i went looking at an rx7 today. it has 124k miles on it. everything looks good. a cloud of white smoke came out the tailpipe just after a few seconds of start up(immediately thinking to myslef it's a leaking o ring?) then took the car for a test drive. the car didn't feel like it could run 14's or 13's in 1/4 mile. everything in the car is original. well after the test drive..i popped open the hood and to my surprise it started smoking(i drove it kind of hard like your suppose to in an rx7) it was motor oil sizzling in the engine bay..and dripping from the bottom. it caught a small fire few mins later. the oil was coming out from under the UIM and splashed out around the area. could this be a leaking gasket? or blown seal of some sort? checked the oil and it was pitch black.
so there is no doubt that it needs a new engine right?

i saw the guy's ad on internet asking for 13k how much should i ask this guy for knowing that a new engine is in need. he said it this never happened before but i think he knows and tried to play it off. im calling him back later this week but how much should i offer?
any advice is appreciated..thx

cheers,
kent

 

oil was picth black?
FORGET it. The guy doesn't even have the common decency to at least change the oil out before selling it.

The only place the oil would come out of from under the UIM are the oil injectors, unless the filler neck also has a hole and its squrting oil to that side. It could also be a broken hose to the PCV valve.

White smoke could mean bad o-ring, but it could just be humidity. As long as it does NOT smell like coolant, then you are ok.

 

Offer that dude 10g. I think that would be reasonable, but hey try everything you can to bargain with him. Welcome to the forum

 

Never happened before-- riiiiiiggghhht.

Before the small fire started, did you smell any raw gas from under the hood? Could be a leaky fuel pulsation dampener, which should be replaced immediately.

 

oi, i would stay away from cars that have actually caught fire during a testdrive!

 

Sound advice if ever I heard it!

 

That's too much...offer him 9k...if the oil was black then chances are he hasn't change the oil often enough...plan on a rebuild shortly after purchase...Figure 4k for it installed with new turbos another 1k. so subtract that from the offering price...

Be careful on this one

 

RUN: My guess is you will spend approximately 10k during in a two year relationship with that bitch or will be filing for divorce papers even sooner. Go get a low mileage garage queen instead

 

Run away as fast as you can, no matter how pretty she may be waxed up. If the motor is shot, what else could possibly have been neglected? Did the tranny grind(5th gear synchro)? Are the bushings shot? PPF cracked? Does he have all maint. records, including clutch replacement? Do you want a 'project car" or one that runs reliably? I'd move on IMHO.

 

go far far away from this car. talk the guy down quite a bit only if your looking for a project car cause this thing is going to give you some trouble. what did this guy have to say after it caught fire??? he wasn't standing there with fire exstinguisher in hand waiting was he? this thing could have the elusive R-Magic body kit on it and i wouldn't buy it with that many miles on it doing what it did for $9k.

like i said, try talking him down as long as you have another car as your daily driver or know someplace you can buy new exstingusher's at a pretty reasonable price each week

 

Tell him to find another sucker. Even if it was running ok, 10g is no bargain for a car with such high miles. If the engine is this bad, I have to assume the rest isn't perfect either.

Keep looking, Adam

 

I think this is the real question here. If you wanted a car with a fresh ported motor, then this might be fine if you can get the price down low enough to compensate for the new motor. Rest assured, that motor is toast with that many miles. On the other hand, if you aren't prepared to deal with a new motor, move on. There are plenty of better choices out there for the money.

Cheers,

 

I keep seeing people say white smoke on startup is OK if it doesn't smell like coolant. Has anyone here ever seen a rotary with bad oil seals? If it has a cat it'll smoke like a bitch until the cat warms up then it'll go away and you won't see anything.

You need to get a really smokin' deal on this car, say $8K to make it worth your while. Rebuilt motor $2K, all the stuff that needs to be done at the same time another $2K. If your not doing it yourself $2K labor. If you do it yourself you should get some type of discount for your time.

Jeff
93 R1
94 PEP, woke up from a 4yr hibernation today!

 

white smoke? on cold days, doesn't water from the exhaust condense on the inside of the cold exhaust pipes and then boil off producing white "smoke". cause when we start my dads car when its cold out, it smokes like cars do when its cold out, then it starts "smoking" like hell. tons of vapour pours out and then once the cat is warm is smokes like normal (cold out normal). i would give the same advice as everyone else on the car. buy for project car or skip and buy a lower milage car.

 

cars with no motors go for 6k-8k on ebay. You can find a good one for 13k-15k with many mods and maybe new motor or new turbos.

 

i do plan on making it a project car..put in a new motor myself etc..a lot of diy's on this car if i get a deal on it.
the clouds of white smoke went for 2 mins and filled up the whole garage..could be the o ring from what i've read. what if the motor is beyond repair? how much is a remanufactured 13b? do i get some money back if i send my shot motor in? i heard something about core tag? not exactly sure what this is..

cheers,
kent

 

Don't pay any more than $9,000 for the car. You WILL need a new engine very soon and those aren't cheap. If its on original turbos also I'd only pay $8,000 and that's if the body was in good shape. If it didn't 'feel' fast then there is something wrong because these things pull like a bat out of hell.

-Charlie

 

YEP, Get out now!