Luv_Piece

Let me tell you about the story of my fc...

I got the car about 2 months ago a 87 sport, and decided to do some preventitive maintanance. First I decided it would be good to change out the PD and get the injectors flow tested and cleaned. All was well everything was going smoothly untill I rested my hand on the neck inlet of the radiator and caused a pinhole leak. Just my luck I thought, as the radiator was old anyways..not a problem get that changed out and replaced with a newer unit.

After driving for a week I noticed that the car would not get into operating temp. I figured that maybe the old radiator was masking the t-stat and sure enough t-stat bad, change that out. In the process of getting to the t-stat, the water pump housing cracks as I was taking the neck off?!?!?! WTF I found it odd because I didn't even get to the second bolt and the neck just came right off along with a chunk of the housing, sandwiching the t-stat and gasket together.

Does the FC have some sort of curse? I've never seen a 2nd gen work properly and I've owned 2. Out of all the other cars I've ever owned none of them were as problematic or "fragile" as the FC's i've owned.

I'm almost scared to install my DTSS eliminators, I don't want the tranny or diff to blow up on me suddenly.

SuphaG

iTrader: (10)

Naw, I don't think the car has a curse. Instead, I believe it could just be because of old age. These cars are all 14 - 19 years of age. Like anything that gets old, it gets more fragile.

Apathy

I feel the same way sometimes... But dont give up...

kontakt

Don't let them lie to you... we all know about the curse, we just don't like to talk about it

Mr. Gadget

Hell I am form Chicago, I can tell you first hand about curses

GO Cubs

Its really just an old car that needs attention.

Icemark

No, the cars were much better than average in quality and reliability when new.

But any car that is +10 years old will have problems. What did you think Luv that you had an 18 year old car that never needed any work???

NOPR

i feel like my car is cursed right around now (or atleast my brake system). at this point i've located and repaired a problem on just about every part of the brake system. I found a leak, new lines, didnt fix the problem. okay, ill just go get a new master cylinder since i cant build pressure..... no! still focked! okay i have a reman brake booster to go with my reman master cylinder that i just replaced (from the same company mind you). Oh, sweet ive got the whole brake booster installed after four hours of work! great! let me just slide the master cylinder onto it... WHAT THE **** IT DOESNT FIT! *kills self*. this is where i am right now and i am going to dropkick whatever dipshit 'remanned' this janky peice of poo. ive driven this car three times, ever, and i can already tell you its cursed.

cluosborne

Considering the age of these cars and miles racked up on 'em, it's pretty good. But age and general wear-and-tear does lead to component failure, and neglect doesn't help matters either.

I've heard of snapped bolts on the thermostat neck, but chunks breaking off? Esh, that's unusual.

Slightly off-topic, but what brand master cylinder did you use? Either OEM or the Tokico (which supplies OEMs) units are best. Also, did you completely bleed the brakes? Use proper a proper 10mm flare nut wrench to loosen and tighten the fittings? Don't forget on the rear calipers there are TWO bleeder screws and both need to be bled (I think it's upper then lower).

jhammons01

That's the same story from the early late 70s early 80s when I was fixing up 60s models Chevy's. Then the same story from the late 80s early 90s as I moved to Bugs and Porsches.

NOPR

it was a company called cardone, and the master cylinder is fine and. The problem was the old brake booster had an air leak so i couldnt even bleed the brakes with the new master cylinder. I bought and installed a new brake booster and the master cylinder wont fit over the new brake booster studs, because they are crooked, so i am going to have to get a new one probably or see if i cant bend these ones or modify the amster cylinder to fit. as far as there being two bleeder screws, is this true for single piston calipers as well?

JamesBong

Ya, I was just getting ready to install DTSS eliminators, along with the all the other bushings. Then the front diff mount breaks. The one thing I didn't have a replacement for. Couldn't drive my Sport for a week while waiting for one.

