Hey i have had my 93 rx7 for about 10 months and ever since i have bought it i seem to have one problem after the other. Mostly it has been with the engine, trans, and wiring. right now i have a coolant leak, oil leak, trans leak, wont start unless i turn the key like 5 times, flywheel slips (auto trans), tach doesnt always work. I talked to a mechanic on my trans and he was saying that it would be a pretty penny to fix it and then also same with my engine through rotary resurrection. My friend back at home has showed me his rx7 which he just did an engine swap to a 1jz gte vvvti. I was wondering what your all opinion on it: if i should stay with the 13b or trade it out for a 1jz?

 

If you cant get the above problems sorted on your car i dont think you will be any better off with a full engine conversion..

Get a second hand auto trans, I wouldent bother trying to repair your current one as its proberbly not economical. (could be wrong though) Swap that out if you dont want to go manual.

While the tranny is off you can probably address the trans leak. Chances are itl be your rear main seal leaking - which could cause a leak in that area, and if it is leaking that would also cause your flywheel to slip.

change your trans, replace rear main seal while your at it and track down your coolant leak and youl be sweet.
The coolant leak shouldent be too hard to find...just find where its leaking from (lol)

 

true but idk. After hat i have seen so far i really like the idea of the conversion because of how well built they are and easily fixed compared to the 13b

 

A 1jz/2jz swap is very, very expensive. hell it costs more to do the swap than you probably paid for your 7. It seems like you have a lot of issues from poor care by previous owner. In my experience though....there is no other feeling than a smooth running rotary


Invest in the repair of the 13b.....you wont regret it

 

i talked to the guy selling the parts and everything and it would cost me 4k in total for all my parts i need. thats for the mounts, ic kit, radiator, plug and play wiring harness, hosing kit, and fuel kit. i am getting a 1jzgte vvti engine, trans, wiring, ecu, turbo, turbo manifold, etc from va from a import store for 1500

 

Then why did you make this thread?

Sorry to sound harsh but I don't get why people make a thread asking for opinions when their mind is already made up. Kinda silly. So go for it, swap it out and be done with it as its what you really want to do anyway.

 

montego how much were your lights?
and i havent fully made up my mind. i was just giving the price of how much it would cost. and rotary res wants 2100 to do a rebuild on my motor

 

If you want a 1JZ/2JZ GTE, get a SC300 or IS300.

Use the $4k to make that FD reliable
Tired of hearing of ppl making the case for reliability by going the piston route.

 

hey at least i never thought about putting domestic in import.

 

Dont assume your engine needs a rebuild...

Your engine is probably perfectly fine....get your compression tested, pressurize your coolant system to see were the leak is....it may be something easy and hopefully not your coolant seal. If so then focus on the other little **** that can be done by buying parts here


There is so much hype about rx7's that's enough to scare any newcommer when something minor happens......truth is these cars are 16-18 years old now and **** starts to break lol

 

The LS engines make sense. They are light and compact, similar to the rotary. Handling characteristics remain similar.

A 1JZ weighs over 700lbs and will hang out way over the front axle centerline. It will never drive the same. I imagine it would actually ruin the balance of the FD's chassis.

Stick with the wankel. Why anyone would buy an RX-7 to swap in a non-rotary will never make sense to me...

 

Automatics have flexplates and torque converters. Not flywheels.
Sounds like the previous owner didnt look after the drivetrain very well. The auto trans shouldnt be too hard to rebuild, or even replace. They're just an R4A-EL trans, which is common to a lot of Nissan vehicles, and manufactured by Jatco.

 

+1 and also what Moose said, if you want a 1j/2j go buy a car it was meant to be in. If you don't have the patience it takes to have the car, sell it and get something you can get in and drive everyday.

 

+1

 

yeah. he left it out pretty much in the sun. When i checked my air filter once i got it i found a squirrels nest inside it, some of the interior had sun damage and everything and when i went to test drive it it was okay. but ever since that day it has been slowly falling apart. once i thought i was stranded out in Tennessee cause it was being gay and took about 20 tries to get it to start and i had the starter checked before that and a whole new battery.

 

another thing i hate is that no one in dc will work on it. they say they dont know anything on it. :/ even the import places and own mazda dealerships

 

see if these guys are still in business.

The Mazda Rx7 Specialists
1223 Marblewood Ave
Capitol Heights, MD 20743
district: Capitol Heights
+1 301.322.3240

 

You gotta love the hype. Close to twenty year old car + moron owners that can't do much more than put gas in = sad car despite the model.

I knew next to nothing about cars when I got mine, but was no stranger to a wrench (fixed aircraft in the Corps). Rebuilt the engine and have done all my own repairs on it now using nothing more than an FSM and this forum, some common sense and attention to detail.

The rotary is not made out of paper clips and fairy dust, its a proven design that works. It's talked badly about by people who know absolutely nothing about it and probably struggle to change their own oil.

The only thing you need to know is doing the reliability mods, inspection of car for current problems, compression test, get your injectors cleaned. Replace all your fluids, your fuel filter, FPD, check your wiring, get rid of pre-cat if you have one. Make sure your water temps are not too high since you can't trust the stock gauge.

Don't mod the car until you really understand what you're doing, as this is the #1 reason for engine failures. Ignorant owner + mod = "this engine sucks" opinions, when it should be "i did a dumb thing and need something to blame so I don't have to admit it to myself".

Good luck resisting the mental shortcut of doing an engine swap.

 

Ok i will try looking them up.

 

How many miles on it? Assuming it's high mileage and you got a killer deal, than invest the amount you saved on fixing various problems.

I've had a few more small problems than I would have hoped for with mine, but it is in good condition and it is an old car, so these are things you should be aware of when buying an old car.

I could easily make a list in a minute of how to spend 25k+ on my 99.8% stock car. If you are asking if it was a good choice or not, as in, to own an FD or not, than maybe the answer would be no. These cars really are a blackhole in terms of leeching your $, so be prepared to make some sacrifices if you really want to get it to top.

Edit: On second thought, you do seem to have more serious, costly problems. I can't speak for you, but I personally wouldn't want to invest in an automatic to begin with. Why did you chose AT over MT? Do you prefer AT or was that the only listing you found at the time?

 

ironically, i have been through 3 engines in 3 years. and im still rotary. to be honest, its a headache in the beginning to get it running right but once it is, its well worth it.

Im not pro mechanic and far from it, but this is the damn easiest car ive ever worked on (Biased) or ever seen. given mine is heavily modded, i can swap an alternator in less than 10 minutes while my friends audi took 3 hours... wp, right in front, spark plugs 5 min.. the list goes on....

and other posts are right, you have to expect things to deteriorate and get old, its almost a 20yr old car, what do you expect? stay rotary, im glad i did (bought the 7 with intentions of an lsx swap)

 

I vote for keeping it rotary

 

ive never heard of a 1/2JZ weigh 700lbs..... actually, the only engine that i KNOW weighs that much is the viper V10.
with ancillary and peripheral parts, yes a completely dressed engine will weigh quite a bit. but a bare block... no

start with the basic 60k+ mile maintenance procedures, perform all the necessary checks for the issues you have right now, and one by one fix each issue.

 

There are 75,000 miles on the body and engine of myy rx7, i checked the reports on my car from mazda of all that had been serviced and nothing showed on anything done to the engine.

 

And for me buying an auto it was the only one i could find at the time plus i dont knoww how to drive a manual since my fam never had a manual car.