So I bought this car a few months ago. It was a total impulse buy. I was looking for a 240 for a cheap price and couldnt find one so I decided to buy an RX7. I wanted a car but I ddint want to buy a Honda or something. I went to check this car out from a guy i found in the Recycler. He basically told me that this car was in great shape and just needed a clutch. The car looked a little rough but didnt seem too bad. So I had a cluth put in, test drove it once, and bought it for $800. The only homework I did on the car was running the VIN number and everything checked out and I bought the car. The guy did job of getting me to buy the car. The whole time I wasnt quite buying his crap but I said I would fix the minor problems of the car and get it running. He told me that it had a coolant leak in the bottom radiator hose so I planned to fix it.

The guy told me it had $3k in mods which I never believed but I knew it had a few mods but not $3k in mods.
The car has:
Momo short shifter
Momo steering wheel
Really crappy exhaust
air filter
Engine Ported(which I havent been able to verifty)
LSD(Which I havent verified either.)
Pulled the 5th/6th ports out
Drop springs(turned out to be cut stock springs)

I did a little bit of work on it.
changed oil, oil filter, fuel filter and transmission fluid.

A week later it died and has been sitting ever since. Ive been to busy with work and school so I didnt work on it. I started it up once a week to make sure it still started.
Now that school is over Im starting to work on it. Yesterday I jacked the car up to check out what was going on and I found this. It looks like oil has been leaking from somewhere but everytime I check the oil it says its full.

Here are pics of what I found.








Closer look at the gunk


Im going to go and check it out more today but Im pretty new to working on cars besides changing oil and filters so if any one can help tell me what might be wrong it would be greatly appreciated.

 

As far as i know, i believe that is your oil metering pump (it injects oil into the engine to help lubricate). My car has the same thing (not quite as much oil tho). Sorry i couldnt be more of a help, but someone on here will know. Good Luck!!!

 

Well, if the car always reads full there are 2 possibilities:

1) The car had an oil leak which was fixed but the gunk was never cleaned
2) The car has had a very slow leak for a very ver long time.

Get some simple green and a hose and wash all that crap off. Fix that coolant hose as well. Once the underside is nice and clean, park the car and put some cardboard underneath. The next day check under the car for any oil on the cardboard and if you see any trace the leak from there.

 

well you have to definately do your homework when buying a rx-7 or any other car for that matter! if the person who is selling the car is shady they can find ways to cover up problems. for example a friend of mine just bought a Turbo II off this very board and it turns out the car has a bad coolant seal. since the previous owner was claiming the car had a rebuild only 12,000 miles ago why would there be no thermostat in the car if everything is ok! things like this are done everyday so please go over used cars with a fine tooth comb! LoL!

 

If the OMP is leaky, it shouldn't be that hard of a fix. But that wouldn't cause your car to die out, as far as I know.

 

I can't see fore sure, but there should be 4 thin (fragile brittle) translucent oil lines connected to the small banjo fittings on the MOP (Metering Oil Pump).

Is one broken off?

 

well it looks to me like there is coolant leaking out everywhere too--just like you said!
get all that fixed!

A clean RX-7 is a good RX-7!

 

lol.....wowsers sounds just like when i bought mine.....i had been looking for a T2 for a reaaaaaaaaaaaaally long time, found a nice looking one on auto trader and went and looked at it. body was in great shape, interior left a little to be desired (no center console, cracked bin covers) and the engine on start up sounded good. so i drove it for about 30 minutes. right as we were getting back to the lot it started to buzz at me. i asked what it was dude said it was low on gas. sounds right to me, so i think nothing of it, end up getting him down to $2000 instead of the $2900 asking. get the title and all the good stuff. and drive off. get about 8 miles down the road at a stop light and the ****** starts to stink, smoke, overheat, then die........****......2 hours from home at 6pm with a dead car and a pissed off friend behind me.......oh and no tags, ****** took off the temp tags he had and didnt tell me. so we push it into a parking lot, call AAA for a tow to the nearest mazda dealership......50 minutes away in Greensboro. so i drop it off and put the keys in the overnight box. get a call 2 days later and guy tells me this...

my engine......toast... the centerplate developed a leak that then dripped coolant on to your exhaust, then that developed a leak. the leaking exhaust made the centerplate worse until it started to eat into the rotor housing that couldnt keep compresion. this happened a while ago, so in the time that the car sat before i bought it and it was driven last it rusted. he couldnt tell me how it even started for the test drive or even make it the 8 miles it did before it died. that much amazed him. so i asked what a new engine would cost. he said in 10 days they can have a remanufactred engine installed for $3500 to include any misc. parts and labor. thats great, because i deploy in 2 weeks and would like it back before then. nope, didnt happen, no reman. engines that he could find in the states, so he ordered one from mazdas main warehouse in japan. the engine didnt even get to the states before i left. all in all, i get back to the states in 23 days to a new engine and all sorts of goodies and am gonna talk to a JAG lawyer about lemon laws in NC. i mean the car didnt make it 10 miles when i was assured it would make it the 2 hours to my house....******.....

that was kinda long, sorry

 

But then his oil level would gradually read low...he says it reads full. Clean up the mess, then look for a possible leak. Drive the car to warm it up, come home and generously spray simple green onto the nasty areas then hose off with decent pressure. Be careful around the OMP lines, they should be hit with low pressure.

 

darkracer21 - has a small oil leak & a small coolant leak.
Some cleaning & fixing and he's on the the next problem.

bluslydr - Ouch, that a lot to spend on a car that may (will) have other problems.
Has the dealer started work?
Can you get you money back?

I'll bet some members in the NC area (check the SE forum) can point you to a shop that can put in a J-spec for <$2500.

 

leaky metering pump is

a) common
b) not expensive to fix
c) it wont keep the car from running

 

IF you felt the guy was BSing you about the mods, why would you even LOOK at the car??

 

Welcome to the world of RX-7 ownership.

When I got mine, there was the same type of sludge all over the side of the engine (near the spark plugs) and some up under the throttle body. Turned out to be the oil filler neck, an easy and cheap fix, but it had me worried there at first.

For the other things that will go wrong with your new gal, the search function is your best friend. Either that, or face the wrath of the "use the search" police

 

maybe hes not reading the level correctly.. you know that you have to wipe the dipstick THEN dip it right? otherwise itll always read full.

 

i think its time for some carburator cleaner and a pressure washer so you can actually find out exactly WHERE that oil leak is.

 

Pressure washers should not be used to clean an engine. You'll force water into spots it shouldn't go. Degreaser, such as Super Clean, works well. Spray it on, let it sit a few minutes, then attack with a stiff plastic brush. Now rinse off with a low pressure stream of water.

 

ohhkay.