rx7 problems (sport compact car)
Junior Member
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
From: Raleigh, NC
OK, I've been interested in buying an FD3S as well... And to be quite frank, this thread scares the **** out of me.
It's not because I'm some ricer kid who's interested in the RX-7 because of watching the Fast and the Felonious... I'm actually genuinely interested in the RX-7 and learning about it. As an engineer, I appreciate the philosophy and theory behind the rotary engine and RX-7.
Yet at the same time, I've just graduated from college and I still dont have a "full-time" engineering job. I'm working as a supplemental engineer making decent money. But I'm not quite making the +60k that I assume most other rotary fanatics on this forum are making, so I really dont have the income to support a car that's going to suck my wallet dry...
With that said and done... Somebody say something to make me feel better about looking to buy an FD3S, aside from the obvious fact that its damn fast.
It's not because I'm some ricer kid who's interested in the RX-7 because of watching the Fast and the Felonious... I'm actually genuinely interested in the RX-7 and learning about it. As an engineer, I appreciate the philosophy and theory behind the rotary engine and RX-7.
Yet at the same time, I've just graduated from college and I still dont have a "full-time" engineering job. I'm working as a supplemental engineer making decent money. But I'm not quite making the +60k that I assume most other rotary fanatics on this forum are making, so I really dont have the income to support a car that's going to suck my wallet dry...
With that said and done... Somebody say something to make me feel better about looking to buy an FD3S, aside from the obvious fact that its damn fast.
Full Member
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 100
Likes: 0
From: EVERETT, WA.
no oil pressure, but new engine(5k miles), coolant - put in aftermarket radiator, bad battery - replaced, bad paint? it's been repainted, boost is fine. Usually, low oil pr. when oil level is getting low, or using factory rec. weight- use 20w-50, gets better. Don't know of any problems with that heavy an oil in a new motor... any clues?
don't race, don't need to
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 1,292
Likes: 1
From: Tri-Cities, WA
BE afraid, VERY afraid..
Actually, not ALL cars will be as neglected as the ones most of us who are complaining have been saddled with. But finding a properly maintained unit is difficult, and even the best ones on paper turn out to be one step away from eating the wallet. So take it as a buyer BE-VERY-DAMN-WARE, and check a car out thouroughly before buying, and if you aren't comfortable doing so, find a shop that can, and if the seller isn't comfortable having it done, RUN don't walk!
20W-50 will give better pressure as it's thicker. Might be ok for summer, but winter will make that too cold and it may starve components. Around here (I'm in Mill Creek now), that isn't as much a problem as say Michigan, but I'd still shy away from 20W-50 in the winter.
Rob at Pineapple Racing (who built my current 650 mile old engine) reccomended the 10W-30 bor break in and regular running. No synthetic until 5000 miles as there isn't enough friction to properly internally machine the parts to final tolerance.
Actually, not ALL cars will be as neglected as the ones most of us who are complaining have been saddled with. But finding a properly maintained unit is difficult, and even the best ones on paper turn out to be one step away from eating the wallet. So take it as a buyer BE-VERY-DAMN-WARE, and check a car out thouroughly before buying, and if you aren't comfortable doing so, find a shop that can, and if the seller isn't comfortable having it done, RUN don't walk!
20W-50 will give better pressure as it's thicker. Might be ok for summer, but winter will make that too cold and it may starve components. Around here (I'm in Mill Creek now), that isn't as much a problem as say Michigan, but I'd still shy away from 20W-50 in the winter.
Rob at Pineapple Racing (who built my current 650 mile old engine) reccomended the 10W-30 bor break in and regular running. No synthetic until 5000 miles as there isn't enough friction to properly internally machine the parts to final tolerance.
Uber Newb.
