I'm looking to by a rx7, its for sale by a dealer. The car is clean inside and out, pulls hard. There was a sticker to someone who has serviced the car. I called them up to ask if there were issues. He said the customer complained of a coolant leak. He checked the radiator, replaced water pump, and the mechanic I spoke with concluded there was a leak from the rotor seal. There is not oil in the coolant, and the dipstick looks clean. There is no visible coolant anwhere, but coolant level goes low. Asides from that, everything checks out. Should I pass on this, or go with it?

 

One other thing, there is oil on the bottom of one of the turbos, nowhere else.

 

Will need a rebuild in the very near future if coolant seals are going so add at least 2k to the price of the car.

 

from my experiance... a leaking rotary is a dying rotary... you wouldnt adopts a dying a dog would you?

 

does it make any white smoke?
if you are able to check it out, you could try the "champagne test" give it a search.
its not 100%, but it can give a good indication as to the state of the coolant seals.
another place to check is the AST, and especially the line that goes from the AST to the overflow tank

 

As others have said...this car is going to need a rebuild soon....it is a fact. What is happening is the coolant passage 'O' ring seals are failing, allowing combustion gasses to overpressurize the coolant system, this forces coolant out the overflow tank, thus the "coolant leak".
Having said that...in a few rare cases it turns out that either the fill cap or AST cap are bad, which can compromise the 'thermosiphon effect' of the system (where the coolant expands into the overflow tank when hot and siphons back into the system when cool).
But I would plan on the rebuild. I spent around $6K on my rebuild, but that was a reman engine that was taken apart and ported and worked on by one of the resident experts, and then I took the time to replace EVERYTHING I could in the engine bay, new hoses, new belts, new radiator, new(er) turbochargers, injectors etc. My point is, someone had mentioned $2K off the price of the car? I'd say more like a minimum of $4K. And I can almost assure you the seller knows exactly what is going on with his car...lol!