I dont have drivability issues , but i dont like what it did to my powerband and its not like I would of had issues making the power on OEM ports . it was just a dumb mistake wanting ports on my car

I basically NEED a 4.4 diff to make use of the motor's new powerband .

 

I went with a mild street port, and couldnt be happier. The only effect on my powerband was a little more power at the top end. It had no effect anywhere else. As long as you have the supporting mods, a mild port is a no-brainer.

And I still think the OP should drive the car for a while, and save some extra money before the rebuild.

 

I'm kinda surprised that everyone is voting for a rebuild....

Before making a decision why not just do a compression test to see where you stand? If it's healthy, why rebuild?

 

I'll probably just drive it for a few weeks and enjoy it for a little while then take it for a rebuild. Depending on if I can find more shops. I actually put a wanted ad on Craigslist last night wanting a rotary mechanic and someone emailed me and told me about another local shop. Had that one and one recommending me to the original shop that I knew about.

 

Because if its original it has 21 year old seals . that could be brittle and cracked . and even if hte compression is good if one of those go if its an oil seal spun bearing , if its a water seal warped housings

rather then have the motor refreshed . and he can have a reliable fun car for years to come..

granted it could last for 10 years as is now.. but it could also go in a year.

 

^^^good points but I don't necessarily agree. If I had the same mindset I'd be thinking about rebuilding mine too, 06/92 build date, 70k original miles. Instead, I'm going single

 

hopefully you still have some money left over after the single.

and at roughly 125k miles the 3 piece seals are likely on their last legs, so the recommendation to rebuild is to save those parts(rotors/housings) as they won't be available forever.

i've seen bone stock REW engines go as high as 225k miles but sometimes you just have to consider luck as a factor.

 

I would compression test the motor first and go from there. If you are around 100 psi on all faces, I'd leave the motor alone and concentrate on reliability mods such as an aluminum radiator, eliminate the ast, power fc, downpipe. A full gasket/seat kit for a twin turbo car is over $1700. Even if you don't replace the turbo gaskets, and the stuff on the long block, (sometimes reusable) you are looking at over a grand in just internal seals and gaskets. That's not factoring the labor to remove/replace the motor, replacing anything in the engine bay such as coolant hoses, vacuum lines, etc. Anyone doing it that cheap is re-using parts and you will end up with a poor-quality motor. with 89k, there is a good chance the rotor housings will have significant wear and not be reusable. Those alone are over $800 each. That being said, if the compression is low it is usually more cost effective to rebuild the motor before it lets go because a broken seal will almost always destroy a rotor housing and the turbos.

 

I planned on a mild street port and bolt ons to start...

From what I gathered on here it seems safe...

 

a PFC isn't necessary with a streetport but it is recommended for the gauges and lowering the fan turn on point. stock the FD runs a little hotter than my liking, the dummy water temp gauge is a little misleading.

 

True but if you cant afford a pfc atm you could always just get the fc thermo fan switch which would lower when the fans kick in.

 

Rich or not, the car will be much safer and run smoother with a power fc and proper tune.

 

Do you mean completely stock and running a PFC? Or are you talking about just w mods.

 

#929 here , with 88k , 90 psi on front , 100 on rear , i decided to re-build
the low compression,3 piece seals, 20+ years old engine,were the factors of my decision.
and also went single for more reliability.

 

just spoke with another local shop and was quoted almost 5k for a rebuild of all the seals, plus pulling the motor and replacing vacuum lines as well....a little bit more then I expected/want to pay.

 

prices will range quite a lot in this business. i would still be leary of having that amount of work done for only $2k, i'm one of the cheapest out there and my price for that job starts at $2800($2500 with stock port) and goes up from there.

 

I could try to do it myself...and spend about half or less....just scared I wont replace something that may possible need replaced. and between that and worked nights full time...I don't want the car sitting in the garage in pieces for 2-3 months. I guess im in quite a predicament right now...

 

you really have 4 options:

risk it by going to the cheaper shop which is probably going to give substandard results

pay the premium and hope they do premium work

do it yourself and probably take 10-20 times the amount of time you originally planned for and not be able to actually enjoy the car for possibly years to come

just drive it and pony up the extra in the event of a more destructive failure


from the sound of it i think the last option suits you best. save up in the meantime for the inevitable, then decide on #2 or #3. but most FD owners who plan to keep their cars long term won't choke up at a $5k major job bill.

a last option is to just buy a spare rebuilt engine and swap it in yourself while documenting the process for review during installation. keep in mind core REWs usually start at $1k and go up from there these days so a spare engine could cost from $2500 up by itself, or a used rebuilt engine for a little more than half that.

 

It's worth having a reputable shop rebuild it. You can do it yourself, I did and I enjoyed it, but if you've never done it before there are things you will miss, things you won't know, and in the end it could all go south on you (hence the reason I drive a hyundai currently and don't own my FD anymore) 5k isn't that much money for a solid build. I would honestly send it to someone who does it for a living like RotaryEvolution^ or Pineapple, or Atkins. Everyone has success and failure stories but you get some sort of guarantee with these people and they can see things about your car that you can't. If you're really uncomfortable pull the engine yourself it's pretty easy and get UPS or FedEx to crate it up and send it off. Otherwise take the car to a shop and let them do the work and look at your car. My next FD will be built by myself to factory spec and if I fail at it again then I'll be sending it out to have it done somewhere. Just don't try and save money, these car's don't like tight wallets and they will let you know.

 

i actually got in touch with a local guy that said he worked for mazda for 8 years. 5 time ASE certified tech. said he just rebuilt a rotary last week. he said if I bought the rebuild kit he would do it for cheap. said I could come help too if I wanted to which would be cool I think so that I could become more familiar with everything

 

I would wait a little bit on the rebuild.

Personally, I would check compression (as other have said) and if the numbers didn't turn out to be stellar then I would purposely drive it for a couple of thousand miles. The reasoning behind it is that I would get an idea of what other issues may be lurking. Such as over heating, boost, vacuum problems, coolant leaks, oil leaks, ect.

 

^Agreed. And help with hesitation at transition and overall driveability. But just "a little misleading"? I'd bet that gauge was responsible for a lot of rebuilds the first decade or so out.

 

Like most luxury items in life it depends on your budget. A lot depends on how much you are paying for the car, as long as the price reflects that need for the engine rebuild then it does not matter when you do it. If you are paying full price for it, you might want to shop around for another car.

Keep in mind that age does play a role, we have a car in the shop right now with 39K original miles. Compression was perfect but the customer decided that is was time to rebuild, when I disassembled the engine the outer oil control o-rings crumbled.

Point is you are buying a used car and you need to be prepared to put more money into it. Also be wary of shops that will give you a lowball phone estimate, in an attempt to get your car and money in the shop, just to double or triple the price once your engine is out and apart. Get a written estimate and work order when you drop off the car.

 

what shop are you taking it too?

 

i don't know what im going to do yet. there are a few shops in the area. then I also got in contact with a guy who worked for mazda for 8 years. he said he would do it for 1k plus parts. I told him that was a lil crazy that price was that low, he said he just rebuilt one last week and he is just paying it forward. also said that I could help him too if I wanted to.