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 98
Likes: 0
From: LSU - Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Re: rx7 problems (sport compact car)
- No boost above 4500 rpm
nope
- oil pressure gauge reads 0 PSI
nope
- Hood squeaks and rattles
not that I can tell
- hand brake light comes on while driving
never noticed
- low coolant alarm goes off
nope
- radio flashing "err" code
non-Bose
- Paint problems
faded mirrors
- battery failure and leakage
new batt
- brake rotor warping
none
- suspension clunk
of course
- cracking factory wheels
never! (please God)
- oil pan leak
hehe, yep
- interior parts cracking and breaking
none broken or cracked, but that stupid covering is flaking a bit
nope
- oil pressure gauge reads 0 PSI
nope
- Hood squeaks and rattles
not that I can tell
- hand brake light comes on while driving
never noticed
- low coolant alarm goes off
nope
- radio flashing "err" code
non-Bose
- Paint problems
faded mirrors
- battery failure and leakage
new batt
- brake rotor warping
none
- suspension clunk
of course
- cracking factory wheels
never! (please God)
- oil pan leak
hehe, yep
- interior parts cracking and breaking
none broken or cracked, but that stupid covering is flaking a bit
Full Member
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 180
Likes: 0
From: Madison, AL
JHChin - Advice, the car isn't nearly as much of a money pit as a wife and even worse KIDS! :- )
If you are afraid of an RX7, RUN don't walk the first time you even THINK about getting married! :- )
Now as far as my car. Purchased 3.5 years ago with 47k miles, 2nd owner. Currently 64k miles.
Paint - Clearcoat was peeling when I purchased it. Underneath the clearcoat the basecoat looked great. It is in the shop being painted this week.
Boost - Yeah, 2nd turbo wouldn't work 75% of the time. None of the shops in town had a clue how to fix it. Took it to KDRotary for the Non-Seq mod. Dave said the problem was a solenoid. None of the shops in town said that they all had other "ideas", none of them were actually a problem of course. Note, when the 2nd turbo wasn't working, I HATED this car, I was NO fun at all. I loved it after the trip to KDRotary.
Parking brake light - Yeap, only when first driving, after a few miles it stays off. I keep meaning to adjust it.
Glove box light - It originally stayed ON, I did fix that.
Rotors - Yeap, when I bought mine the fronts were warped. Replaced with Brembo Crossdrilled/Slotted
Cooling system - Don't know, I had KDRotary rip out the AST, replace the thermostat, hoses, fluid, etc. BEFORE they had a chance to give me a problem.
Radio - Had the Bose system. When purchased the drivers door speaker was blown. Later the Bose Wave Tube Amp caught fire. Replaced everything with aftermarket, MUCH nicer than the stock system.
Oil pan leak - Yes, not bad though. Not bad enough to justify the large expense involved to fix it. At least it can wait until other things are done at the same time to save labor expenses.
If you are afraid of an RX7, RUN don't walk the first time you even THINK about getting married! :- )
Now as far as my car. Purchased 3.5 years ago with 47k miles, 2nd owner. Currently 64k miles.
Paint - Clearcoat was peeling when I purchased it. Underneath the clearcoat the basecoat looked great. It is in the shop being painted this week.
Boost - Yeah, 2nd turbo wouldn't work 75% of the time. None of the shops in town had a clue how to fix it. Took it to KDRotary for the Non-Seq mod. Dave said the problem was a solenoid. None of the shops in town said that they all had other "ideas", none of them were actually a problem of course. Note, when the 2nd turbo wasn't working, I HATED this car, I was NO fun at all. I loved it after the trip to KDRotary.
Parking brake light - Yeap, only when first driving, after a few miles it stays off. I keep meaning to adjust it.
Glove box light - It originally stayed ON, I did fix that.
Rotors - Yeap, when I bought mine the fronts were warped. Replaced with Brembo Crossdrilled/Slotted
Cooling system - Don't know, I had KDRotary rip out the AST, replace the thermostat, hoses, fluid, etc. BEFORE they had a chance to give me a problem.
