the car is running. So started adding up the new expenses the car would have costed me above what i was expecting to pay, expired tabs, a dent in the door i somehow managed to miss the first time. Called the guy and told him hey , your car didnt make it out of the drive way. So then i started thinking twice about buying this car. He came out and we push started it, GREAT no gas. had to go fill up with the car running in fear of it stalling out on me . got on the freeway to head home. This was the first time i drove this car in excess of 40 mph. The test drive was on windy back roads not freeway speeds. So i get on the freeway, not very much excel. I get to 4th gear car sits at 3800 rpm at 60 mph, shift to 5th and car feels like its going to fall on its face, so back to 4th gear, i get it more gas, hardly any response, more gas barely a response. I couldnt believe how gutlass it was. Re thinking in my head. WTF is goin on with this car, Look at the oil pressure guage. 3800rpm. 40p. I know from all my other s5's it should be sitting at 60ish. Hmmm weird. I pull over at the first exit and call the guy, Told him after taking his car on the freeway im not comfortable buying this car. Getting back to his house was another adventure itself. This once cool guy , seemed like he wanted to exchange blows. Good thing i had a freind with me.
My thoughts.
-Why did he turn idle up , it sat a 2k at idle. WAY UP there
-Why is car dying at a 2k idle
-why is motor slow to turn when starting both on cold and hot start
-Smells like burning oil.
-why no accel or power at such high rpm.
Only thing i can think of - low compression. Must have been a rebuild gone wrong or something, and he was trying to cover it up or something, Just glad i got my money back.
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Old Jan 29, 2009 | 10:20 PM
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I was wrong. You shouldn't buy this car.

Now I'm right!
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Old Jan 29, 2009 | 10:42 PM
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woa crazy, good thing you got the money back and realized a bad investment
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Old Jan 29, 2009 | 11:18 PM
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yea if i didnt i might have gone apeshit myself. Also the receipts he was supposed to get for me from atkins, he didnt get, he said they were on the way so i was iffy about that situation too. Its not like i went out there to joyride his rx-7 lol, i drove mine out there too. Had cash in hand, was ready to buy, he really had no reason to be pissed.
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Old Jan 29, 2009 | 11:55 PM
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ah thats unfortunate that happened. keep looking though!
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Old Jan 30, 2009 | 01:02 AM
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Thats crazy! Hey looks like we both had bad experiences today looking at cars. You will see my post in NW section under our discussion. Im glad everything worked out in the end for you
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Old Jan 30, 2009 | 03:01 AM
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hey did that guy live in some farm place with lots of dogs and lots of FC's and lives in a trailer behind his moms house?
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Old Jan 30, 2009 | 10:14 AM
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That would be him. Sounds like you know him
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Old Jan 30, 2009 | 10:00 PM
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I got mine for $400, works ok, I guess its the luck of the draw.
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Old Jan 30, 2009 | 11:06 PM
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3mm apex seals means he put some money into those rotors or used 1st gen rotors. usually when people go 3mm on a n/a it means the housings are pretty worn.

who knows, I sold a kid my FC with 70K on the j-spec and he advertised it as 10k on the rebuild.
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Old Jan 30, 2009 | 11:16 PM
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Originally Posted by meximan
That would be him. Sounds like you know him
that f*cking bastard!! haha that guy sold a gtu to a friend of mine with blown coolant seals! at the time I didnt realize it because the car was already warmed up when we got there. and for us to drive back another day to view wouldn't work because I live in lynnwood and yeah. plus he tried to cover it up by switching the filler neck on the rad with the one that goes to the engine so I didnt notice the reservoir fill up fell bad for my friend since that was his first 7 and he said he'll never buy one again lol....but he got the car for $500 so its still not bad considering the interior is really clean, BUT TO EVERYONE ELSE WATCH OUT FOR THAT SELLER!!!!!!!!!
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Old Jan 31, 2009 | 02:18 AM
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that sucks
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