What Else Can Break on My Car?
 

I just learned that my rear coolant seal is blown... so I will either have to sell my RX-7 as a blown-engine FD or fix it up. My parents want me to sell it because its been nothing but a headache since I got it (in the shop five times the amount its been on the road). Anyway, I replaced the turbos (0 miles) and if I replace the engine (0 miles), then what else could feasibly go wrong... The things I can see are: Suspension, Clutch (The tranny won't break... will it?)... but what else?

Sorry to hear about the car. I know the feeling as I've owned my car for about a year and it spent 6 months in the shop and for the last three it's been in the garage due to weather.
-Nic

don't go broke owning a car... if you have to sell it b/c you can't afford a rebuild, then sell it. If you can financially handle the rebuild, then go for it. anything can break on the car, you can't predict it. you should have a mechanic look the car over very well and see if anything might need replacing in the near future... if not, then you should not have too many problems coming up.

Its not that I'll go broke, its just that is it worth it? I know that I'll get a "is it worth it to you?" answer, but anyway, engine wise.. anything?

If you can't work on the car yourself and you don't have money coming out of your ass then sell it. These cars require a rediculous amount of attention. It's been said it takes a special kind of enthusiast to own and maintain one. I like to think that is BS and it takes a retarded kind of enthusiast to pay that much to keep one alive :p

Seriously tho, if I could find any other car that was halfway as fun to drive, halfway as appealing to staire at, and halfway as appealing to talk about.... I'd probably just buy something else.

By the wording of your first post I'd say sell it. Anything could go wrong - and more importantly there is a huge difference between a 0 miles motor that has been installed correctly (in my opinion - new coolant lines, new gaskets, new nut/ bolts, OMP lines etc etc) and one that reuses old parts that should be replaced. Unfortunately for you, the right way is the most expensive way. After that, you may need a new clutch, you probably already need new bushings in the suspension, the 5th gear synchro could go etc. At 100,000 miles I'd put money on something else going within a relatively short period. Good luck making the right decision for you.

MCF

The first questions you should ask yourself is, "Am I passonate about the RX7?" "Will any old car will do?"
If your first answer is "yes" and the second is "no". Then do what you have to do to make desires a reality!

If your answers are the other way around.... Then sell the car...... Remember most used high perfomance cars are costly to maintain, but relatively cheap to buy.... You can allways buy a new Porsche and repair may not be as often.... You weigh the difference!

how much do u want for your car?

hey Im sorry about your car but there are alot of other things that can go wrong. Radiator fans, clutches, pilot bearings, Transmissions, alternators, water pumps, ECU's, Differentials, electrical components.

The FD stands for Financial Devistating for a reason...

I might know someone in Maryland that will buy it from you. I just sent them a link. Let me know if your gonna sell it.

im in the same boat as you. my apex seal blew on my 94 r2. i am only 17 and my parents say that i should sell it. i said ok. if i can find another car that will satisfy me like this one did, then and only then i will sell. i test drove a supra, EVO8, wrx, g35, 350z and some others. it took me 6 months to realize its not only the car im in love with, but the background and everything that comes with owning a RX-7. for example, this fourm which in my opinion is the best fourm i have seen by means of support and fun stuff. the motor itself ins unique in that it has no pistons. i love the look of peoples faces when you tell them it is a 1.3l car. i dont know what you will decide but it took me 6 months to realize that i cannot let go of this car. i am getting a rebuild done which is costing me over 6k. people say "its not worth it because when you want to sell it, its not worth that much" well i tell them, "i am not going to sell this car, EVER. it has no value to me and whatever it costs to keep it running, i will pay" for example, my car wasnt running for 6 months while i was collecting money but now, it will be back on the road.


sorry for making it too long but i had to do it. i just cant express in words how attached to the car i am!!

:pity: :withstupi :banghead:

rzograbian what is your job, what do you do for money?

i work with my uncle. he is an insurance agent and i work for him afterschool. his business has grown so he is helping me out with about $3k. i didnt want it but he said, that is an advance on your paycheck. he knows how much i like this car. also, my dad owns a wrecking/parts yard so we get parts cheap

holy shit... that is me... are you sure you're not my cousin or something? I have test driven EVOs and thought they were slow, have test driven G35/350Z and thought it handled like crap, have test driven WRXs and found them kinda detached... its wierd... I love this car more than anything in the world and it truly means so much to me... I love the community which supports it and it truly is one of the best... I decided today to get a rebuild and the shop is working on the car.. I'm so attached to it too that its just a fantastic car... There was a post in the lounge that said: have you ever steped away from your car and admired it? well i do, and I love this car both asthetically and personally... I only need two letters and a number in my life :)

nice choice on the rebuild.... maybe i am your cousin or something:)

so many people feel this way about their car. i just put it into words

Hey RZOGRABIAN ! you still gonna drive up north to join the caravan this year?

