rxzero

I am 17 right now. I currently drive an impotent 89 240hb. I dont have the money, the resources, or the knowledge to do an sr swap. Ive been looking to the T2 for power. Anyway, Ive read around and it seems people have doubts about youngins owning a beast like T2, heh, so to speak.

One was the cost factor issue. Anyway, what I wanted to know was, what could go wrong with the T2, that wouldnt in a base? I font have much, or at all, messing with rotaries but Im quite willing to put my own wrench time. Hell I probably know a bit more thing or two about the rotary than my local mechanic will. Anyway, can anyone list the problems that can go wrong with T2, and two, if they are fixable?.. and dont tell me it cant be done. I probably have the money for parts. I just dont wanna pay someone else to touch my car.

Six Rotors

iTrader: (17)

Look I don't wish to be rude,but if you can't afford to modify your 240 you definitely can't afford to get involved with a TII and having a set of wrenches will not help unless you take the time to develope the special knowledge and skills required to fix em.All you have to do is read the last 50 pages of posts on this forum to realise what can go wrong.

rxzero

Well the reason I wont get into fixing my 240 is because im not entirely sure the payoff would be equal to or greater, or even worst, than what i would put into it. People Ive known who fixed up their 240 wit just an sr runs only a bit faster than stock T2. They havent done anything to their car because they just fixed it up. Not that 13-14s is bad or anything, hell Id be happy to get those times, but I just wanted to try something new. I have some cash stashed for my car, but Im not entirely sure If i wanted to spend it on it. I can probably get an sr motor, but dropping it in is the bitch part. But seriously, if the T2 has that much wrong with it, and people still stick to theirs, mustnt be that bad.

Erik

well, its not necessarily that there's more stuff to go wrong on a turbo model...but lets face it...these cars are OVER TEN YEARS OLD! so there's bound to just be mechanical failures and electrical bugs. like for instance i've had my n/a for almost 3 years now. i've never had one single problem with it. runs perfect...awesome compression. the only thing i replaced was the O2 sensor. starts up every time...never floods.

i bought a T2 in september and on the WAY HOME it turned to ****. well, kinda. it needed a new TPS...but in the meantime it ran like ****. after i put a new one in, it runs like gold.

......sooooo, in conclusion, it just depends on your luck

the world of RX-7's : "what appears to be really isn't, and what isn't really is......"

rxzero

Heh.. Luck, thats what I was thinking. I did read on about the other guy who wanted to trade his na for tii, but all I got from that was, get it if you can afford it, otherwise, dont get it, which didnt register to me at all. They talk about problems, have no idea what those are, so I just wanted to expand my knowledge on what could go wrong, and what to do about them, should they come up. And also what the cost factors are. Not just simply, if you can afford, get one, if you cant, no.

dcamcoTII

You just have to be able to monitor your boost religiously or else you will pop your engine. Like me . You just have to be able to temporarily sacrifice instant speed for some engine saftey. And a fuel pump alone is not a solution. Just keep in mind that there is alot more to it than just making it faster and more powerful.

dcamcoTII

Only problems I have had other than the bad seal was related to clutch hydrolics which is irrellevant to the aspiration. From my personal experience this car has been dependable, and very simple to work on. That is mainly a result of this forum. This thing is a goldmine of information and support! If you can think it, then chances are that it is up here somewhere. My AIM handle is dcamco0 IM me if you have any questions about anything.

akageals

Working on them is not that hard. I'd also agree with the age factor though....they are getting old. I drive my TII daily....250 K miles on the chassis...75K on the engine...it runs great. I spent alot of time replacing gaskets, injectors, TID, removing emissions etc. . If I did not have alot of money I wouldn't try to start with the mods. . It's fast with just removing the cats and you won't have to worry about engines blowing up....just wearing out.

Todd

jspecracer7

I'm not too sure about the stock SR's being a "little" faster. I've got a buddy with a black top SR20 with intake and exhaust(that's it) and before I boosted up my FC, he ALWAYS handed me my @$$.

However, as soon as I turned boost up and tuned my fuel with an s-afc, it ran fine, and I could keep up with him or beat him occasionally, depending upon launch.

As far as problems go, I had a lot of cooling problems, such as heater hoses busting and I always seemed to have a small exhaust leak no matter how hard I tried tightening bolts down(both with my n/a and my TII).

With my FD, it seems I'm putting in the same amount of wrench time in(change tranny's now), so with Rotary's...the wrench time never ends

vaughnc

Since I have a TII and a NA convertible, guess I can provide some insight

The TIIs can be just a reliable as any used sports car, you just have to take care of them.

In the OEM form just be sure to change the oil every 2500rpms, run synth in the trans & rear diff, and change the plugs every 18-22K miles.

DON'T run the TII with the OEM catalytic converter past 60-80K miles. I'd immediatly add a downpipe to bypass the main cat and install a single performance cat. This helps the engine breath better & prevents carbon buildup within.

If your modding, YOU MUST INSTALL GUAGUES to monitor the vitals. Boost creep is the #1 killer of the rotary engine, and that only happens when you bypass the OEM safeguards (to make more HP). Adding a perf exhaust/cat/downpipe and perf intake/cold air box will cause 1.5-3PSI worth of boost creep, so you need monitor it & port the waistgate if needed.