Radio - Had the Bose system. When purchased the drivers door speaker was blown. Later the Bose Wave Tube Amp caught fire. Replaced everything with aftermarket, MUCH nicer than the stock system.
Oil pan leak - Yes, not bad though. Not bad enough to justify the large expense involved to fix it. At least it can wait until other things are done at the same time to save labor expenses.
Junior Member
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
From: Raleigh, NC
NoRice,
Well it's like my friend told me once... "If you're not willing to part with your money, then don't get married." As for the RX-7, I'm not afraid to part with my money to buy and maintain one... I'm just afraid that I may not have enough.
NoRice, I also wanted to say... Sept 2003, NC State comes to Columbus Ohio to spank some Buckeye ***.
I'm just teasing... I'm sure it'll be a good football game! At the very least, we should put up a fight against the defending national champs.
GO WOLFPACK!
Well it's like my friend told me once... "If you're not willing to part with your money, then don't get married." As for the RX-7, I'm not afraid to part with my money to buy and maintain one... I'm just afraid that I may not have enough.
NoRice, I also wanted to say... Sept 2003, NC State comes to Columbus Ohio to spank some Buckeye ***.
I'm just teasing... I'm sure it'll be a good football game! At the very least, we should put up a fight against the defending national champs.GO WOLFPACK!
Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 360
Likes: 0
From: Kalifornia
HA HA HA HA. I love this tread. I just and am stile replacing everything. I am single turbo now. Oh well - my never ending project. When I bought my car, I even put 45 miles on it before I took it apart.
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 336
Likes: 2
From: Redmond WA
My first FD was almost maintenance free. One expensive rotor position sensor repair.
Second one now has lots of neglected repairs and abused items. Oil pressure sender flakey when hot, drops to zero and scares you. Macho door-closers fluxed the left door trim. Injectors were leaking fuel on the top of the hot engine from heat damage; don't let that go more than for a trip to the mechanic. Bose door speaker amp died. Auto antenna flakey. Sunroof reluctant. Glove box handle broken. Warped exhaust manifold and the usual turbo heat cracks. Intake air leaks. Bad TPS, EGR, and Air Control valve. Hatch too heavy to stay open with the struts. Water leak in hatch. Bent rr hub and so bad bearing. Bose audio unit does not nest right and cuts out after hard bumps. But, hey, it's my dream car...
Second one now has lots of neglected repairs and abused items. Oil pressure sender flakey when hot, drops to zero and scares you. Macho door-closers fluxed the left door trim. Injectors were leaking fuel on the top of the hot engine from heat damage; don't let that go more than for a trip to the mechanic. Bose door speaker amp died. Auto antenna flakey. Sunroof reluctant. Glove box handle broken. Warped exhaust manifold and the usual turbo heat cracks. Intake air leaks. Bad TPS, EGR, and Air Control valve. Hatch too heavy to stay open with the struts. Water leak in hatch. Bent rr hub and so bad bearing. Bose audio unit does not nest right and cuts out after hard bumps. But, hey, it's my dream car...
Blow up or win
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 2,014
Likes: 3
From: Altezzaville
Ummmm, lookie here bubbas - there is no such thing as warped brake rotors - on any car. No matter what your Daddy told you. Never has been, never will be:
http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/...otors_myth.htm
Just another urban myth that goes along with cell phones causing gas station fires....
http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/...otors_myth.htm
Just another urban myth that goes along with cell phones causing gas station fires....
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 49
Likes: 1
From: Southern Hemisphere
Hey you guys with the 0 oil pressure.
I had the same problem with my car. I cleaned the contacts at the sender unit with grease remover stuff and then sanded the male plugs with fine sandpaper. Upon plugging the wires back onto the sender unit (which is located at a stupid position ... below the oil filter) I had perfectly working stock oil pressure meter. Give it a try .... no harm.
