Hi guys

Doctor not engineer... so bear with me. My 1996 FD RZ JDM has finally after 20 k km with me... now 116 k km developed a problem.

Has a wierd rattle from the engine. Started initially about one week ago when I was accelerating mildly hard ... ie not flooring it at about 100 km in third. The engine suddenly gave this wierd rattle like there was a bag of nails in the rotor housing and I could feel a vibration in the gearshift. Really bad vibes.... backed off the accelerator immediately.. drove slowly to work... temp remained steady but the rattle remained the noise slowly settled over the next few days and the gearstick vibrated less. temp remning steady between 75-85 celsius

Didnt have anyt other car as the rx8 was in the body shop after a minor ding and the classics werent upto dropping my daughter to high school. so carried on.for a few days. Then on the way back from school.. car almost ok only slight rattle.almost imperceptible...accelerated from a traffic light car on boost shifted into second wheels lost grip car on boost shifted into third and a much louder rattle... bag of nails moving around in a pail. Isnt getting better.

Mechanic says its the bearings.... what bearings???? No rotary mechanics in Pakistan... me and an illiterate mechanic is it....

Now the car had the belts changed a few days before, the oil pressure has always read low and this i presumed was the notorious bad oil gauge. The air pump connector has been disconnected and the car has free flow air filters. The car starts ok and does not heat up. the oil pressure gauge although it reads low has never had the oil pressure warning light come on... I always change oil at every 1000 km regardless along with the filter. I haven't tested the acceleration after this second event. Just drove it home and parked it in the garage. Did start it today and there is this tuk tuk sound from the rotor housing area. From the inside it it has a pain of nails sound and it continues to get louder on revving.

 

Time to do a compression test.

 

Yes, it definitely could be (and likely is) a damaged bearing. There was a similar thread a few years back which had the same ultimate result (after the engine was disassembled):

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/have-you-ever-herd-these-idle-knock-engine-rattle-462619/

 

Hi I hope these sound recordings will help. Any ideas????

http://sites.google.com/site/brainst...attredirects=0

http://sites.google.com/site/brainst...attredirects=0

 

This is an educated guess, but it sounds like it's not firing everywhere it should. It sounds like blown apex seals to me, but I'm no expert. Try what the other guys suggested and do a compression test. Should be a steady wave of pulses with no strange rhythmic drops.