Buyer Beware
 

Just a couple of words of warning to those buying FD's..
Sorry about the post length.. I don't mean to go off on a rant here, but...........

#1 Most owners will Lie. About most things regarding the car. Period. About mods, racing it, performance, maintenance history. If they are selling it, its usually for a reason, and not a good one. Did I say usually? Good now I cant get flamed because "blank" had to sell his car for a kidney transplant... Be especially aware if, after the sale is completed, they have a whole spare set of wheels that they'll just throw in.. Extra wheels generally means weekend autocross/racing, and a much higher chance of abuse..

(Of course, there is the exception, such as the autocrosser/racer who takes better care of his car than his kids.. 1 in a million) I know I'll get flamed for #1, because "Blank" takes fanatical care of the car,runs a 40gallon radiator/cooling system, changes oil every 100,000 RPM or some crap... so sell me that car :)

#2 Mileage and reciepts. Doesn't matter as much as you would think. My car had a reciept for a RP rebuild less than 20k miles ago, and 1500-2000 mile oil changes. Motor has bad water seals. (IE Bubbles in coolant) Could last forever, could die tomorrow. point is, it was abused..... Mileage won't matter if its been abused, overboosted, underfueled or overheated

#3 Inspect engine bay carefully for telltale signs. Missing bolts, fixed/replaced/different harnesses, glove boxes that are open a hair more on the left than the right, tiny little vampire holes in wires from those dumbass cheesy plastic wiretaps. Most installs leave a trace, or people forget to save older bolts, mouts etc etc. had I looked more carefully, I would have seen the signs of: F-con, EVC, FMIC, TT, Intake, BOV, Cat Back and strangely enough, the ECU looked untampered with, like it had never been unplugged/removed (sigh)... Not to mention the K&N drop in and front pipe replacement that was disclosed. Now hows that for a car that "never had any mods"?

#4 When you test drive, test drive at least one time ice cold. Dont let them drive to meet you, and show up 1/2 hour or so early to make sure they don't warm it up first. A lot of serious issues can be masked and appear minute once the car is warmed up (Cold start difficulties-duh, Shifting, cold oil pressure, increased emissions/Smoke, RPM )

Perhaps I am being a bit harsh because of todays news about the water seals, but I looked around for 5 months before I bought this car. Almost every one lied about history/mods. One guy left the solenoid for the EVC installed, but had "never had a boost controller on it" Most I saw were so ragged out I wouldnt have bought them to strip and rebuild! This one was different. It was the cleanest of the bunch, owned by an older guy (2nd Owner) but was misrepresented very badly. I checked it out pretty good. I am satisfied I did my part. I have spoken with several people that know the car/guy. heh some have bought the old parts from him/ others remember it with certain mods. If this was a house I'd have his ass, but in California, its Caveat Emptor for cars.... Oh well my bad. My Dogma will pee on his Karma and beat up his cat.

There is nothing wrong with the longetivity of a rotary engine I personally have had a 1st gen go 224,000 before it broke, and theres debate on whether that was my fault or not....( i mean, *I* shifted on time, my tach was sluggish.. ;) )

The problem lies in the maintenance and operation of the vehicle

Just be careful. Take your time. I hate to have a fellow FD'er get that sinking feeling like today, when you overhear the tech say " Did you tell him about his engine yet?" heh I could almost feel the card swell up and max out, and it was still in my wallet!

Caveat Emptor. Even if I do sound like Mike Brady.

Richard
93 MBM Touring

No doubt about it...

i drive my car hard.. but then again it gets new oil ever 2000 miles religiously!

not a bad post
 

not a bad post at all good advice to those newbies out there...:D

If I read your post correctly, it's your water seals that went bad and that's why you're pissed. If it's any consolation, I think the coolant seals are the one real design flaw-achilles heel-couldn't see it coming-can't do much about it-engine killer with these cars.

I hear so many people talking about their frequent oil changes, but it's usually blown coolant seals that get them in the end. And it's not just abusers who blow their seals (yeah, no eskimo jokes please). I've seen posts from meticulous owners who have done everything right who feel the rotary gods are out to get them.

So it may not be the previous owner's fault. Were there bubbles in the coolant when you bought the car? If there were, why didn't you catch them? If there weren't, then you can't really blame the seller.

There are a number of things to be checked with these cars, but many of them are not too hard to fix. I would advise anyone buying a used FD to put two things at the top of the list. Bad turbos which are leaking oil or have some other serious problem, and water seals which are leaking, putting exhaust gases in the coolant, or blowing a lot of white smoke out the tailpipe.

Hehe i'm in the same boat as you, my coolant seals went as well.

Re: Buyer Beware
 

I don't AutoX but have a spare set of stock wheels laying around just cause I like to keep all my old parts... heh I guess I should sell them seperately w/o the buyer seeing them? I don't think the assumption that a spare set of rims = AutoX is valid... I know a lot of guys just keep their stock rims after buying a nice set of aftermarket rims.

now Im scared to buy an fd =[

Re: Buyer Beware
 

welcome to the world of used car

:D :D

Alpine said it very well. Most of what was listed goes across the board when buying a turbo'd import from a private party.

Just give it time and wait for the right one to come around. It will come believe me, I've waited for about 2+ years and the one I am getting is a Godsend. Right at the absolute perfect time as well, I couldn't be happier. And if you've done your research you shouldn't be scared, just knowledgeable about what you need to do to buy the right FD and keep it running properly.

