I am looking at a FD that needs the front cover replaced, has the 3k hesitation, and rear end play.

Front Cover:
I was going through the threads that I have found while searching, but I was looking for someone that has done it themselves, but found no results. Only everyone saying to have a shop do it. If that is the case, does anyone know how they do it, ie egine in the car or out of the car?

Naturally I am worried about the thrust-bearing while doing it in the car. But I really do not feel incompetenet about doing the work, I have swapped a reman in my TII this past spring, building up the short block, installing the engine etc. Would it be better to remove the long block, and place the engine on the flywheel to do it? or use and engine hoist to raise the front of the engine? or just install it as it sits in the engine bay?

I REALLY DO NOT want to pay the est. $1200 for the labor to do that job, at that point I would rather drop in a new engine, but do not want to do that either

3K Hesitation:
He said that this has just come about within the last year and has yet to address the problem. I see that it can be anything from the ecu, injectors, grounds, battery, plug wires, etc. So I am not looking for a quick fix here, but how much of a PITA is finding the problem?

RearEnd Play:
He said that is it on/off the throttle. I know from FCs its the differnetial mount. Any typical cause on the FDs?

I would appreciate any and all the help! Also how much do you think these problems would affect the asking price?

 

Anyone?

 

Front cover problem: Whats the problem, leaking oil? I would just leave it but if its that bad I would say you need to pull the motor to fix it. Unless there is some why to keep the bearing and other crap from falling inside that I have yet to discover.

Rear end: How much play are we talking about. All new bushings in the rear and a support brace would do wonders.

In 5 years I have yet to cure the hesitation, I have tried everything. The only for sure fix is installing a standalone (power fc).

 

If this is a car you're considering buying I would make certain the price is at least $1000 less than market for the front cover leak alone. The hesitation and rear end are common issues with the FD. The rear end can most likely be fixed for a few hundred bucks by replacing worn bushings.

 

Hey Dan, glad to see you might get an FD. Anyways, these problems aren't all that big. Front cover replacement isn't too tough, I did it while still in the car( I recomend pulling it out and placing on flywheel) The 3k hesitation is usually cured by adding more grounding points, but PFC takes it away easy. And for the driveline slop, check this thread out.
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...highlight=slop

Good luck.

Ryan

 

What about some tips for sealing her back up, I saw that the OEM is paper, which if I used that again I am going to use alot of sealant. But I also herad of a metal (jdm) gasket.. Anyone use this? Do you recommend it?

Any other tips?

Also for the play in the drivetrain and hesitation is it bad to drive it with the problems? The reason I ask about the drivetrain part is because I know with and FC that you can damage other parts (driveshaft u-joint, tranny mounts, engine mounts) is that the same for the FDs?

 

Dunno about a front cover job on an FD, but on an FC it's the biggest pain in the *** job I could ever imagine doing. While climbing a steep learning curve after I built my first motor, I had a number of front cover problems and ended up doing about 3-5 front cover jobs. Each one took an ENTIRE weekend, and was VERY not fun - that has to be the LEAST enjoyable thing I've ever done to an RX-7.

Again, what is the exact problem that needs to be fixed? Leaking oil? From where?

Seriously, I would pull the engine to do a front cover job, and I'm not one to recommend pulling a motor lightly. That would at least make a lot of the work easy to get to.

Dale

 

Make that "sometimes cured by adding more grounding points". I did the grounding thing and saw little change. Others have said it was fixed by injector cleaning - something I haven't done yet.

The good news is the hesitation is harmless and doesn't occur under heavy throttle.

Dave

 

Yeah I read that it could be a number of different things. Which I am prepared for.

I did't now that it does not do it under load, I guess thats a real good thing.

I spoke with Ray Crowe from Malloy and he said that you do not need to worry about the thrust bearing cause you are not going in that far. Is this true?

How would a heavy duty impact gun work for removing the bolt? Say somewhere in the 400lb area?

 

I thought I read that somewhere too, But I wasn't sure If it was just on an auto engine or not. Mine's an auto engine, so I'm sure of being able to do that while it's in the car. But I believe he's correct, it shouldn't matter either way.

 

Hmmm, I wish I could find more info on that.

 

Here's the link.

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...ht=front+cover

 

Mazcare in Atlanta area says the new gaskets from Mazda are metal gaskets that don't blow out. I had a very small leak, not enough to drip but enough to make the oil pan bottom look greasy. They said the leaks tend to happen at the 2, 4, 8 and 10 o'clock positions. 4 and 8 being near the oil pan. Mine was at the oil pan area on the driver side (4) and what they said try for a stop gap and does work is spray the leak area around with engine degreaser and let it dry off or wipe it off. Then take some of the gasket, grey or black depending on the temp rating, and basically smear it into the area that is leaking. Keep doing it until you feel confident that it's filled up nicely. Let it sit 24 hours, longer if possible and see if it helps slow it down or stop it. Mine stopped.

Tim

 

Ray said that they make a metal gasket, but its for the JDM market only and he cannot get it. Where can you get it state side? And how much is it?

I did that with my oil pan on my FC, but I guess it just depends on how bad it is.

 

Mine was at the 2 o' clock, and the whole gasket seemed to be pushed out and made like a loop. I thought whoever made the engine seated it wrong.