LdotS5

I recently checked out a 93 Rx7 and was considering buying it but wasnt sure about a few things because this would be my first rotary car....Some info about the car is its a 93 R1 with 56K miles on the body and 10k on the engine and the turbos have 56k on them as well... When test driving the car on the highway i heard a ping noise almost like a stone hit the engine or something.I only heard this noise one time. The owner told me this was because he didnt have premium gas in the car.. Why he didnt use high grade fuel is beyond me. There was also a bit of noise from the rear end of the car . My two concerns are does this sound like the engine is damaged or something else and for the noise in the back ive heard of replacing i think it is the bushings how much will it be to fix this problem?

salamander

Don't buy it. Look elsewhere. There are lots of decent FD's for sale.

paradoxbox

an fd owner who doesn't put premium into their car (especially before showing it to a potential buyer) is an idiot. i would avoid it unless he can show a clear service history. i would also make sure you take it to a rotary specialist for a prepurchase inspection of its mechanical condition if you do take it. sometimes rattling noises can just be crap in the cat, loose exhaust, etc.

LdotS5

I was thinking the same thing...why wouldnt you put premium in the car for someone coming to see the it who drove two hours to get there.... Its a beatiful car thats been garaged kept dont get me wrong just worried about engine damage.. there isnt too many fd's around my area in Pa for sale

zheka

Is it fair price that his asking for it?
And if you really want it. Let the current owner know about these noises and see what he tells you about them. Just so you can knock the price down. Personally I would not worry much about rubbing noise. Good Luck

LdotS5

the seller is asking $18,500... im just really worried about buying the car after hearing the ping noise from the engine. It has very low miles but could this noise be a sign of engine damage... would low grade fuel do this and just higher grade fuel be the cure

BADSVN2000

best bet is to take it into a specialized rotary shop and get them to give a check compression etc. This way you will get an un biased and honest opinion of the car. I sold my last FD to a guy and he didnt even want to get it checked out, I knew there were things wrong with it but it was his choice to buy it. Luckily my new fd is in really good, sound working order (apart from boost spike I just had) so I will be happy when selling it on knowing it is in good condition.

paradoxbox

judging from this post i think you are not ready yet to buy an fd. i would pass on it. pinging means detonation, detonation in a rotary is a serious issue, even a single ping can cause the engine to blow an apex seal. the owner of that fd is a huge idiot for putting low grade gasoline in his car. he is basically inviting his engine to blow up while buyers are test driving it.

i would wait a few months, research this site heavily, then go back into the buyer's market and find a car you like.

BC-FD3S

iTrader: (2)

well, if it happend only once... did you consider the fact that it may have actually been a rock or something hitting the subframe/suspension?

Still, you should have it inspected anyways. Dropping 19k on a used car... an RX7 at that, it would be unwise to not have it checked out and have a compression test done.

Good luck.

XLR8

iTrader: (52)

$18k is not too much for an FD, but it had better be well sorted. Low mileage is nice but if the owner was ignorant to rotaries then you may be better off looking for another one.

It sounds like you don't know alot about Rx7's or rotaries for that matter. I would also recommend doing some serious research before you buy. These cars arn't for the faint of heart and unless you have deep pockets and can pay for rotary shop maintenance be prepared to eventually diagnose and fix some issues with the car, no matter how low the mileage.

Good luck and take your time.....There will always be good deals out there, you just have to be pattient. Also, be prepared to travel to find a good deal. Don't go for something just because it looks nice and is close.

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

Where in pa are you? I'm in harrisburg, and there are others around the state who might help you know what's good and what's junk.

Dave

BigWillieStyles

+1

If it looks nice and clean i would put a deposit on the car and tell him you will buy the car if it gets a very good report from a rotary mechanic.

LdotS5

thanks for the advice... Do you know of a rotary shop close to nutley nj? im from pa and the seller is from nutley. i called a mazda dealearship close by to see what price i was looking at to get the car looked over before purchase. the price they gave me was $150 to look over the whole thing and im assuming this is a compression test as well... let me know whats you guys think

LdotS5

sorry i forgot to add im from pottstown which is a little bit outside of philly not to far from harrisburg

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

The ONLY thing a Mazda dealer can do for you is a compression test. But that is a very important thing, especially if the previous owner was running regular gas.

If the previous owner never pushed the car hard it's possible the regular gas did no damage. But it doesn't sound good for that, and a compression test will show it.

Dave

BC-FD3S

iTrader: (2)

What I meant to say.., was that if I was to purchase any car at a somewhat high (ish) price like 18k, I would definatley get it checked out. And even more so with an FD because they are finiky cars and if not maintained properly will cause you alot of problems.

I know 18k is not too much for an FD

Rx72Heaven

iTrader: (2)

yea that Ping, if you listen carefully says "Rebuild time, hahahahha" True story.

i wouldn't even bother with It.

LdotS5

alright thanks for the replies i appreciate it.... this if my first rx7 and i hope all goes well... ill keep yous updated and let yous know how the compression test goes

Rx72Heaven

iTrader: (2)

yea, that ping, is detonation man. Not a good sign. id say #2 killer to FD's second to over heating. So if i were you id look elsewhere. But yea, get the comp. test done, and report back.

LdotS5

i have a quick question i forgot to ask earlier in the thread... I know on the Rx7 your suppose to get a 10-8-10 boost pattern... i hooked up a temp. boost guage and asked him to take the high way and to get on it... the highest i seen it reach was 8 psi vaccum was at least 16 or more. I told him he wasnt getting a full 10 PSI..he said he was only on gas 70%. Wouldnt you still get 10PSI. bad guage? could bad pre cat be an issue? look foward to replies

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

If you're in 5th going 70, it doesn't take much throttle to get 10psi. When you do the full boost pattern test in 3rd gear it takes 100% throttle.

Of course, if the guy isn't using premium then maybe it's a shred of common sense that he's not hammering it.

Dave

LdotS5

So the seller sent me in email back in regards of the inspection. He said the compression was within Mazda specs and the ping coming from the engine was caused by the aluminum housing around a pipe just behind the engine that was slightly lose and rattled at high rpms. does this sound right? let me know

DaveW

The heat shields around the main catalytic converter do sometimes come loose and rattle. I had my cat replaced under warrantee (way back in 1993) because of that. It's not a serious problem.

LdotS5

Here is the numbers he gave me for the compression test... Front Rotor at 267rpm
f-1 7.6 kpa X100, f-2 7.8 kpa X100,f-3 7.7kpa X100/ Rear rotor at 271rpm 7.3, 7.3, 7.5.... Thats how he emailed it to me i dont know if thats right or not let me know if this is good... engine has 11k miles on it

dgeesaman

iTrader: (7)

Ok, if I'm interpreting that correctly 100kPa = 1 bar. So those values are in bar, which converts to 106 psi to 113 psi. Those results are pretty good.

Dave