Re: Re: Buyer Beware
 

Yeah but this car has stock wheels.... I totally agree with you, if you have aftermarket wheels

Nice post
 

I was reluctant as well. I looked for like 6 months. I was going to rebuild a 93 for only $8,000 but procrastinated. Everyone said don't do it, wish I did! The engine was allready rebuilt but didn't start. Anybody here buy that one in San Diego (was a Texas car)?

Then the 1st working car I looked at seemed too good to be true, but I think he was the only one that didn't lie. :( ...Anyone buy a '94 White touring with only 19,000 mi from the Valley?

I even flew to WV, NC and GA, then finaly bought one in WA state. Oh well, still cheaper than the '69 Corvette Stingray that I allways wanted..

Problem above just started. Though it hasn't overheated on me. Does this intitle a rebuild or is there an other fix? Thanks! :(

So with all that being said about blowing coolant seals, do any of you use De-ionized or distilled water in your RAD ??

Very detailed article indeed...however, assuming there was one in the market with 40,000 miles....with service records on seals and what-not....

*I am going over to check the car...is there a guideline by which I have to follow? besides, starting out the car cold?*

I figured that this might be a good time to ask....also, should I take it to an Independent Mechanic to check on the compression tests?

Any input is kindly appreciated....just wanna make sure I hit at least a 85% check before sliding into the 15% to realize that I shoulda check on something else..

Everyone should change their coolant once a year. Keeps your system from becoming acidic.

Rexdex and 7th Heaven, I'm not an expert here, but I'll answer your questions the best I can. I'm sure others will chime in with better answers. You should also do a search on the forum and check out the robinette site until you feel all your questions are exhausted.

http://www.rx7turboturbo.com/robrobinette/

And here's specific information on O-ring failure:

http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/o-ring_failure.html


If your seals are just starting to leak you may be able to drive the car for some time before your engine goes completely. There's a block weld additive some have tried which seems it may cure the problem at least temporarily. Again, do a search on the Forum for better info. When the inevitable rebuild comes, there are aftermarket seals which are said to correct the design flaw which you should install.
There's no easy way to fix the coolant seals. It means taking the engine out of the car and disassembling it.
If you're inspecting a car to buy, the 2 main signs I'm aware of which indicate coolant seal leaks are lots of white smoke in the exhause on a cold startup. (You'll also be able to smell that sweet coolant smell.) And exhaust gases present in the coolant. Testers for exhaust gas are available at many auto parts stores.

I feel your pain. I'm in the same boat myself. Bought the car last July, coolant seals failed this month. I absolutely never overheated while I owned it. But I also never shy away from racing, whether it be drag racing, autocrossing, or track days. So maybe that's the price I pay. Give the K&W block weld a try. You don't have anything to lose. I was completely emptying my Pettit AST into my overflow on a daily basis, and having flooded sounding starts. So far with the block weld it's been starting well again and my AST's still full (after three days). Looks like it'll buy me some time to save for (and research) a new engine.

Unfortunately I didn't know crap about these cars before I bought mine. I read the "How to buy a used RX7" and then rushed into it. I felt like I had found a good deal on a car that was in my town so I jumped on it. Not something I necessarily regret after reading how few R1s/2s are out there. Ever since I've been spending hours a day on this forum soaking up every tidbit I can and would be in a much better position to pick out a used one now. I just wasn't willing to invest this much time before I bought it. You really don't learn things until they break on you.

Best of luck to you, and on the bright side it looks like new engines aren't the end of the world. Replace it, and take care of it, and you'll probably never have to go through this again. Plus, as others have said, it's the perfect excuse to get a performance engine. Fortunately I was able to drive the car long enough that I've fallen in love with it and jaded my reaction to this whole engine replacement thing. When it's right, it's fast! I liked when I actually had to stop and think for a second when my buddy asked me "what are you likely to see on the street that can beat you." .....ummm, another RX-7! ;)

Well u should have did what I have done. when I was looking to buy the 93 I had 3 options. 1- Buy it from a dealer and spend alot of cash to buy it and replace the engine later. Or 2, buy it from a owner who might lie like a bitch that he replace everything from the dealer and end up replacing everypart of the car oh yeah paid him like $20.000 for it too. Now on my 3rd options buy a repairable or salavage title and pay less and buy a dealer shop manual to show u how to work on the car. Hey I had 12 first gen before I went brought my 93 but, the 93 it's totally different to work on coming from a mechanic point of view. Also I am happy that I brought my 93 salavage because I had replace the engine and turbo jsut like buying it from the dealer but pay alot less and smile everytime someone say they paid $15-20.000 for their's. good luck trying to get it running right.

<<quote<<<<Plus, as others have said, it's the perfect excuse to get a performance engine. Fortunately I was able to drive the car long enough that I've fallen in love with it and jaded my reaction to this whole engine replacement thing. When it's right, it's fast! I liked when I actually had to stop and think for a second when my buddy asked me "what are you likely to see on the street that can beat you." .....ummm, another RX-7! >>>>>>>



a beautiful saying.......

i know a guy who bought a salvage title FD to save money, and the good thing was when he fixed it up the ins. company estimated the value at $17,860

Explain the water bubbles in the coolant symptom

With the car cool, take the cap off to the coolant neck (the non-pressurized cap). Then start the car, and if your seals are bad you'll see small bubbles. You can also take the hose off the AST that goes to the overflow bottle, and put another hose on there going into some water. Once the car warms up, if it keeps blowing air out, ya got problems. Now that it's after the fact for me, I've learned those would be pretty easy free tests to do even in someone's driveway on a potential buy.

This would be a good thread to archive.

haha his name is bicuspid. i donno, do only fuckers like me who have to get root canals know what that is?