I attended the MN Miata club tech session earier in the week, and the head tech guy for the great lakes region was there, sorta the key note speaker. this guy REALLY knew his stuff. he started working with Mazda in 1973, and has worked on RX7s and Miatas since they first arrived here. he has supported both cars in just about every form of racing possible - this guy was good. no one from the Miata club was able to stump him in the hour long open Q&A, and some of the questions asked where mighty abscure.

anyway, after he was done speaking I got a chance to ask him some very direct questions about the RX7, and more specifically the FD. while much of this information will not be new to many of you, it was nice to have someone who works for the company back up what I thought I already knew.

first: there is no reason that the 13b cannot last a very long time - it is an excellent engine. properly maintained the 13B will last as long as the average engine, no problem.

second: rotary engines do not like synthetic motor oils. this is because the engine is designed to burn oil, and as synthetic burns at a higher temp, it does not burn and actually builds up. a high quality turbo rated conventional motor oil is the way to go. this is only for street cars. if you are racing your car, stick with synthetic, as it lubricates much better.

third: the most important mod on the RX7 is the DP. again this is not new info, but it is nice to have the Mazda rep back up this info. for those of you that care, going to a DP will have very, very little of an environmental impact. the cat that is there now works for about the first 90 seconds, and then does almost nothing. that and it has a tendency to get clogged, mostly because of bad design.

fourth: keeping the engine clean is very important, much more so then the average car. this is the biggest factor to the percieved short life span of the rotary engine. doing things that keep the engine cool are very, very important. vented hoods, downpipes, cold air intake - and most important getting all the dirt & grime out of your engine bay.

again, I know not much of this is shocking new info, but I thought the conversation was worth writing about.

 

Any idea why tubos aren't pulling. I'm not getting any power from them. The boost is at 8-10, waistgates are working.Y pipe checked, 1"inch hoses check, new clamps put on.

 

what woudl be an example of a high quality turbo rated conventional motor oil?

 

Thanks for the good info. It's nice to know that there are ppl that's knowledgeable about our cars. Did you tell him to visit this forum? I bet people will pay him to answer questions! There is a work-at-home idea!

Two comments about what he said.

DP - isn't most of the pollution caused by the initial startup? Therefore, I think the precat is still important for environmental purpose, for those green people.

Clean engine bay - why is it more important to keep the engine bay clean from a mechanical reliability point of view? I agree that ppl should keep the hood spotless and do things to keep it cool. Does he think that keeping the engine clean will allow faster cool down and proper functioning of all the vac hoses and electronics.

Lastly, I agree about the durability of the engine. A well taken care of engine can last 120-150k mi like other turbo charged cars. Those blown engines are due to either mistreatment, crazy modifications, or replaced bc it was under warranty and the mechanic doesn't know how to fix it and prefers to replace it instead.

 

Why is keeping the engine bay clean important? That dirt is on the outside of the engine, so it shouldn't make much difference. I'd love to be enlightened though, so if you've got an explanation, I'd certainly appreciate hearing it.

 

it helps to keep it cool. not significantly but it does. all that builup acts like an insulator by holding the heat in.

 

Castrol GTX is an example of a turbo friendly non synthetic oil.

 

Thanks. Thats exactly what I use now.

 

ok, i have used castrol GTX in every other car i have owned, except my FD. i was told not to use it because it has a higher flash point than most other oils, similar to the reason not to use synthetic. I currently use valvoline. is this Good/Bad??? should i switch back to castrol?

 

When my engine was rebuilt I asked them that question. They said use Castrol GTX 20w-50 in my FD.

Ken

 

I would listen to Mazda. Their dealers suck but their engineers do know their stuff. Go figures - they are the ones designed and engineered the darn engine. Lose the synthetic and pour the dino juice.

 

a dirty engine traps heat = bad... easy reliability mod = keeping engine clean as possible...

this guy was not behind... he new stuff about the mazdaspeed projects, he was not telling us much, but he hinted at some cool things coming down the pipe. to each their own, but I am switching away from Mobil 1 next change...

 

sorry... I have no idea... I am very, very far away from being any sort of an expert about anything RX7 related... but I am learning

 

I'm all for keeping a clean engine, but I have a real hard time believeing that a layer of dirt less than 1/16" thick is going to act like any sort of an insulator (if you've got more than 1/16" worth of dirt, I'm sure there's other problems because of lack of attention)....

If you doubt me, go out to your dirty stinking engine right after you'e run it hard and the whole thing is hot... take your finger nail and pull off as much dirt as you can before your nail scrapes off.... that dirt will cool down before you can say "Ow my finger nail is gone". Earth is a good insulator, but not until it's about 6" deep.

... but yeah, keep your engine clean, buy a downpipe, and pull the turbos off your motor - it will last forever.