Kace
I had the same problem with my car. I cleaned the contacts at the sender unit with grease remover stuff and then sanded the male plugs with fine sandpaper. Upon plugging the wires back onto the sender unit (which is located at a stupid position ... below the oil filter) I had perfectly working stock oil pressure meter. Give it a try .... no harm.
Kace
Junior Member
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 49
Likes: 1
From: Southern Hemisphere
Oh, and the squeeks will never go away hence I've learned to live with it.
Coolant alarm going off - when it happened to me was because I forgot to plug the sensor back in.
Suspension clunk - only clunk I got was from the rear suspension bushings which were 10 years old and from the differential mount bushings.
Interior - sux as with most Mazdas.
Factory wheels cracking - errr .... I've seen a few dented ones, but for them to crack, it must have been like a land-mine or something.
Radio - no one here still uses the original.
Warped rotor - will check them after this post!
Yaadaa yaadaa bla bla bla ......
Coolant alarm going off - when it happened to me was because I forgot to plug the sensor back in.
Suspension clunk - only clunk I got was from the rear suspension bushings which were 10 years old and from the differential mount bushings.
Interior - sux as with most Mazdas.
Factory wheels cracking - errr .... I've seen a few dented ones, but for them to crack, it must have been like a land-mine or something.
Radio - no one here still uses the original.
Warped rotor - will check them after this post!
Yaadaa yaadaa bla bla bla ......
2/4 wheel cornering fiend
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 3,090
Likes: 3
From: Pasadena, CA
Originally posted by RonKMiller
Ummmm, lookie here bubbas - there is no such thing as warped brake rotors - on any car. No matter what your Daddy told you. Never has been, never will be:
http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/...otors_myth.htm
Just another urban myth that goes along with cell phones causing gas station fires....
Ummmm, lookie here bubbas - there is no such thing as warped brake rotors - on any car. No matter what your Daddy told you. Never has been, never will be:
http://www.stoptech.com/whitepapers/...otors_myth.htm
Just another urban myth that goes along with cell phones causing gas station fires....
Have experienced a few of the problems listed in this thread, but nothing that couldn't be fixed fairly easily with a little patience and mechanical aptitude.
On another note, I'm saving my stock early edition '93 wheels (the ones that were supposedly prone to cracking) for auto-x/track day stuff, as they're incredibly light (only 11 lbs.) for an OEM 8" wheel.
Rotorally Challenged
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 1,512
Likes: 0
From: Southern Illinois
Geez,
Did they also print a list of crapola items for a 93-95 Supra, Corvette, or BMW? I think not.
Christ guys these cars are 10 year old EXOTICS that develop tons of HP and HEAT! Try looking at the list of problems for a 10 year old Ferrari, Lambo, Maserati etc. If you want a totally dependable vehicle with a NO PROBLEM pedigree, buy a VOLVO.
My '84 245 DL had 450,000 Miles on it when I GAVE it to my neighbor who put a master cylinder on it and sold it --- I still see it driving around the backroads.
My '87 245 DL I bought for $2500 with 121K miles on it---it now has over 300K miles, and all I have had to replace on it since I bought it was a pair of ball joints---Yes the clutch is still OEM. And before you raise the BS flag, the information presented is totally true.
I have had 2 3rd gens and a 2nd gen T2 and am extremely happy with the results.
Did they also print a list of crapola items for a 93-95 Supra, Corvette, or BMW? I think not.
Christ guys these cars are 10 year old EXOTICS that develop tons of HP and HEAT! Try looking at the list of problems for a 10 year old Ferrari, Lambo, Maserati etc. If you want a totally dependable vehicle with a NO PROBLEM pedigree, buy a VOLVO.
My '84 245 DL had 450,000 Miles on it when I GAVE it to my neighbor who put a master cylinder on it and sold it --- I still see it driving around the backroads.
