For many of you who is not familiar, I just got an 94 white Fd last Saturday 9/25.

The spec of the car:
jdm long block around 90-95k miles
Non-sequential
aftermarket front intercooler
after market aluminum radiator
water to air separation tank
arc bov
body kit

I paid 8600 for the car.
The seller said the car is fine, daily driver. Nothing is wrong /w it except a tune up. So I brought it to the owner of Japanese Engine Repair (JER) in Westminster, whom own an fd and is builting a cosmo 20b engine. Paid 100$ for an inspection.
What the mechanic check?
chassis damage (none), listen to the engine (compression is fine).
2hrs later, after the car is mine, found out the transmission support on the bottom is crack front and back, minor oil leak near turbo n oil pan, fifth gear synchros is gone, cannot hold at 5th gear.
During that evening, I had to take out the radiator to mount it again since its about to fall to the ground. Afterward refilling the coolant, I had air bubble, so I call the seller and follow his instructions to release air bubble.
Next day, I drove the car to my friend house, stop, went out again in 4mins, and car wouldn't start. Call another mechanic, they says it's the thermostat, so wait for 10-15mins for car to cool, then it'll start. It started 15mins later, anyhow, long story short, I listened to Montego advice and brought the car to Rotary Reliability and Racing in Santa Ana, CA for a check up. Nick, who spent more than 20years working with rotary engine, said my water seal are bad, it's burning coolant, that's why pressure built up inside and the engine got hot. Therefore, you can not start the car until it's cool down.

Yes it's my fault to dive into this deal through a mechanic who is not specialize in rotary in the first place. Please give me some suggestions besides the obvious fact of rebuilting the engine or getting another used engine.
Rebuilt = $6000. Used engine = $1900-$2500 + $1800 (labor).

Thank you rx7 community. The seller would not take the car back and says there's nothing wrong /w the car, I overheated the car /w my coolant change or w/e he think I did.

 

Sorry for your bad luck but honestly I think you still got a good deal. Unfortunately the only "FIX" for bad coolant seals is a rebuild. There are several capable vendors on this forum that can rebuild your motor for ~half of the $6000 you were quoted. I'm sure they will be here soon too offer their services

 

thank you for the kinda world ProjectD, I was prepare to be flame at since it was my mistake. Yes, I'll definitely look forward to the vendors here if they can do it for half of the 6k. In the meantime, i'll look at the vendors list. Thank you.

 

Should ask the Japanese Engine Repair (JER) guy for your money back. Take him a write up of what the other guy found.

 

with 90+ K on the original motor....it was going to go pretty soon anyways. Lucky it's a coolant seal though... although...I'd almost bet the housings need to be replaced.. hope it's not your dd. automatic?

 

Well, hopefully i'm praying just that when I have the money for rebuilt. It's manual, not dd. dd is 91 mr2 turbo.

 

selling it would be your only other option.... besides rebuild or used engine you really got no other option..........

 

Well, if you got an otherwise fairly clean car for $8600, look at it as an opportunity to clean it up, and put a rebuilt motor of known quality in there, and do things right... so you can actually enjoy the car instead of chasing problems all the time.

When I lost a coolant seal and needed a new motor, it was painful, but ended up being one of the best things, because a lot of stuff got sorted out in the process. Get a good rotary tech to do it, and check all the ancillary stuff on the way in and out, like OMP lines, harnesses, etc.

Good luck!

 

This is good advice. Take it as an opportunity to sort everything out and make it the car you want.

 

This +100. David (djseven) built my motor for $3250 shipped to my door with a couple extra goodies. Great guy, easy to work with. I hope forum rules let me say that.

 

I sell fresh rebuilt shortblock for $2850.00 shipped. Comes with ALS 2mm seals and a 1yr unlimited mile warranty. Even have one ready to ship right away. If you have a garage I suggest you installing the engine yourself. With NS twins it is pretty easy and straight forward. It isalso extremely rewarding to do it yourself and you will be better prepared for future issues.

 

Guess I should read threads entirely before posting. Thanks for looking out.

 

To be quite honest we are a rough crowd here but when something like this happens we all sympathize and stick together no matter who is at fault. With that said, I am very sorry to hear that you are having issues so early into your ownership.

