Merkury

Hi! My name is Tiago and I am from Portugal... A few years ago i owned a 93 RX-7, grey, and i just loved that damn thing... But what brings me here is a rather controversal issue that is going on with a friend of mine.

The 3rd Gen RX-7 was not officially sold in Portugal, and although you see several running around, it is very hard to get spare parts for them... This led to the selling of my car, and to the problem i am about to expose.

A friend of mine bought a red 3rd Gen RX-7 4 months ago, wich was originally from the USA. 3 weeks later it the hose that goes from the air filter box to the second turbo broke and the turbo started to let oil loose. That meant that when the time for the 2nd turbo to get in action arrived, it simply wouldn't! No power... The car had a one year warranty, so naturally he headed to the dealer and asked him to solve the problem... And this is still going on! The man talks about sendig the 2 turbos to Spain to be repaired... He talks about getting a Turbo repair kit (I've never heard of such thing and i work with cars...) and the car is not ready, and it doesn't seem to me that it will.
I have no doubt that the car dealer is a complete jackass, that is trying to pull some stunt off, and to put it in a simple way, if he can't repair the turbos, he'd better star thinking about buying new ones and putting them there!

The text is a bit long but i think you'll understand why. These are my questions...

1 - Are the turbos from the european, japanese and american versions different?

2 - Could you provide me with the references? (My englis is a bit rusty) of the turbos?

3 - Has anyone had a similar experience, and, if so, are there any other problems that can come up from this situation?

Thanks in advance...

BTW, the RX-7 keeps a special place in my heart... The handling, the power, the noise, the looks... Congratulations to you all!

Joker

how many miles on the car? it's common for oil to be in the air box hose from turbo blow-by



what do you mean no power? do you mean the 2nd turbo did not engage?



sounds like the dealer's problem?



hard to judge. could be bad solenoid vacuum hoses? depends on the age of the car?



not necessarily.



the fd rx7 was pulled from the rest-of-world market in 1996. any rx7s in europe would have the same turbo specs as us spec turbos. from 1996 to 2002, fd rx7s were only sold in japan.

japan changed the turbos in 1999 to make more hp. those same turbos were in the last model, the spirit r (production ended in 2002).



try doing a search on the rx7 forum. i'll try dig up one myself.



many fd rx7 owners have had turbo problems. this is one reason why so many convert to non-sequential or go single turbo.

artguy

contact bryan at bnr supercars

the link is on the top of this page

you can purchase a kit to do the rebuild...the problem is that the majority of the turbo builders do not have success building these turbos.

i had two different companies FAIL at building my turbos.

bryan at bnr is getting good results right now. you should just export them to him and have him rebuild them and send them back to you.

TEC does rebuilding as well...I believe they are in colorado and are doing great work.


good luck to you


jason

Joker

turbos may not necessarily need a rebuild...could be bad solenoid vacuum hoses?

sounds like an advertisement?

Merkury

Yeap... The second turbo did nothing... It might go round and round like it should, but the results in power output were completely 0.

It is the dealers problem... But in 4 months even I was able to build 4 RX-7's with a Pinto... Too much time to get something done...

Maybe you didn't understand me right... The RX-7 is a very rare thing in Portugal, and spare parts are a pain in the neck to find... The turbo repair kit... He can't find one in a 4 months period... Damn... In 4 months he could have ordered the new material and put it in place! That's why i am very suspicious about his honesty...



Thanks again...

Joker

the 2nd turbos arean't engaging?

could be bad solenoid vacuum hoses. won't know this until you pull off the upper intake manifold and check the condition of the hoses? if they're hardened and cracked, they'll need to be replaced with silicone rubber hoses with larger outer diameters.

fwiw turbos seldom go bad on the car...problems are usually associated with the sequential solenoid system.

