i have a newly rebuilt engine and I want it to last. I will be keeping the stock turbos and don't plan on anything higher than 12psi. I am happy with the level of power the FD provides, not to mention the quick spoolup of sequential twins. I have done the reliability mods so far (AST elimination, downpipe, boost/water gauge, new turbo hoses). I will be adding a new radiator shortly and have done all the routine maintainence required but I was wondering if there's anything else that will make a noticeable difference in reliability? I'd rather spend now than later and have the inconvenience of not being able to drive the FD for weeks at a time.

 

What else do you need to do to get trouble free 100K miles ore more from your newly rebuilt FD?

Answer: A strong prayer and some awesome *** luck.

 

it shouldent be a problem getting 100k out of your new engine. there are lots of people on here that have gotten over 100k on a single engine. just take care of it, dont let it overheat. run it hard!

 

Do the reliability mods first.

The rest is common sense, which alot of people lack.

For instance, many kids buy rx-7's and the first thing they get is a boost gauge. They think, well, if I turn this up REALLY high it will go faster..... shut the **** up

Really though, my first FD made it 110,000 miles before I had to replace it, I drove it every day, summer, rain, winter, I would do some pulls on the highway as well.

Probably the best thing, I dont know why people do this anyways, dont drag off the line, it puts so much strain on everything... if your gona race somone, race from a 20 or so mph roll...

And oh... most importantly, wash and wax the car frequently, give it oil changes every 2k miles and just let it know its loved.... I swear these cars are alive

 

Change the oil frequently.
Stay at stock boost.
Get rid of the precat.
presto...100K miles

 

Another biggie is an aftermarket water temp gauge - keep an eye on temps. If you start seeing temps routinely running higher, look into a new thermostat or the like. I was discussing this with Turbojeff the other night, and we both strongly believe that MANY FD's have run on the very edge of overheating for a LONG time without the owner knowing it due to the crappy stock temp gauge.

Keep up on all the little stuff. Seems many times the people that bitch about the FD not being reliable are the same ones that can't be bothered to fix an oil leak, change the plugs or fuel filter, etc. You really have to stay on top of maintenance and take care of problems WHEN they happen.

And, either learn to work on the car yourself well or find a good mechanic. Poor, sloppy mechanical work has caused more problems on these cars. Things you can get away with on grandma's Buick won't fly with a high performance sports car.

Dale

 

I think most FD are running on the edge of overheat for a long time and most owners dont know it.When I first bought my 94R2 the first thing I did was to installed a digital temp guage to see my real temps.Holly sh*t low speed cooling fans were kicking in at 230F and the stock guage showed normal.I have read others that have seen these same temps, this must be the standard activation temp for the cooling fans. Shop manuel says 221F I dont think so, no wonder these cars overheat so easily the fan turn on temp is too high.I installed a permacool adjustable fan switch now I have my fans kicking in at 204F thats a 26F lower temp than stock.This should make a huge differance in engine life in the long run.

 

I would suggest 10psi boost for maximum engine life.

 

I'd say a 350 or similar transplant.

 

Define "lots".

There are a "lot" of people on this forum with cars with more than 100k miles, but in many (if not most) cases, they're not the original owners. I'll bet that most don't know if the original (and any subsequent) owner(s) had the engine replaced without finding the numbers on the "block" and giving Mazda a call. To say that a lot of them have over 100k miles on the original engine is likely (very) wishful thinking.

I'd bet the number of US FDs that have made it to 100k on the original engine is under 200, and that includes cars owned by people not on the forum, but let's say for sake of argument that 500 had. With US sales totaling ~13,800, that's only 3.6%. Even 1,000 would only be 7.2%. Define "pathetic".

The FD can be reliable, but not like many other sports cars where you'd almost literally have to put a bullet through the engine block or total the car to prevent it from reaching 100k miles on the original engine.

 

yeah its not a toyota but with the reliability mods and some common sense I think you will be able to get pretty close to 100k miles, of course with these cars you never know lol

 

I don't know if I agree with this. My friend was a Mazda mechanic at a dealership for many years and while he did replace a lot of engines it was not uncommon for some FDs to go 100K. However, even if you do everything right sometimes you won't get 100K out of your FD. It's kind of a role of the dice. At least the engines are inexpensive against those of comparable sports cars!

I also disagree about other sports cars being very hard to break before 100K. I know PLENTY of European sports cars that have broken their engine before 100K, particularly if they are driven hard at the track. Many BMW, Porsche and Ferrari cars I've seen or used to work on have their original engines go before 100K even with propery maintenance.

You're probably thinking of the new corvette when you're saying other sports cars are indestructible. I know nothing to affirm or refute that.

As far as America V8 muscle my 1990 Mustang and my 1984 Crown Victoria both needed rebuilt engines before 100K and they were well maintained. I imagine more modern versions of the pushrod V8 engines are more reliable. The first version of the Dodge Viper was infamous for needing a new engine about every 20-50K.

However... my Miata does have 170K and is still going just as strong as ever and has never broken down even once.

 

Definitely ditto on replacing the fuel filter. I say do it every 15k miles. It's small for the amount of fuel flowing through it and even a small blockage of fuel on a cold day while under boost could be deadly.

Also, I garage my car, and after every drive I open the hood to let all the heat out. I think this help the hoses and other components last longer. 2 hrs. later, if I touch the alternator, it can still be hot. So if you leave the hood down, all that stuff is in there just baking.

 

Radiator, nice set of aftermarke oil coolers, and go to the buddhist temple to have it blessed...

 

my fd is at 90k right now so its pretty close to that 100 mark. i orderd the rx7.com fuelfilter so ima install that soon. ill prob change all the oils within a few weeks then once i get my taxes ill prob be fixing all the little problems that the car has and then getting a new radiator so itll be back to 100%

 

Well, let's put it this way. If it were not uncommon, no one would be making a big fuss about it, would they? Ho hum, another 100k mile FD with the original engine... *yawn*

Instead, it's practically national news when someone breaks 100k on the original engine.

 

100k is an important milestone for an FD, one that isn't easily achieved on an original engine. It would be nice if it was, say a Honda s2k, and we could expect another 100k after hitting the first 100k.

 

I would go with lowering your expectations, say 60K?. Especially if you are modifying/upping the boost.

If you take care of the car, and start making arrangements and plans around the 60K mark, you will be in a much better spot.


With that said, the original engine on my 7 made it to 139K before the first rebuild.