losing hope on the fd
 

Bought my car a little over a year ago. Ever since then non stop problems. I love my car but its just one problem after another. Just a few days ago it started to idle like crap now today i discovered i have a coolant leak. whats next. i dont know what to do.

Put 10 grand into it. You'll be good! HAHA!

wish i had 10k to throw into it now. id be set.

Welcome to my story, and now mine's for sale (for other reasons)

They are very tempermental until you go single or v-8. You must love the car to own one and look at the deal as a relationship.

nt
 

Sorry to hear about your problems :/


Whats better 2 turbo's or 1 nowadays?

Simple...

SELL IT!

Nowadays, I thought it was always.

Twin is usually better on the low end. Single is simpler, easier to diagnose and more choices?

Also did you find that your FD was cheaper than others when you bought it...

I will tell you a remedy, paintfull but it work and it is easy to do. I end up doing this to some one else FD that had the same story. I end up pulling the motor out and going from there. Replacing everything that looked worn out or damage. Took him about 2 month to get every fixed everything from vaccum hoses to water, oil pump, pretty much and external engine/ accesories rebuild/replacement. 2 years later, not a single problem yet (knock on wood).

yeah. I love my car so much and dont want to sell it. I did know that i was gonna have some problems when i bought the car so im gonna have to deal with it. Single turbo is what im going for.

Rex7-93, what kind of process did you go before buying your car? Did you read all the stickies and 3rd Gen Buyer's Guide? Did you have a rotary specialist (like PFS, who's in Maryland) look at the car first? I ask only because ppl are quick to point fingers at the car, when in fact the vast majority of problems are a result of the owner's lack of thoroughness, or desire to save a few $$s by buying an "ok" car for cheap, which turns out to have all sorts of issues needing attention (duh) ;)

impactwrench, there are a good number of FD owners who have never had a problem w/ the sequentials, including myself. Almost 35,000 miles, heavily modded, and not a SINGLE problem. There are *several* threads discussing this matter. It really always comes down to who is willing (and capable of course) of PROPERLY fixing and maintaining their FD on a consistant basis (be it themselves or paying for it at a competent rotary specialist), vs. the majority of ppl who think all of a sudden they're master rotary mechanics ;)

~Ramy

^Awesome post, Ramy. Very well put.
And...not to beat up on those that are simply drooling to have an FD, but HOW many times have us long-term Forum people seen this exact same thing? Guy buys car with his life-savings (or at least ALL his money from various jobs), only to find out that the repair expenses, fuel costs, insurance costs, etc are just more than he can handle?
For God's sake folks....these cars are NOT a Honda Civic nor a Toyota Camry. You simply do NOT own an FD and not have to put money into it at some time or another. And most people have gotten used to cars like those from Honda and Toyota that just run forever with zero maintenance costs. I feel SO sorry for what seems to be the 'typical' FD buyer these days, i.e. young and inexperienced with cars in general, going with his/her heart instead of his/her head. It is a sobering lesson in Life, for sure.
And sadly their are some owners of FDs that SHOULDN'T be owners, people that can't afford to keep their cars up right, or even running. I saw a piece of shit red FD a couple of weeks ago when I was in Chicago, the thing didn't have a straight fender on it, the headlights were in the open position, it smoked and sounded like shit. Way to go, whoever owns THAT car....really makes the world view them in a favorable light!

:)

Oh and I wanted to clarify that when I said I've had NO problems w/ the sequential twins for 35,000 miles, that does NOT mean the FD or turbos only have 35,000 miles on 'em. The car (motor, turbos, everything) had upper 60K miles on it when I got it, and it currently has 92K. So we're not even talking about new or "young" turbos or powetrains for that matter ;)

Cost of Ownership
 

The FD3 is a beautiful high maintenace auto for a newbie
like me. I purchased one last year 2/2005 for $ 13.5.
I have invested another 15K in the car.

But if you plan to keep it $ 30 k over 6 years is $ 5k/year.

Its the cost of ownership!!!

Good Luck !!!

Just my 2 1/2 cents - did you do all the reliablity mods first before you added your mods? Did you do basic maintance to the FD, the FD is like a woman if you dont keep her happy she will not perform for you when you really want it >)
i have had my FD for 31/2 yrs got it when it was 72,000 miles im now on 126,000 and some change. still boosting 10psi strong. still have oem 13brew and turbos.
i would suggest that you check out these 2 sites to get you started on your surgery to bring your 7 back to life. I really hope this helps you man. http://www.rx7.org/Robinette/ and http://reganrotaryracing.tripod.com/fstrmods.htm

I feel the same way man. Little problems here and there. Makes you lose confidence and you becoming paranoid to where you dont even wanna take the car far away cause you're afraid it will break down.

Thats why im thinking about selling mine so i can get a supra. But i cant sell the FD until i fix the problems so i guess i'll go from there.

SELLOUT! (lol)

Here's a tip then - fix the coolant leak before putting on the single setup.

Whether it's a leaky hose or a bad coolant seal you're talking about, you gotta put first things first.

Dave

the car has been running fine for longest time. and i also had very little problems with the seqential system. THe only problem i had from the turbos was a crack y pipe coupler with was easily replaced with a silicone coupler. A few months back the stock radiator had a crack in one of the tanks so that was replaced other than that the car has run great. I have faith in the car.

how often do you use the car?

Don't feel bad, it's not you. And don't worry about the reliability mods, either. What to do? What many others have - sell the 13B, the parts associated with it, and put an LS1 in it.
I sold my stuff for $6,000, and the swap cost me $6,500 - so $500 out of pocket, and several months of weekend work, and bam, guess what, you've got the looks, handling and more RELIABLE power than the stock 13B (or even a moderately modded one) and 99% reliability - and you don't have to special order anything from autozone (like plugs). You;ll find yourself spending time driving instead of using the "search" function of this forum.

100% true

Although your car will sound like almost every other car on the road lol. Damn v8's. :D

lol not really, ill be on the boards still and now i could attend more meets because ill have a better, more reliable car :D

I use the car as a daily driver. I have thought about a v8 swap in the past.

Silver93, where did you get all the parts to do an LS1 swap?