I just purchased a 1993 Red R1 over the weekend with 51K on the odometer. I have already went to the FAQ section which explain what maintenance i need to perform on the car. I just have a few questions and any help is appreciated. I intend on getting a down pipe to replace the pre cat... what is a good downpipe that fits with with ease? Also with the car having 51k... when should I rebuild the motor? The car runs fine, idles around 800, no smoke from the exhaust, only condensation when the car is first started... there is no 5th gear grind... and the car is fully stock.

My only problem is that since the car is from florida the Orginal owner never used the heater, so when I tried to use the heater I felt nothing even after driving the car for 30 minutes.

Thanks again!

 

You should really do more research on this car. There is no reason to rebuild your engine when it runs fine.

 

The downpipe install can sometimes be a pain no matter which one you pick.

It really doesn't matter all that much, just find one you don't have to backorder. Popular "easier" installed DP's are Pettit and Bonez, but they are more money.

As far as the heater; if you are trying to get heat out of the upper vents, by design that won't happen. The car is designed NOT to product heat from the "face vents".

Are you getting any heat from the floor vents?

 

I tried to get heat by setting the vent selector to the floor and still no heat.

 

First thing to check, make sure you don't have any blown fuses (inside the cockpit and engine bay).

 

how much did you pay?

 

Yeah, do you get cold air orr any air at all? If so then could be heater core, if no air could be blower motor. Just hope it is a fuse!

 

There is air from the vents but its not warm or even hot. As for how much I paid, I got it around 14K (good or bad?). The previous owner was a woman who bought it brand new when it first came out, she stopped driving it in 1996 and kept it in a garage since; only driving it once a month to keep the battery charged and to check that things were in order. She also kept all maintainance records from her local mazda dealer showing all oil changes and two recalls which were performed on the car (vacuum line and brake booster).

I kinda broke my digital camera over the holidays, so as soon as I get another one I will make sure to take some pictures of the car.

 

14k.. wow.. well, if the exterior is good. I guess its ok buy.

Most 3rd gen with basic mods w/ good paint will go for that.
Of course some have easier time selling than others..

Far as DP.. like others mentioned.. its tough depend if those nuts or studs will come of or not... Have you changed out exhaust system before?? Access to a lift?? Lift will help.

Good luck and congrat on your new purchase!

 

14 K souunds like a great buy! Especially if it was from the original owner. I had the local CARX guy to put on the DP for me for only $40 bucks! Much better than fussing with the studs myself. They had all the proper tools.

 

make sure you turn the AC button off when trying to use the heat in the car.

 

Yeh, I made sure that my AC wasn't on... but still no heat. Oh well i won't be driving the car in the winter anyways, but somtimes there are those cold spring nights!

 

I have a Pettit DP. It fits really well, but like what Mahjik said, things can be a pain in the *** no matter what brand it is. For me, the DP was a perfect fit. But getting the gasket on was a pain in the *** . If you know your car is fully warmed up and you are getting no hot air at all or BARELY warm air, then you may have a clogged up radiator. The previous owner not using the heater for 9 years may have caused building up at the heater core entrances preventing flow through it. DO NOT rebuild your engine if it is not needed. 51k on your car is very low and should still be performing at its peak.

14k is a good price for your FD.

Jeremy

 

For the downpipe, the studs can be difficult to remove, a lot of people strip them or snap them. Be sure to use plenty of WD-40 on the studs, it will make them much easier to remove. Also, it's best to do this job when the car is cold. Let it sit overnight if possible; this will make the process relatively pain-free.



And now a few words on preventative maintenance: the 93-95 RX-7 is built more like a race-car than most other streetcars. This might have been the reason that you purchased it, and it might not. Regardless, if you want to enjoy your RX-7 over a long period of time, you should treat it right. The first $500 you spend on your car should be maintenance-related, not modifying it for power or (heaven forbid) changing its looks.

True racecars are trade performance and lightweight for longevity and durability, and need plenty of attention to keep them running well. Our car has been tuned to a pretty high level of performance, so it will need more attention than most of the vehicles on the road today. Think Ferrarri, not Ford.

The car will not tolerate overheating, hopefully you're already aware of this. I'll repeat: the car will NOT tolerate overheating. If your coolant gauge gets to the "H" level, it's pretty much time to rebuild the motor. In most other vehicles, people will generally wait until their radiator hoses break before they replace them. In this car, it's a much better idea to replace the $30-80 worth of hoses, radiator cap, and thermostat ahead of time and avoid the possible $3000+ engine rebuild. Change your oil, coolant, fuel filter, spark plugs and wires ASAP, unless you know that they have been changed recently.



Oil should be changed every 2-3k miles; some people change the oil every 1k on cars that aren't driven regularly. The rotary engine burns a bit of oil to lubricate the rotors, so you should check the oil level whenever you fill the tank.

Coolant should be changed every year, preferably before summertime. Be sure to bleed all the air out of the system, this makes a big difference. There is a tool mentioned in the FAQ, check it out, it's under the Cooling System heading.

Spark plugs: every 3-6k miles depending on how the car runs (you can hear old plugs; the idle will be slightly rough, with occasional 'puffing' sounds coming from the muffler). I'm really not certain of the service life of ignition wires, but the maintenance schedule says to change them every 30k I believe. They're cheap enough to do every couple years and not think twice about it.

Fuel filter should be changed every 15-20k miles to be safe. (Factory interval is 30k) This is not the easiest job, you need to reach in a tight place and it's likely you'll spill gasoline on yourself. It's a very critical filter, and a lot of people neglect it, including dealerships. The last thing you want is to run lean, that will cause the motor to run too hot and possibly detonate.