Even with a rebuild and trans issues the price you paid is still fair and possibly good, if you shop right of course. Ok so now you have some decisions to make on what route to go. I will say that rotary reliability and racing (RR&R) is good shop but certainly one of the most expensive ones that are out there. A lot of people in the southern ca area favor lucky seven for rebuilds. They are inexpensive but from what I hear they do good work.

so you have a few options:
Take it to a shop and have them do everything for you i.e. rebuild and install.

Buy an engine seperately and then have an shop do the remove and replace. Or you could do the replacing yourself.

Do it all yourself obviously this is the cheapest route if you are mechanically inclined.

There is a last option for you though and its probably the most economical next to doing it all yourself. I know a rotary mechanic who seperated himself from the shop he used to work at. Curently he works a lot out of town but still lives in the LA area and sometimes takes on jobs in his garage for extra cash. Do a search under my name on the threads that I started here on the third gen section and you will find a thread where we rebuilt my engine in his garage. Also check my photo album for his finished work.

if you want pm your number and I will gladly talk you about this.

 

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions, especially Montego. I have decided to take the seller to small claims and see what happens. After the small claims case is decided, then I'll probably go with lucky seven rebuilt or hit you up Montego. I would love to do it myself, but I do not have a garage or the necessary tools to take the engine and trans. apart. Lastly, I am not mechanically incline, but definitely, I will spend more time reading about rotary engine.

 

You could be using the time and money you are investing to take the seller to small claims court to acquire a new engine. I'm certain there is some Lemon Law in California but you will have to prove the seller is guilty (knew about everything). I imagine this would be quite difficult.

You didn't listen to advice the first time, perhaps you will consider it this time...although past history shows this is unlikely.

So...will try to give you the advice others have.
Contact DJSeven at rotaryrebuildstore.com and have a REBUILT ENGINE SHIPPED TO YOU FOR UNDER $3000.

Good luck with your case, personally I believe you are wasting your time and money.

 

I doubt you'll have any luck in small claims court, but if you feel you have to do it...go for it. IF the seller wasn't just trying to unload a time-bomb (which it seems he WAS), perhaps he'll refund part of your purchase price to you.

Having said all that, you've come to the right place for support (sometimes TOUGH LOVE...lol!) and advice and help.
You've got a nice car all in all, one that can be road-worthy and ready in a matter of weeks with the right application of $$$$. Look at it this way: You could have spent $12K - $14K on that same car with a much lower mileage engine and could have reasonably expected a few years of trouble-free service. But you got yours for much less, and will have to invest about 50% of the price difference to get yours up in top shape.
You still didn't get a bad deal, really.

Good luck, keep us posted.

 

Having tried to collect (unsucessfully, even with the help of a lawyer) on an proven bad debt years ago, I have to agree completely with Gringo Grande. Going to small-claims court is a hit/miss situation. You COULD collect, but the chances are you will waste a year trying to collect, and in the end, have only a wasted year for your troubles.

 

You paid $8600.00 for a chaste white Fd(way below value assuming clear title). Buy it knowing the engine has near 100k miles and when it blows you want to take the seller to small claims court? You do realize these are without a doubt the most unreliable mass produced car in the history of the automotive world and you have the nerve to take this to court? Your lack of research and reality led to this, not the previous owner. Please forget my business name and I will pray for whatever company you decide to do business with.

 

He probably doesn't realize all of that. It's easy to forget that 99.9% of the cars out there being piston engines most folks aren't ready for rotaries, so in a way it's not really his fault for not knowing 100k miles = engine near death. No offense to the OP but he doesn't sound very mechanically inclined if he's unsure how to replace coolant correctly. I'm also pretty sure the previous owner knew about the problems, evidenced by him selling it at the price he did and probably not having the money or desire to pay for a rebuild.

A good mechanic should have caught the transmission problems as well as the cracks in the power plant frame though, so thats crap for sure.

 

Hope to prove this wrong, at least in my case...

 

I would just save yourself alot of headache and take your ride to Lucky 7 Racing. They do really good work for a good price. Good luck at small claims, I hope you win your case even though its a long shot.

 

Mileage on JDM motor is not accurate either, 90k-95k could very well be 100k+ already.

This sucks but I wouldn't bother with small claim court, my cousin is a lawyer in SF and he thinks you are wasting your time.

 

What do you mean mileage on a JDM motor is not accurate?

 

+ respect for posting this. Not the easiest thing to post im sure, considering the previous advise you were given.

 

ARC makes a BOV for the FD? Yeah....$8,600.00 would arouse my suspicions as well as to the condition of the car. For that price, I would have already factored in the cost of an engine rebuild.