If you're interested... this is what a stock Japanese Efini RX7 looks like...

Pay no mind to the Nissan wheels That's how it came from Japan.

 

NIce seat belt rash

 

What's a Stang?

 

im guessing you dont live in the US? ive always wanted to drive a rhd rx7. nice car though, have fun

 

nice FD

did you put some salt on that rash >=\

 

Salt on that rash? Are you kidding?

No, I don't live in the U.S. at the moment.. It was hard getting used to RHD.. my Lancer can testify to that!

 

Man... the stock exhaust looks like ****. I really need to get my RB Dual. Stupid money.

 

I think it's so funny that everyone wants the RB dual-tip now. Back 3-4 years everyone was about the Apex N1. That's all I ever heard. When I picked up my RB dual-tip (original stainless non-ribbed muffler) my friends were like "you shoulda got Apex N1!"

Anyways it looks nice, but is not incredibly different from stock.

 

I've noticed that I experience assloads of heat coming from the muffler after even just a few miles of normal driving.. is this normal? it smells like its melting something under there too. the right rear fenderwell gives off plumes of heat after the car is turned off, and the tire is hot to the touch. Left side isn't quite as bad. It also seems that the engine compartment is much hotter than it should be. Could my main cat have puked rust into the muffler or something?

 

Just curious, where is Mauritius? Never heard of it before.

 

Well you know Madagascar, that big island about 300 miles off the coast of south east Africa?

Yeah.. well we are about 800 miles further east of that, in the middle of the Indian Ocean. You normally don't see it on a map because its only about 20x30 miles in size.

This is the place where the Dodo bird was discovered (and made extinct). But you didn't answer my exhaust question...

 

Sounds like an exhaust leak, or you are about to have one. Look all around the muffler.

Well, you may have an obstruction thinking about it again. If that particular area is getting hot, and the engine bay isn't getting rid of as much heat as it could then that is a possibility. Time for surgery!

 

what exactly around the muffler am i looking for? holes? it looks pretty solid except for the black discoloration at the front and back of it.. i'll try to get a pic

 

That's why I'm leaning more toward an obstruction causing a massive amount of heat to be absorbed in one place. You would here an exhaust leak, and the hole would be readily apparent.

 

An exhaust leak is very apparent. They are loud and you'll notice increased boost response and creep.

killr0y, what are you using for fuel management? It's quite possible you are running too rich (if there is an inordinate amount of black discoloration) and burning unspent fuel in the exhaust sytem - resulting in greater heat than normal.

 

I love RHD. Drove a skyline at motorex in september. Feel really cool.

By the way, love the car.

 

Well like I said, its a bone stock FD so I'm not using anything for fuel management. The exhaust has a relatively heavy gas smell to it, in addition to a recent smell of burning plastic. The new burning plastic smell is accompanied by the tremendous heat build-up near the muffler/rt-rear wheel well.

 

precat might be clogged along with main cat. how many miles or km's on it ?

 

Just under 74KMs (46K miles)

To recap, here are all the symptoms I have:

1) Engine compartment gets extremely hot under normal driving.
2) Lots of heat in exhaust system, especially back at the muffler. You can feel the heat coming out of the fender well like there is a BBQ going on in there.

3) Exhaust smells like gas
4) My oil smells like gas too, but this is probably unrelated.

The engine is very smooth, except the idle can be shakey when I come to a stop (it will dip down for a sec or two but come back up).

I really appreciate everyone's help BTW!

 

RX7s run hot in general. It might be normal, but you probably do want to replace the pre-cat with a downpipe and maybe get a high flow main cat as well. Go through the newbie stickys at the top of the page and the archives.

As for the burning plastic smell, crouch down near the back of the car when its cold and see if the muffler is touching the rear bumper. That often happens especially with aftermarket exhausts.

Good luck and definitely read the stickys as they will help you out a lot.

 

That's a really nice car there.

 

Nice lookin 7

 

WOW SEAT BELTS ARE A BITCH.......BUT IT PROBABLY
SAVED YOU..........HOW MUCH IN US DOLLARS
DID THE J SPEC RX7 COST JUST CURIOUS

DRIVE SAFE
JOHNNY K

 

nice 7. looks like a mean machine!

 

$4000 + $1000 for shipping... not a bad deal.

BTW, my seatbelt MOST DEFINATELY saved me. I came nowhere near the airbag.. This makes me feel good since the RX7 didn't come with one. Only the U.S. model did, at least that year.