lifespan of 3rd gen rotary engine
 

hi, i am planning to purchase a 3rd gen rx-7 in the near future. but i was wondering if there rotary engines can handle alot of mileage and are they reliable or not? i heard someone say that you can expect an engine rebuild every 50,000 miles, is this true? your help is greatly appreciated.

jeff

A 13B engine run hard its entire life will last about 60000 miles and one that has been taken care of will last 100000. 3rd. gen. RX-7's are just as reliable as any other car if you do some reliability mods....http://www.rx7turboturbo.com/robrobinette/....and don't run the thing like crazy. Give it the care it deserves and always get maintenance done when needed. Always expect to have extra money around too for repairs if necessary, unless you plan to do everything yourself. This type of car requires lots of love, so read Rob's site and his info. will help you out a lot.

By the way, if you ever have to look into getting a new engine or get one rebuilt, never get a Mazda reman. engine! The parts they use are not exactly "new" and you would be much better off spending less money and having a skilled rotary mechanic fix your engine up.

alright thanks for the help, and i am chexcking out that sitre right now...it looks like it should cover my questions. thanks

Also, my fd is proof that a rotary engine can last awhile. I now have 93k on the original engine and it still pulls hard. Of course I'm looking into a rebuild now for peace of mind. :blue:

I have over 99,000 miles on a stock. I have talked with a couple of floks with nearly 150,000.

I hve 88K on mine and is still the fastest car I've ever been in

I used to be a Mazda Service manager and from what I have seen, it's all how a motor is maintained. I've seen a couple of 3rd. gens go past 100k cause there owners took good care of they're cars and maintained them properly.

Rix7,
why do you think it's time for a rebuild. How do you know when you should rebuild your engine? I think for an engine to last 100k is too little. Why do you think these engines don't last very long? I know people with over 200k on their engines why should a rotary last any less?
P.S. I'm not trying to start an argument, I'm just curious.

cuz rotaries just dont last as long as piston engines!!
period.

i'm sure someone will answer with techy answer
explaining exactly why, but the bottom line is
that they are a different type of engine, and are more fragile.

But they are way smaller, while still putting out a good amount
of power.

Plus there were some flaws with the design(like the pre-cat)
that served to F- up the engine even more

and the engines are turbo charged,
it there were no turbo's, i bet these engines could
make it to 200k miles easily, very easily,

course you'd be driving really slow for those 200k miles also!! heh

The reason the 13B-REWs don't last so terribly long have little to do with the fact that is a rotary but quite a lot to do with the turbo system.

I bet you quite a lot of money that the new RENESIS engines will last to 200k miles at least.

It also depends on how the person before you treated it. I bought my '94 3.5 years ago with 18k miles on the clock. I religiously changed the oil every 2500 miles and changed the plugs & fuel filter around every 12k. I've had a downpipe, RB catback, M2 airbox, upgraded ECU, IC, Cosmo fuel pump, etc. for over 20k so the car should have been running fairly cool, right? Well I just got my car back from Rotorsports Racing who had to rebuild my engine because I had an o-ring fail (in the front housing too!). Well now I have a Fluidyne radiator and Crooked Willow dual oil coolers to boot so it better be running cooler.

In a nutshell though, don't be surprised if the engine lets go. There is a VERY high probability it could happen. Your best bet is to buy an RX-7 with a blown engine or one with a ton of miles and just get the engine rebuilt right away. In the end, it could be cheaper.

And Defbringer is right about the heat from the turbos. Look at NA rotaries, they last 150k miles no sweat and some make it to 200k. Damn heat.

Picked up my car @ 88K my mechanic and I suspect that it is the original engine. Anyhow, it's got 110K on the clock and shows *no* signs of an approaching death... Coolant seals are perfect, daily operation is great.

Oh and it's a 13B_REW.

117k miles original engine and still going :D