Hey guys, I'm looking at buying an FD and I'm trying to save myself some headache. I plan on doing a compression test when I see the car but as it's quite far away I'd like to get some opinions on this cold start video before making the trip.

This is one of the only things I have to judge engine condition. This is a cold start, ambient temperature warm ~80F. Seems strange that there would be this much smoke at such high ambient temps. Can anybody tell anything from this?


Also evidence of stop-leak in the coolant, allegedly due to a radiator hose that had a hole and replaced. Coolant overflow also cracked. It seems the car may have bad coolant seals, but who knows, I hope not. 50k miles.

 

I wouldn't immediately call it too much. It's probably catless.. Also, if it's not driven regularly the oil seals can have oil leak past them from sitting so much.

You should still plan for a rebuild, but it's probably driveable for a while.

 

atleast that rx7 runs... Mine just fired up for a second then doesn't want to start again... You got the right idea looking for one that runs... the rx7 I bought had the engine torn down and thrown in a bin.... worst mistake ever trying to piece what I got together without even experiencing driving a rotary to begin with....
Rotaries are cool I think untill they break...

 

could also just be bad turbos?

 

running any premix in it?

 

No premix.

 

no premix then its gotta be the rotor oil seals or rotor o-rings bleeding oil into the housing.... I'm no expert but a OMP wouldn't be throwing out that much oil? but it still could be just the turbos....

 

or just a super rich running engine? so much things I don't understand... reasons why my rotary isn't running......

 

also could be as you said.. a coolant leak...

 

smoke looks blue so likely not coolant but could be bad turbos or worse bad control rings.

Either way it's more about the price, options/color etc.....

Engines and turbos are not that expensive on these cars.

 

How many miles on the engine? Is it the original engine? Original turbos? Have you done a compression check?

Most rotaries smoke a little on start up. It might be perfectly fine.

 

Agreed, get it up to temperature, go for a drive and see if it's still smoking under load.

 

Thanks for the replies guys, if everything goes well I'll be making the long drive this Friday to check out the car.

...during which time I'll do a compression test and check all the usual things like smoking, vacuum pressure, coolant, etc.

Compression test according to this guide with a rented compression tester: Banzai Racing Compression Test

Wish me luck! It will be my first experience with a rotary engine. Any other opinions about the smoke video are appreciated. It's hard to tell what color it is in the video, but the seller said it was white, which is why I'm a little concerned about it. Car has 50k on the original engine.

 

Good luck! Hopefully it's a worth it road trip!

 

Update?

 

See my other thread on chassis. I ended up not making the 8 hour drive after getting cold feet over some questionable things that in my mind indicated possible accident damage, a decision which I'm now regretting after it sold 12 hours later. According to the seller it went to a buy in New Orleans.

It was an R1 w/ 50k, original paint, black, good interior, for $14.5k. Kicking myself now.

 

Don't! If this forum (especially Mr Fritz posts) are anything to go by, there are still plenty of gems out there!

 

Agreed, it probably wasn't the one if you didn't feel right about it.

 

From the video it doesn't look like coolant smoke but if the car has stopleak in the system and evidence of recent cooling system repair, I would factor into the price the fact that it will probably need a motor sooner than later.

 

Just got mine with 70k miles. It smokes if i dont start it for a day or two, but only smokes on start up and under full load if not warmed up.