Merkury

I think i wrote somewhere that the hose was cracked... And don't ask me why, but this led to a problem on the 2nd turbo... Not happy enough with the problems on one, he wants to repair both, even though the 1st one is fine... (Or at least he said it was...)

keynote22

I had a similar situation when I got my fd. I was ready to buy new J-spec 1999 turbos because they make more hp and seem to be a good reliable upgrade in the long run. When I got it to the garage they discovered that most of my intake and turbo hoses were routed incorrectly and that one hose would blow off during acceleration because the crimp style band clamp was broken. cost to reroute hoses and replace clamp....1 hour labor. I went from boost pattern 7-7-7 to 10-7-10.

most problems are hose related...rebuilds do not last....if it is broken---replace it with a better one it might cost less!!

Your friend is having some problems...the biggest will be not having anyone around who knows how to work on his car. Your garage sound like they are getting ready to do more damage. I suggest finding all the simplification mods on the forum and remove everything you can from the motor.

...the closest to you fd enthusiast I know is tobias in germany.

reference of turbo....I guess you mean technical manual? they can be downloaded here:
http://www.iluvmyrx7.com/

I would do the turbo hose simplification before I bought new turbos....I only recommend this becuase I doubt you have as many resources in Portugal as we have in the states or someone in Japan has.

learn here:
https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...simplification

good luck

keynote22

cracked hose might be the only problem...depending on the hose.

Joker

turbo simplification? is that converting to nonsequential? you'll lose low end torque with that conversion. a pisser if your fd's street-driven 100%

Merkury

I am not keen on the idea of rebuilding whatever it is... If it is broken, replace it... If possible upgrade it! The real problem is resources, and not knowing what is going on... The car is being repaired in a mechanic with the expenses paid by the car dealer.

My garage is one of Portugal's best prep shops... The only thing is that our specialization are really Rally cars... Imprezas, Deltas, Escorts, Sierras, EVO's. The problem is that the job wasn't designated to us, and that the resources in Portugal for Wankels completely SUCK!

The thing that bothers me the most is that the hose broke and got the turbo wrecked... And the damage stopped there?

keynote22

not the nonsequential, the remove everything except turbo controls

Joker

bingo...the air intake hose going into the secondary turbo broke? if that's the case then the turbo has sucked some debris inside the turbo housings. pretty sure it's gone, and you WILL need new turbos.

new set is $2900 from sr motorsports usa. same price for japan spec twins.

twins are rebuildable, depending on the condition of the core? best to go with new. easier too.

what's the mileage on the car (obviously in km)?

Merkury

51000 I guess...

We are getting somewhere.. ehehe

Joker

yes turbos have been ruined with improper intake hoses, or using sponge-type filters. the sponges degrade over time, and get sucked into the turbos.

if your intake hose was cracked, your secondary turbo was sucking in all kinds of dirt and debris. that dirt gets trapped in the turbo sleeve bearings and will cause premature failure.

verify by pulling the turbos off and check the tolerance in the turbines. they should not give very much. if there's play, then the bearings are shot, and you need new turbines, thus new turbos.

Merkury

Nice...

And now... A quickie...

Intakes and exhausts anyone? What do you reccomend... Dumpvalve can be a bonus

Joker

wow, you'll get many many opinions on this one...worth starting a new thread i think...better yet do a search before the search police comes after ya

best of luck!

Merkury

I was kinda kidding about this one... With exhausts on turbo's it is a simple task... Just find the lest restrictive... The turbo will create all the backpressure you need! The intake is what makes more indecise... Nothing like a BIIIIIIIIIIIIIG search!

Thanks for the little chat, as soon as i have developments i will post here!

Da Man

There must clearly be reputable turbo specialists in Portugal and you being into the rally scene should certainly know some. The turbo control system in RX-7's is black magic, but there's nothing much special with the turbos so anybody could examine them and rebuild or scrap them as necessary. Not that it really matters because it's not your problem, but you can obviously get a used turbo pack for reasonable money.

The turbo repair kit you mentioned could presumably be new bearings, seals, and gaskets? A bad seal could lead to oil leaks, so maybe that's a problem. Maybe the turbo not spooling up has to do with the turbo control system. Who knows.

Joker

ok keep us posted... i wanna know how it ends.

btw your english is fantastic. i couldn't type as well in portugese...