Do I need an engine rebuild? Or could it be the turbos?

1) White smoke at startup
2) Strong fuel smell
3) Oil pressure gauge reads 0 at idle

 

well, white smoke from the exhaust at start up means you have poss water leak from the broken seal. I've heard that it is not a problem, however if you want to fix this problem it will require eg rebuilt.

here is a easy way to get the slight estimate of your nomal ported eg condition.
check your turbo meter at idle and if the meter is pointing below 400mm/hg thats a possible sign of
eg needing of a OH.

 

I love life! Seems like everything is going great then you start having problems.

 

Those things are all unrelated. First, when you say white smoke, what do you mean? Burning coolant is very thick and just hangs around on the ground, it won't float away like vapor. Also, if the engine has such a bad o-ring break that you are getting coolant burning, you are also probably having a hard time starting the car and the idle is bad at startup.

As for the fuel smell at startup, all RX-7s smell like fuel at startup, but if the smell is very bad and then eventually goes away, it could be your plugs or a problem with your mixture.

Oil pressure gauge showing zero is the oil pressure sender. They are notoriously bad and have to be replaced every couple of years. If you really had 0 psi oil pressure, trust me you would know .

 

Well when I start it there is a strong fuel smell but that eventually goes away. The smoke occurs at startup and hard acceleration. The engine still pulls hard and seems to be fine. How do I adjust the mixture?

 

An easy way to check if you have o-ring failure is to perform the "champagne test" wherebuy you start the engine cold with the coolant filler cap open -the one in the middle - (make sure you put some cloth or something around it so that coolant does not go on the rest of the engine) and look into it...when the thermostat opens, you will see if you have bad o-rings champagne like bubles coming up the neck.
more info at scuderia scirianni (use this in google and you will get the link)

 

Hmm... my oil pressure is very low also at idle. When I move its up in the middle. Is that alright, or should I be shopping for some new parts ? How much does it cost ?

thanks!

 

Oil pressure sending units are notorious for going bad. I've had mine replaced, and we've replaced two recently on customer's cars. Call Malloy Mazda to see what pricing they can give you......retail is less than $200, not cheap for that little sucker. The good news is that you do have oil pressure

 

Is there any way to clean it/recalibrate the unit?

 

The strong fuel smell might be a problem with the injector seals, or the FPD. Smell under the UIM for fuel, or looks for puddles if you can see down that far. If it's not from there it may just be the exhaust of a rotary.

Do the champagne test as someone suggested for the coolant.

0 PSI of oil pressure at idle is just the sender. Welcome to the club.

 

Damn... $200
And I need it in europe.... ****.
Is there a way around it ? Any aftermarket senders ?