Well last night I hit the big 118,000 mile mark. I've had several opportunities to have my motor rebuilt but I always turn em down. Wondering how long my motor will keep holdin on. I have no real interest in warping my housings or shredding my turbo when the motor finally does conk out on me so I'm kinda wondering when I should say enough is enough... Do I go for a mileage record or be nice to my wallet and rebuild while she still hits 150mph without sweating?

 

I think I could have made it to that amount too....see how much longer you can go....

The thing that got me was not changing my fuel filter....I was just cruising down the highway not even on boost.

 

at 118k miles your housings and turbos won't be reusable any way so who cares?

just start saving up I'm sure it's coming really soon

 

mine held untill 120k and the thing that got me was the coolant seal.

 

Hey 13Beast, is your car stock or modified. Impressive mileage though without a rebuilt considering the age of the car

 

HAHAHAHA

I am on stock (original) turbos and I am over 126,000!!!!

Then again, I have just shot myself in the foot and they will go out the next time I drive

 

If you don't mind, can you tell the story of this particular incident?

 

just drive it easy. i have a customer that had 145k before i did his motor and turbos. start saving $$.

 

yup...it was still when I was alittle niave about aspects of owning a sports car...

Firstly I was in Cali living off of barely any money as I was finishing my medical training.

I would routinely run the car close to "E" (empty) before a fill up.

One night cruising home from work...I was just going 75mph when I lost power (not boosting at all!!)...I thought it was low on gas becuase I was "riding the E: again, but I couldn't get it restarted.

The mechanic said I trashed my rotor and took out the turbos...he thinks that I starved the engine of fuel with the combination of a clogged fuel filter and low fuel and "poof" end of engine #1

 

What about the fuel cutoff caused by cornering and sloshing the gas away from the fuel lines? I'm told that's why you should never run less than 1/4 tank.

Dave

 

i got my new engine put in at 127K and it was still running. but i would burn a quart of oil starting it up every morning!

 

I don't understand what it means when you say: "I've had several opportunities to have my motor rebuilt but I always turn em down." Either the engine needs rebuilt or it doesn't!

I agree with preventative maintainance, frequent servicing, and doing all the reliability mods, but when in comes to actually rebuilding the engine my attitude is "if it's not broke don't fix it"!

 

I say just keep on truckin . Just goes to show you that with proper maintenance, even the 3rd gen can go a long way. Are you the original owner of your car? Is your car stock?



Can anyone tell me whats the #1 cause of the coolant seal failing?

 

i am at 230k for the chassis.

motor is one story but origianl turbos I got 130k miles.

little play in the shaft due to REDLINE OIL......... really good for turbos.

But the waste gate is worn so bad that my boost creep 4 psi all the time.

Cost me a few engines.

 

hey, good luck. My motor wouldnt have made it. I was lucky for 95k the way that guy took care of the motor. Now im happy, well in someway. Car still in the shop, but be sure when its out im coming after you . Just keep going until then.
p.s. i aint gonna be at towers.

ALI

 

i'm at 110k original motor/turbos....part of the exclusive century club

 

woot woot 102k here 100k club! woot woot!

 

i have just under 119K on the chasis. Rebuilt was put in about 2000k ago. Hopefully i can match the previous engine life :-)

 

By that I mean its best (in terms of cost) to have a motor rebuild before it blows. You'll spend less money if more parts are still in good shape when you do the rebuilt. The only reason I've decided not to rebuild my motor so far has been out of curiousity of how long it will last. Usually turbo rotary motors (FC and FD) tend to die between 80,000 and 110,000. I've crossed both of those lines so I'm wondering how long I have left. Honestly tho, I'll probably call it quits between 120,000 and 125,000 and just rebuild the motor.

My FD is stock, I'm the 3rd owner (really more like the 2nd because the guy that had it before me had it about 3 weeks). I dont baby the car. Infact I beat the hell out of it. But I keep fresh oil and coolant in it and rarely let the fuel fall below a half tank. I listen to my car too. If it doesn't feel right, I figure out the problem as quickly as possible and fix it before pushing it again.

 

Thanks for the explanation.

I don't agree that rotaries "blow" as a result of old age. So the notion of rebuilding a rotary before it "blows" sounds confusing especially if you mean "blows as in detonation, broken apex seals, wasted turbos, etc". This kind of "blows" can occur at any age due to improper mods and/or improper tuning.

When I think of a rotary engine reaching old age I think more of coolant seals leaking due to the accumulated stress of heat over time. I suspect that burning excessive oil may also be a sign the engine is reaching old age. In neither of these cases would I expect the engine to "blow".

I agree that if at any time you can catch an engine before it has some kind of devastating failure then you will avert further damage and save money in the long run.

Sounds to me like you are doing a good job of staying up on your maintenance and servicing so your engine could continue for some time.

 

Probably the most important questions:

What oil do u use and or how long have u used it?

 

At first I was using Quaker State synthetic blend 10-30, then switched to Mobil 1 20-50? (red cap), and now using Valvoline VR1 Racing Oil 20-50. Despite most peoples claims, the synthetics didn't hurt my car.

 

yay Valvoline

 

139,836 miles on my orginial motor and turbos! Compression is still good! I'm in total shock too, because the last FD I had, I went through two motors and it only had 62k miles on it! Oh well, I guess you never know!

 

Has any of these hi-milege motors used oil premix and if so in what ratio?