My '87 245 DL I bought for $2500 with 121K miles on it---it now has over 300K miles, and all I have had to replace on it since I bought it was a pair of ball joints---Yes the clutch is still OEM. And before you raise the BS flag, the information presented is totally true.
I have had 2 3rd gens and a 2nd gen T2 and am extremely happy with the results.
Re: rx7 problems (sport compact car)
Originally posted by stik6shift00
They had a buying guide in the march 2003 issue of sport compact car, besides the three recalls, they listed some other problems, although they said they're not so common, i just want to know how many of you have trouble with these:
- Little to no boost below 4500 rpm
- oil pressure gauge occasionally reads almost 0 PSI at idle
- low coolant alarm goes off @ startup
- cracking factory wheels
- oil pan gasket leak
- interior parts cracking and breaking
They had a buying guide in the march 2003 issue of sport compact car, besides the three recalls, they listed some other problems, although they said they're not so common, i just want to know how many of you have trouble with these:
- Little to no boost below 4500 rpm
- oil pressure gauge occasionally reads almost 0 PSI at idle
- low coolant alarm goes off @ startup
- cracking factory wheels
- oil pan gasket leak
- interior parts cracking and breaking
I win
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,875
Likes: 2
From: NJ
Could be a ground... check your grounds make sure your radiator is topped off and everything. I am on my first FD now I also have a highly modded FC I use to drive daily but I reg'd the FD friday and it's my new daily driver now. So far so good, great boost pattern good solid smooth performance I stay on top of the maitenence.
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 21
Likes: 0
From: WASHINGTON STATE
On a 1994 r2 I've owned the car 14 months, I have some suspenion clunk, and the oil pressure is off and on even though I try to clean the contacts on the oil sending unit it only lasts awhile. Overall 4,000 miles and no major problems, no eaten coolant and boosts 11-8-10 I guess I'm just lucky
- No boost above 4500 rpm
*Nope...but low boost (6 or 7 psi)
- oil pressure gauge reads 0 PSI
*Fixed! Replaced the Oil Pressure sender
- Hood squeaks and rattles
*Just WD-40 the rubber stopper thing...no more squeaks
- hand brake light comes on while driving
*Nope
- low coolant alarm goes off
*Yeah, but it was because I actually had low coolant (Radiator hoses needed replacing)
- radio flashing "err" code
*Nope
- Paint problems
* a couple speckles of paint chipping...but nothing major
- battery failure and leakage
*Nope
- brake rotor warping
*Nope
- suspension clunk
*I thought I did...but then I had a second opinion
- cracking factory wheels
*Nope..just a little bit of road rash
- oil pan leak
*Nope
- interior parts cracking and breaking
*Yup...I already did the Center Console (Shifter area), but I need to do the rest
*Nope...but low boost (6 or 7 psi)
- oil pressure gauge reads 0 PSI
*Fixed! Replaced the Oil Pressure sender
- Hood squeaks and rattles
*Just WD-40 the rubber stopper thing...no more squeaks
- hand brake light comes on while driving
*Nope
- low coolant alarm goes off
*Yeah, but it was because I actually had low coolant (Radiator hoses needed replacing)
- radio flashing "err" code
*Nope
- Paint problems
* a couple speckles of paint chipping...but nothing major
- battery failure and leakage
*Nope
- brake rotor warping
*Nope
- suspension clunk
*I thought I did...but then I had a second opinion
- cracking factory wheels
*Nope..just a little bit of road rash
- oil pan leak
*Nope
- interior parts cracking and breaking
*Yup...I already did the Center Console (Shifter area), but I need to do the rest
no problems yet
Originally Posted by the colonel001
I Have A 1990 Rx7 Convertible. The Coolant Buzzer Keeps Going Off When I First Star T It Up. It Is Not Running Hot. What's Wrong
Take it to a rotary mechanic who knows their stuff and let them find the problem.
Dave
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
blkops
3rd Generation Specific (1993-2002)
7
Aug 12, 2015 01:30 PM
