Where the hell is Batman in all this?

 

i have like 126,000 on mine oem motor still waiting for that big sad day to come

 

I think thats the biggest problem slash worry. The fact that you feel like your time is running out. Shitty feeling indeed. I just hope to get about the same life out of my new/ rebuilt motors as I have from this one. It made it over 100k so its gotta be somewhat well built.

 

somebody needs to tell my father that....

 

Because your dad babies the FD? Or because he thinks it's an unreliable peice of junk? lol My 'rents think the latter about my FD...they just can't understand why I'd put up w/ something "so unreliable" lol. It's like 'why didn't you just get a Camry??" LOL

 

The 93 I have now had 178k on the original motor before the woman that owned it stopped driving it and a year later tired to start it and it would not start,so I bought it.

 

I'm at 105k mi on the stock engine with a lower mileage set of turbos... but it looks like my oil control rings are shot

 

The highest FD mileage I had seen in person is 150k..

 

Did you replace the engine at that point? Or are you still trekkin on the 178K+ motor??!!

 

A little over 184K. Daily driver. I keep her clean. I've had it for over 4 years, bought it with 90k on the clock. Definately not the original motor. A little over 45k on the motor I rebuilt almost 2 years ago.

 

my buddy's dad has a 93 with 196k+, original motor, he drove it to our meet yesterday. crazy man.

 

No, I'm not. If you take car of a vehicle what makes it any less reliable than any other car? I'm sure you've read this thread, lots of 150K+ FDs on original motors (granted I was talking modified in my thread). I'm certainly not any authority on vehicles, but some of the replies in this thread are pretty impressive for a twin-turbo sports car running an engine the general public (at least, in my area) believes is the most unreliable piece of junk in existence.

 

First, you've got a car that produces excessive exhaust heat because burning fuel is exiting the engine into the exhaust path. The excessive EGTs create a huge amount of underhood heat that other cars don't have, and this is just during normal operation. Track or drive the car aggressively and you increase that heat. Modify the car and you increase it even further. Add to that the pre-catalytic converter that stores that heat in the engine bay, and you've got issues, even completely stock.

The heat alone makes the FD less reliable than any other type of car, because it can cause the battery to fail (and in some cases explode), make the plastic solenoids Mazda used for turbo control brittle and prone to breakage, bake and crack the dozens of rubber vacuum lines, and so on.

Next you've got a cooling system that is inadequate for the job at hand in some climates, and especially when the car is tracked or driven hard. Overheating is a very common cause of engine failure, even with stock cars. The engine is made up of alternating plates of steel and aluminum which expand at different rates when heated. With all the heat under the hood and the chance of overheating, is it any wonder that there might eventually be issues with the coolant seals?

Also, you've got an engine that relies on a very large number of small and delicate seals to hold in the combustion process, despite having relatively few major moving parts. Piston engines can shrug off detonation that would turn a rotary into scrap. The apex seals are likely the weakest of the bunch, and no matter what you replace them with (3mm, ceramic, whatever), they still won't put up with detonation. The car has fuel delivery issues even stock, with fuel sloshing away from the pump when the tank level is low. Even stock cars running stock boost have blown engines.

And finally, people don't leave their cars alone. They modify them and make all of these issues more likely, and they stress the engines to the point of producing sometimes twice or more the rated output. You absolutely cannot do that without reducing the life expectancy of the engine. Increasing power means increased heat and friction, which means shorter lifespan. Period. None of this can be avoided simply by changing the fluids and plugs regularly.

In the case of a Honda, you'd have to seriously abuse the car to even have a remote chance of causing engine damage. You'd literally have to do something incredibly stupid to keep the Honda from reaching 100k+ miles. Changing the fluids and plugs periodically is about all you need to do.

Therefore, it's ridiculous to say that the FD is reliable as a Honda if taken care of. Hondas don't have a reputation for needing a new engine at about 60,000-70,000 miles, and the number of Hondas still on the road with 200,000+ miles on the original engine absolutely dwarfs the entire production of 3rd gen. RX-7s worldwide. There is no comparison. Look at the resale value of Hondas, even high mileage cars. That tells you all you need to know.

A handful. Threads like this wouldn't exist if it were a common occurence.

I'd like to see proof that the original engine is in those cars, personally. With the recognition and adulation 100K+ on the original engine brings the owner, I'm sure there are at least a couple people telling little white lies. Or more likely, they're the nth owners of a 100k+ mile car who don't know whether the engine in the car is the original or not... but it's the same one that was in the car when they got it.

 

Next time you go to a salvage yard, take a look at the odometers on the hondas. Most are well into the 200K range and they are in there for a fender bender that wasn't worth fixing.

I still don't like fwd drive though,

 

I got all but one of u guys beat on the mileage being in the 200K+ club on the chassis.

 

odomerter went out.......but a guestimate would put me in the mid to high 90's and still running strong. Full Pettit TKT Kit.......Stock boost.....

 

Made it 90K with numerous track days on the original engine. Put in a factory reman and I'm on 147K now with numerous track days. Will she blow soon? Who knows...

I know that the FD is a different story but... back in the day it used to be that racing a rotary engine was cheaper than a piston engine because they rotary engines lasted a lot longer under racing conditions and didn't need to be rebuilt as often. I know guys who got tired of rebuilding their piston engines every other race so they switched to a rotary which could last one or more enitre racing seasons without a rebuild. Of course we're talking a non turbo rotary with sufficient cooling.

The fact is that a rotary engine will last longer under racing conditions than a piston engines IF run within its design parameters. Of course it's the many IFs that tend to blow up our FD engines with regularity.

-John

 

I was gonna say it as well. BATMAN PWNS JOO !!11!1!1!

 

And how many engines? Six?

 

I'm on 89k on my FD, and still don't have any problems out of mine. My '88 FC has got 148k on her, and she still runs like a champ, she's my daily driver too. Now, My domestic owned vehicle - that's an entirely different story..

 

Yep.

Expensive habit, although not all of them were of my doing.

At least it's certainly cheaper than my sister's habit of collecting horses which u can't exactly overhaul it's engine.

BTW, u need to hurry up and get that project of urs finished before Mt. St. Helens gets a piece of it.

 

my original motor went at 99,134 miles a year and a half ago, but it was definately caused by my tuning and lack of aftermarket intercooler. it still had plenty of life in it if i had been careful. i'm now on an atkins rebuild with 125k on the chassis.

 

Spoolin, is that your car in the pic? If so, it's beauuuuutiful man. I LOVE it.

 

I'm at 104.5k miles w/ the original engine, turbos, but reman ECU!? Had the car since 72k miles, recently performed a small longevity project (vacuum hose job, FI servicing, new rad, new coolant/heater hoses, PCV elimination, purge control elimination, changed the trans/diff fluids, and bled the brakes). The car has 16Hg vacuum at a completely solid 750rpm idle and boost near perfect 10-8-10 (I'm currently getting some spiking at transition which I need to tune out). Car is mostly stock, the only perf mods is a DP and RB intake duct. My last FD needed it's turbos replaced at about 58k miles, again mostly stock (only DP). Guess I just got a good one this time around.

 

I think Batman has like 400K on his.