'93 R1 with 58,XXX, no mods other than a Racing Beat Steel Flywheel. The car doesn't get used much, about 1000 miles a year. Always smogged like a champ until this year when the Hydro-Cabons and CO2 levels were way up, from around .0 to 4.42. It has a bit of a lumpy idle, but runs fine under throttle, no visible smoke other than at start up when dead cold.

Since I couldn't get it to smog, I took it to the Mazda dealer (the only shop with any experience with rotaries around here, unfortunately). They did a leak down and compression test and said everything checked out, but still couldn't get it to smog. Now, after almost two weeks of "testing and checking" they tell me that when the motor is hot, one of the rotors is failing - seals I guess - and the engine needs to be replaced.

I don't trust these guys one bit, almost everything they've done for me they've screwed up. Any opinions or advise? I live in Reno Nevada.

 

Did they give you a compression test when the car was hot to back up that statement?

 

I'm going to go down this afternoon and get them to do one hot.

 

Before you get another one, I'd ask them how they did it the first time. They should have done it at close to operating temp. If they did, I'd find out what's changed with the car since then. If they didn't, they didn't do it right the first time and I'd probably refuse to pay for the first run.

 

If you don't trust these guys, I'd just take the car back. Do a comp test with a standard tester and figure out what the smog problem is on your own.

 

Buy a $40 compression tester and do the test yourself. It's not that hard to do.

cf. http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/3r...ion_check.html

Dealers have no clue about these cars and often just replace the engine/turbos when they can't diagnose a problem.

It sounds like that your oxygen sensor needs to be replaced. Your air pump may also be the culprit.

 

My thoughts exactly, I really don't trust anything they tell me. I can bet the car a waiver if I spend over $200 on repairs, which I've obviously done, and I'll start checking it myself. I've driven cars with blown motors, and this one doesn't even come close to feeling like that. Maybe I can find a decent shop in NorCal I can take it to once I get the plates on it.