SoontobeLS1'd

the studs for the bac valve just snapped off like clay with me...creating a crapload of problems later on. i know exactly how you feel.

staticguitar313

iTrader: (2)

so far for me its been brittle interior parts, and my right muffler falling off. i'm not worried about the engine, i'm berely breaking 33,000

therotaryrocket

the brake bleeder screws are actually 8mm except for the ABS hydraulic unit being 10mm, and if i could find my freaking haynes manual....im pretty sure it says only one of those bleeder screws on the rear calipers are used to bleed the brakes unless you replace the caliper or remove the piston or something like that. I have more of a problem with not getting stuff removed as opposed to breaking stuff, then again im not a body builder.

myexlex

lol.... dont mean to make fun of you, but it is kinda funy. Anyways thanks god the japs moved up with interior quality. Cus I would say the worst parts on these cars are elec. and interior components. Other than that, its all gravy.

owen is fat

well most of you guys seem to call it ''the soul of the car'' and there are a small number of us who have ''remedied'' the problem.... come into the other engine forum and join us, lol.

myexlex

The motor is not the problem. The day I want a v8, Ill buy the whole damn car.

hondahater

iTrader: (2)

lol, yeah the engine has so far (knock on wood) been a damn good engine even though beat on by three crazy racer tuners that wanted this thing to be a fast ****, so you can emagine what they did with this engine. I find that it is more just because of age and parts getting dirty and brittle. I swapped center consols with the s5 and don't have a problem with that any more. The soul of the car has actually been the one thing I haven't touched yet

Icemark

Yeah, even the Turbo rotary motors lasts longer than any V8 I have seen...

so I think you missed the boat if you think that is a issue.

The real issue is the age. I don't get how someone can buy a 15 year old car, and not replace things like the master cyl, or brake lines, or hoses, or bushings/rubber.

These things all wear out or age apart. What people should do is be proactive. Replace the hoses this month (weither you think they are gonna blow out or not), next month replace the master cyls (brake and clutch) again weither they have failed or not. Maybe you are on a budget, and can't afford that right now. Okay then get in there and clean out all the bulb sockets and lights, so that the headlight switch does not burn out next month.

Being proactive and replacing things just because they are old, will help prevent that un-expected break down or sudden wallet draw.

But if you buy a 10+ year old car (or 5 year old domestic V8 powered car ) you should expect to buy replacement parts. This is your monthy payment to the car gods.

jhammons01

old stuff gets dry rotted and cracks.......that is the bad thing about plastic/rubber.

Mr. Gadget

AMEN!

Every rx7 I have owned took less in repair or upkeep tha almost every domestic crate. As an example, My daughter has a Grand Am now (I reposessed the vert as she liked to get too close to curbs.) that **** box has a quad 4. I dare anyone to challange the reliability of a quad 4 to a rotary. hell every model year had a different head configuration.

Son had a v 8 mustang. Dont get me going on that crate either. Anyone own a fox chassis ford....

NOPR

i didnt have a chance to be proactive, ive driven my fc three times! ever! plus the guy i bought it from fed me so much bullshit about everything he was fixing and i come to find that almost nothing has been replaced any time in the past ten years.

1990RXHeaven

Well iim not going to read all the posts but all i have to say is that with all the problems ive had, i wouldn't give up on it for anything. Thats how ive learned as much as i have fixing it. What fun would these cars be if there wasnt something that needed to be done to them all the time. I love mine cuz no matter how much i fix it up, itll prolly never be done. PROBLEM FREE = NEW CAR = MORE MONEY THAN I GOT anyway

ironpanther

speaking from experience the only problem free vehicle I have ever encountered is the carbed 22r 4 cylinder toyota four wheel drive pickup. No new car is problem free as much as has a warranty to protect your drained pocket book. Honestly though my FC is about to go under the knife for a complete interior wiring cold solder hunt project. At 153 thousand miles it may also pickup a new lower mileage engine in a month or so. My toyota on the other hand. 7000 miles between oil changes, 271 thousand miles on the completely original engine and drivetrain. It is just now getting a new transmission that will last another 250 or 300 thousand miles. Showing the kind of body rust now that I see on alot of FCs that have half the miles and this thing is regularly used off road.

Honestly I don't think there is an FC curse as much as the car wasn't designed for simple long term reliability as much as it was designed to perform with an exotic powerplant.

Everlastingboost

well ive had some horror storys but mainly they where user error. First the engine blew like a week after i bought it. It had 190k though. The previous owner raced the poop out of it so thats to be expected. The entire wiring harness had to be replaced from interior all the way to the front lol, i crossed the power,ground on the starter good times there. My brakes have been great. Ive had 2 shocks blow on me, other than that its been solid as a rock. I love the rx7 hey if you want to talk about a cursed car, can you say DSM lol boooooooooooooo hisssssssssssssssss. I've had 2 of them and omg are those built by drunken cross-eyed midgets or what lol. Chrysler build quality ownz joo.