Bob, parked next to you @ SS-6...

hey guys one question i do have is, why is it costing you 6K$, that is a shit load of cash, for my rebuilds it cost less than 2k. whats the deal? who is making you pay that crazy ass price. im only 17 as well and i would never be able to afford that, and i work as well.
also why would it take 6months to fix anything?
learn to work on these cars youself! best thing going for anyone who owns an fd.

like said above, these cars are like drugs, they are so hard to get out of your life. almost impossble. i know i could never leave my fd.:) its an amazing machine. mazda deffenitly put in the rench time designing these cars;)

the best way to take care of these cars, is not to wait for things to go wrong, but to take care of them ahead of time and get it replaced. just read on the forum and see some things that have gone wrong on peoples cars, then go check out yours to see if maybe this could happen to you. maintian your baby. its like a hot bitch that you gotta always buy gifts for. its a money pit, but well worth it.

i say u replace it with a v8 and have 0 reliability problems and low 12's on a stock ls1 only 50 lbs added to the front. thats what i'd do if my parents were sick of it being in the shop. v8 = cheap reliabilty

6k for a rebuild? thats very high. i would check around before i paid that much for a rebuild.

No that's for Removal Rebuild and Re-Installtion, as well as I'm guessing new Injectors, New water pump etc... new engine mounts, all the shit that's easy to get to that needs replacing while you have the motor out...

-DC

I paid 8k, but I got a lot more than just RRR, i got the whole car serviced, new vaccuum hoses, new engine mounts, new injectors, 1300cc secondaries, new Fuel Pulsation dampener, Street Port, 3mm seals, clutch installation, v-mount installation, diff fluid change, trans fluid change, transmission swap (93/94) .... etc.. etc.. the thing you'll say is 8G's you could have gone LS1, but the fact is, no not with all the other stuff, plus a LS1 is more like $12g's with little to no labor... as I recall...

Then again I'm not 17 in HS :D

I'm feeling the pain of passion right now as well. My car is getting old, possibly a bad motor, which is standing in the way of my already mile long list of replacement parts on my wish list. Derek has it right, I expect to pay at least $6K in the end to get a rebuilt engine working as new. I still have not made the choice to rebuild, but if I do, it will be my labor, and hopefully plenty of new supportive components such as FPD, injectors, TURBOS (ouch), and so on.
The age of my car didn't bother me so much until my wife and I bought an 8. Now my car seems like a relic, aka crap box.
I wish I wasn't so attached.

i don't think anyone has broken as much stuff as i did with my FD. everything but the ENGINE :D

anyway FD's cost alot......... just gotta face facts and deal with it or sell it. every niche sports car does this except a supra,viper or vette and those umm well those are expensive :)

yea, i agree with what all of you have said.

for the rebuild costing $6500.... thats a great price. this is what is included:
removal, rebuild, reinstallation
3mm seals
smogport (large streetport that passes smog)
new rotor housings
new clutch
tranny and ppf swap
new motor mounts (thanks to dcrosby :))
new lightweight flywheel
new betls, plugs wires ect......


i am getting the work done at Rotary Power. Jeff is the man!! but i was ready for the rebuild 3 months ago. its just that since he does a great job, he has a waiting list as long as my arm. i think its 3 months now but im not sure. give him a call if you need a rebuild (310)516-9959

oh, btw, i know how to work on fd's. my dad has a car shop and i have been around car's since i was 9.

so then why not put the engine in and do the work yourself so you dont have to pay that much. for some reason in my head i come up with little less than 4k in parts. correct me if im wrong. how much are you paying for labor? im not trying to change your mind or put down rotary power, but i just think you could save your self a good amount of cash.
give me the list of parts an prices that you will be paying.

and yes vosko has broken nearly every drivetrain part on the fd, he has spent lots of cash replacing all of them;)
vosko when are you getting a new shell?