Accessory belts: change them according to the regular maintenance schedule. If they haven't been changed yet, it's one of the easier jobs on this car, and pretty cheap also.

Air filter should be changed every year or so.




Don't forget about tires and brakes. If the car wasn't driven often, it's likely you've got a dangerously old set of tires on there. $600-1000 on tires is cheaper than $5000 worth of repairs and bodywork. This car has enough power to require a good set of tires. Bridgestone S-02 Pole Positions are good, as are Toyo Proxes T1-S, BFGoodrich G-Force KD, and any other 'summer max performance' tire. Also check out Avon Tech M5000 too, they are a great bargain.


Good luck,
-s-

 

Thats a lot to do but I do agree, I bought the car due to the fact that it's a sports car. So to sum it up I should change my vacuum hoses to silicone ones, change the radiator hoses, spark plugs, plug wires, radiator cap, thermostat, AST(aluminum unit), fuel filter. As far as doing all this my self, this is my first rotary so would this be too difficuilt to do on my own? I have some mechanical experience but mainly on cars that use cylinders and the orientation of the rotary's components is new to me. Also is there a place I can get these parts from that anyone recommends? I know I can get the radiator hoses, belts and intake filter element and the radiator cap from my mazda dealer. But as for the spark plugs and plug wires, should I get those from the dealer too or go else where? Same goes for the aluminum AST and silicone vacuum lines and fuel filter.

 

There's no need to change the vacuum lines if your turbo control system is working properly. More than likely you'll end up breaking some expensive plastic pieces attempting to do this, as almost everyone else does on their first try.

There is really no difference at all between working on a RX7 and working on any other car, as far as external engine work (filters, vac lines, spark plugs, etc.). So if you feel comfortable working on other cars, you shouldn't have any problems.

As far as where to buy the parts, you're local Mazda dealer will most likely rip you off horribly. I'd stick with OEM Mazda parts, though. Good sources include www.mazdaformance.com and Malloy Mazda (search for this one). Malloy is a little cheaper, but I've found them a little harder to get a hold of.

Good luck!

 

I just went to the mazdaformance site and while looking at the spark plugs I noticed that they had 2 types: Leading and Trailing. Which one should I get for my car and what is the difference between the 2 types?

 

Before you start working on your car, you might want to download the factory service manual from www.iluvmyrx7.com , it will have procedures for replacing most of the parts that have been mentioned.


Also check out http://robrobinette.com/ and http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/index.html , each of those sites has a few different 'how to' sections, so you can get a better feel for the engine bay, lots of color photos and stuff like that.

I agree with the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" theory when the vacuum lines are concerned. My car has 58k miles and hasn't had any vacuum-line problems yet. (knock on wood)

-s-

 

You need to get two of each, a pair for each rotor. The leading plug initially ignites the intake charge, but due to the rotary's rectangular combustion chamber design, it needs the trailing plug to help ignite the remaining unburned portion of the intake charge as the rotor moves through its revolution. The leading plug is a hotter heat range than the trailing plug; the intention is to run hotter to help burn off carbon buildup due to coming in contact with more of the combustion process than the trailing plug.

 

So far after reading the service manual, I need 4 plugs? 2 trailing and 2 leading. each rotor housing gets one of each. and the top plug on the rotor housing is the trailing plus while the lower plug is the leading plug. Is this correct?

 

That is correct.

 

I agree. Hose Techniques makes a kit, as does HighTempSilicone. Run a search here to find info about any of the mentioned vendors. I've been very happy with High Temp Silicone's service. This can be done whenever you feel like poking around, or when you get your first unsolvable boost problem. It's known as the 'hose job' - a search should net plenty of info.

Radiator hoses AND the other coolant hoses. In fact, there are 2 turbo coolant hoses which tend to need it more, but around 10 in all.

Yep. Dealer for the radiator cap and thermostat, plugs/wires can be the OEM equivalent NGKs.

Buy one used off this forum for sale list.

Dealer or aftermarket.

Doesn't matter much. Just whenever you go to do a job, read the FSM and/or run a search in here to see if there is anything different to consider. I had little/no car mechanic experience and I've been comfortably digging in deeper since I bought it. Rebuilt the transmission this winter, 2 years later. Just pay attention when people suggest tools/techniques - this car has some parts that are either brittle, expensive, hard to access, or all of the above. It's not your Dad's old Chrysler where a couple of wrenches and a rag covers everything.

Malloy's number is 888-533-3400 - ask for Ray. He's a busy guy, but he RX-7 has great prices and knows RX-7 parts really, uncannilly, well. For other aftermarket parts, check out the vendors sponsoring here. Ebay can have many good deals, but I suggest waiting to buy those parts since the sellers can be misleading and unscrupulous. It takes a trained eye to pick out the portion of ebay parts that deserve to be bought.

Just remember, there is a tremendous amount of info already compiled - a skim of the FAQ and a search will get 90% of answers within 5 minutes, and usually at a better depth than relying on someone to answer you. Reuse forum material as much as possible.

 

for Ray @ Malloy. He won't "over-sell" you and can be a big help. Free shipping and I generally get stuff within two or three days to the midwest.

As a new owner, you also might try the regional section of this forum for other owners in your area.

 

You guyys have been a great help! Thanks a lot again. I hope to keep my car in good running order for a while. I will begin to order some parts and finish my maintenance. I will be posting some pictures of the car soon.