If you're making MASSIVE HP (240-1000RWHP), then you definitly need to have an aftermarket ECU & all the safeguards.

Other than this if you ever smell gas pull the car over check for a fuel leak. The pulsation "thingy" (forgot the name) can leak and if you don't correct it will eventually spray fuel into the engine compartment.

Just look for a TII with "new egine", "rebuilt engine", or "low engine miles" in the add so you'll know your not buying a blown engine TII

That's it. Everything else is easily fixable and well documented like air intake leaks, electrical bugs, etc..

The Turbo II is one of the cheapest supercars / production race cars you'll find with exceptional grip, massive RELIABLE HP potential, and a TONS of aftermarket upgrades, bodykits, accessories, and userbases.

RETed

Did that whole 240SX versus FC thread get archived?

It looks like both cars have a performance plateau right around 300hp and 13-second 1/4-mile times.&nbsp Both vehicles would require larger turbos and FMIC's to push speeds any further - which means BIG BUCKS.

The early FC turbos are already pushing 15 years.&nbsp With any car of that age, maintenance is a big issue, and most PO's (previous owners) are not up-front with past histories, either intentional or not.

My personal recommendations...
1)I'd be wary of any engine pushing 100k+ miles.&nbsp I've seen apex seals out of "high mileage" 13BT engines, and they are wearing past the Mazda spec limit.&nbsp What does this mean to you?&nbsp Any boost (no pun intended) in engine power output will put a lot of stress on these thinned apex seals - a rebuild with new seals is highly recommended if you're planning to hit 300hp or more.&nbsp A lot of people will argue that these engines will run up to 150k-200k miles with no problem - they are partially right...
2) Clutch and brake hydraulics are very suspect on the cars.&nbsp It is HIGHLY recommended to replace ALL (i.e. brake master cylinder, clutch master cylinder, clutch slave cylinder, clutch flex hose) on these vehicles if you can't confirm they were all replaced recently.
3) I'd recommend having at LEAST $1,000 in your bank account to cover any and all costs of replacement items that will break.&nbsp Original radiators should be replaced by now.&nbsp Brake calipers tend to freeze and fail.&nbsp "Wear&tear" items like brake pads and clutches might need to be replaced.&nbsp Original suspension items like shocks and springs might be leaking/sagging - in any case, upgrade aftermarket units would make the car drive "like new"...

This doesn't even cover any upgrades you might be planning!



-Ted

Cap'nWankel

On a similar note... how much 'reliable' power would one be able to push through a '88 Turbo II with the factory turbo. I am picking one up this spring. It is all original with 34K miles. Absolutly the most beautiful FC I've ever seen, in fact, I was planning on just saving twice as much and getting an FD, but I just couldn't pass this one up. The guy is definitly an enthusiest, and maintains all five of his very respectable cars, so I feel safe saying there is currently nothing at all to worry about maintainance-wise.

vaughnc

YOu use your brakes Reted ??

RETed

I've been running mines at the 250hp flywheel level for a few years now.&nbsp We're talking 12-13psi of boost on a full 3" exhaust set-up.&nbsp Backed up with a Walbro 255lph fuel pump, it'll run like this all day and night.


-Ted

RETed

You ever seen InitialD?


-Ted

vaughnc

Cap'nWankel,

Lucky bastad'. I almost bough a 91 mica blue TII maintained by an enthusiest, but he sold it before I could fly to New Jersey

The TII's turbo is good to 12PSI - so probably 300-320rwHP I'd assume.

At those HP & fuel requirements you'd be running slightly rich at higher RPMS with the OEM turbo I've heard.

RETed

I'd be SUPER happy if it could hit that kinda power!
Realistically, it can only hit about 230hp at the rear wheels, no matter if it's a 1986-1988 Zenki or 1989-1991 Kouki FC.&nbsp This is at it's boost limit of 14psi, if you're bold enough to hold it that high before it pukes it's oil seals!



-Ted

BhamBill

You know, I've seen a lot of guys on here that REALLY maintain their cars well but you've got to take the cake with an oil change every 2500 rpms. That's the best typo I've seen in a while.

Cap'nWankel

I had an '87 Turbo II w/ racing beat dp, pre-silencer, and 2 3/4" straight back through a (tenzo ) muffler (all i could get THAT DAY). pettit bracket for cone filter, and some FD rims. It was such a fun car, but the chassis had 298K on it, and with that comes broken wires, soft frame rails, etc... (all of which i experienced on a regular basis). It was my baby though, and looked great for the milage (picture linked below). I was also thinking about a spearco FM. What would that do for power? Or would it be just reliability? Thanks.

http://www.rx7wi.org/images/members/m_bregar/bregar.jpg

Cap'nWankel

ok ... that was supposed to be a puke for tenzo!

Erik

that didn't happen to be Gladwyn Lopez's T2 was it???

vaughnc

Erik,

He's the refigeration engineer dude.

Erik

it wasn't this one was it?

http://www.filebox.vt.edu/users/eklemm/Gladwyn.jpg

i'd kick his *** if he sold it!

Cap'nWankel

Can we get some pics of the other one too? I'm picking up a black TII, and those are such motivation to get my money in order and speed the process!!! Miss my last one so much!

TonyTurboII

Black TII. Not the best, but hey its work in progress.