saeedm

I'm still pretty new to rotaries, I've only had my 7 since summer. It needed some serious work before I could bring it down to Santa Barbara, CA, but luckily theres a mechanic in the family and he took care of every issue, including missing reliability mods. I'm going to have to drive back up to SF for the holidays but my car doesn't seem to be in that tip-top shape it used to be in after it was serviced...VERY rough idling until its fully warmed up, whether its cold or not outside, which seems to get worse every day. It used to either start up smoothly and idle a little high (to warm up I suppose) or if it was really cold out shoot up to 3k rpm (also a programmed feature i guess). Also, I hear some pretty serious 'belt slipping?' almost every time I start it up. No smoke or anything. So, am I making a big deal out of something not too serious?

edit: forgot to mention that an oil change is due

side note: saw another silver FD in my town of Goleta for the first time...if you read this contact me please! I need some local's with the problems/questions I have

adam c

iTrader: (2)

No one can tell you if your car will make it. If it needs maintenence, and doesn't run well, your odds of making it are decreased ........... DUH!!!!

skir2222

I'd get it looked at by someone who knows 7's, wouldn't do that trip if I were you. Could make things worse, who knows.

Davin

iTrader: (14)

wow man, sounds like you need a new belt. i would check to see if it is your water pump is slipping if you have your air pump removed. that maybe a factor of what is going on. check to see if that belt is dry rotted. have you been adding coolant alot lately? what kind of oil do you use; castrol GTX 20w50? did you over heat your egine before? ****, there are so many posibilities

crcleofdst

Well, the AWS (accelerated warmup system, this is the car shooting to 3k when cold) not functioning is not a big deal. In fact, most of us bypass this function by either removing it altogether, starting in gear, or blipping the throttle as soon as the engine starts. As far as running rough, well, as Davin said that could mean all kinds of things. You mentioned that someone did some reliability mods for you already. What mods did they do exactly, and are they familiar with the 3rd gen?

Some things that you should invest in if you don't already have them:

Boost gauge
Water temp gauge
Downpipe (replaces pre-cat)
New belts

You can find information on these parts, and how to install them in the FAQ sticky at the top of the forum.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

In short, don't drive the car in that condition.

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

circle - Most of us don't bypass the AWS. Some do. Some don't. I keep it so the car runs smoothly at startup.

saeedm - you should really have a rotary specialist take a look at the car. working on a turbo rotary in general and an FD in particular can be difficult to those that don't fully understand all of the related systems. its up to you whether you want to drive it or not.

and definitely read the FAQ links so you understand the car better.

DaveW

If it were a beater, I'd say go for it! However, it's an FD, and they are sensitive beasts, even when in perfect condition. Get the problems fixed first, and, in general, get any problems fixed before they cause other failures and large expenses.

crcleofdst

Well, when I said that I meant that most of us defeat the AWS system in the ways I mentioned, not necessarily removing it. I left mine in to avoid issues at startup like you, but I defeat it by starting in gear, or blipping the throttle. I had understood this to be common practice.

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

^gotcha. I interpreted your statement differently.

saeedm

Let me just start by saying that I got my 7 by posting a wanted add for an 'rx7 in flawless exterior and interior condition; under the hood doesn't make a difference'. Well, 4 people called right away, and each gave me a list of all the repairs they had been estimated to get their 7 back in perfect running condition. MY car had a fairly long list...but none of items included anything along the lines of 'blown engine; apex seal failure...'. As a plus, it had fairly low mileage: 76000, and it was SILVER. AND STOCK (except for a downpipe, dual exhaust, and some dinky intake (which we removed right there in front of him). Bad news: it would overheat in less than 5 minutes of driving, leaked water, oil, clutch was at 0%, brakes at 10%, AST ruptured, LOTS of solidified hoses, and boost problems. The owner asked $7500. I was sold. Anyway, every single problem was taken care of; from clearing out the engine of oil gunk (it probably took 4-6 oil changes) to replacing the fuel filter (i still have scars from that one) and tackling the rats nest of turbo vacuum lines. We completely replaced the water cooling system: every hose, the water pump, and radiator. We stuck to Mazda parts the whole time, and OE when the price was just ridiculous.

Just to get right to your questions a little faster:
Ya, I use that exact oil,
I checked the coolant about a week ago: level was good, doesn't leak a drop
According to my dad 'all the belts were changed', but I don't know if he literally means all.
The air pump's there (thats for smog right?) and btw i passed smog fine after the repairs were done.

saeedm

I forgot to mention that about a month ago I started getting really severe bucking at 3k rpm. I had already read up on this all over the web and forum, and one of the first things I did to the car was deal with grounding - negative battery to the body has been replaced so far. I've learned to avoid the bucking (shift before 3k rpm when the car's cold) so it sorta slipped my mind when I was listing my issues. But it definitely is very annoying and worries me and any passenger with me : )

saeedm

It doesn't show much in my opinion, especially since I didn't hear the belt slip this time and there wasn't much of an rpm creep, but tell me what you think. Keep in mind its 40 degrees F outside over here.

video on youtube