Well looks like my engine is running off of only 1 rotor (blew a seal), how nice. Anyway, I took it to Intense Motorsports here in Gilbert AZ, and it looks like it's going to cost me ~ $2800 for a new stock motor - and that's the cheapest way to go. Then there is the 3mm ported engine for ~$3800. Regardless, it's a shitload of money I don't have right now. I go back to San Diego tomorrow, w/o my FD =( I am trying to get a loan, and find somewhere or someone that can rebuild my engine without costing me a fortune. Little background on my finances... I'm in the Military (that should sum it up). If anyone has any connections that are relatively close to me, please let me know! I'd appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

you get what you pay for....just about everyone on these forums has been thru that...your best bet is to wait and do it right by using a reputable motor builder like nick at RRR in santa ana....he will beat the cost of 3800 for that motor Id think. 7148398018....tell him you spoke with jason manley on the forums...you can ask for louie as well.


j

 

The cheapest way out is to order a reman from Malloy Mazda:

Malloy Mazda
1-888-533-3400
Talk to Ray Crowe

If you do the R&R yourself, then you will only be out the cash for the reman.

However, if you blew a seal, you should find out why it happened so you don't slap a new engine in and do it again. There may be other things in the car that need to be fixed or replaced which are outside the cost of a rebuild or reman.

 

not to mention the fact that those mazda rebuilds have failed on many of the forum members prematurely...

but yes...do check to see why your motor blew in the first place.


j

 

malloy mazda is the least expensive. figure $2,000 for the motor and another ~$1,000 to remove and reinstall.

 

A $1,000 to remove and reinstall!!! Man, thats easy. If you can wait until I get back from this hell hole and I'll do it for $500 and some sushi!!

 

Give me a shout sometime when you get back in town. You can witness my challenge of putting my new motor (Pineapple) back in. You can then see what it takes and should be able to handle the taking out and reinstalling yourself. That there saves you over $1000.

 

I'm adding you to my PM list

 

I second that.

Lately the rumor has been that the remanufactured motors are now much better in quality as before they weren't. Maybe they didn't use new housings back in the day but I'am positive they use them now on the remanf. engines. Get a remaned. engine and do the labor yourself (if possible), this will be your cheapest route possible, unless a rotary mechanic owes you a big favor.

 

Approximately how much time do you think it takes you to pull and reinstall a motor in the FD?

 

I do lots of auto work, but had never yanked an FD motor (though I have done others). Starting with putting the car on stands and ending with the motor and tranny on the floor (yanked them together) I spent four hours. That included a break for some lunch and glances at the race on tv.

The labor is not in pulling and replacing the motor, it's in swapping all the parts from the old to the new motor. I spent an entire 10 hour day doing this though I had some issues with the turbo to manifold bolts and also spent a lot of time cleaning parts and just being a little **** about some other little things.

Once the motor was ready to go in I had it installed and running in about 3 hours.

 

Depends on what you have on your car.. and like DamonB said.. how **** you want to be about cleaning stuff. It also helps out a lot if you have a lift or shop to work on it in. Luckly im in the military and we have shops on base that we can use for about $3 an hour. they have lifts tools and just about anything else you need to change your RX7 engine in a weekend..

 

Yeah, love the military for **** like that. I appreciate all the help. Besides if I get a rebuild, I get to keep my old motor or do I have to give them my old one? I assume they want another one to rebuild, otherwise it would cost more eh?

 

A rebuild, they rebuild YOUR motor.

A reman, you get the new reman and then send back your dead motor. You could keep your dead motor, but it will cost you an extra $1000-1200 for the core fee.

 

I see, these Remans... they're pretty much engines that have taken a **** and been rebuilt eh? Blown seals, bad rotors etc? I dont want to get another engine and have it **** down my throat 10k miles down the road. Just trying to find the best way to go.

 

That's true. Having your own engine rebuilt is essentially the same thing, you just know where the parts came from. If the parts are unusable, it's a moot point. There is no harm in reusing "used" parts as long as they are within spec and properly prepared and assembled.

 

A reman is just another rebuild. There are no "new" engines. I've been on a reman for going on 4 years. No problem with the engine itself, everything else around it has been a different tale.

Some people have had bad luck with remans. However, people have had bad luck with other manufacturers rebuilds as well.

No matter how good the rebuild is, if you blew an apex seal on your current engine, you'll blow the rebuild if you cause the same problem. If you just bought the car, now is a good time to spend getting old things replaced/cleaned or whatever needs to be done. If it's not a new car, you should spend some time finding out why the apex seal went south.