+1

Sell it, and get a more reliable FD already done right, or different daily driver.

Hey, it wasn't until I was 38 did I get the FD let alone ANY sportscar and that was even with 6-years with a $200K+ job . . .

:-) neil

 

atkins rebuild video =D

 

if you really luv the car, i say buy a reman and try to get some rotary guys to help you out...like said before, not sure about where your from but around here if you find the right people that like to work on cars, they'll usually come over for free food .....
when the job is all done ...i usually throw some money in the guys hand that was there the most...
if you dont have the cash to fix it...and you luv the car...store it and buy a 500dollar beater...honda civic, etc... to get you from point a to b....until you get the cash together...
its up to you ...when i was your age i had a ford probe, motor went i ended up putting in a used junk yard motor...and sold it....i had to much money in it...need to know when to cut your loses....

good luck

brad

 

Sell, and try to "act dumb" and not meniton anything, sell "As is." etc. Some Dumb kid is gonna buy it, and then you have money for either another FD, or an FC perhaps?

Dont pay ANY more for this car, also, try to part out anything "good" from it on ebay, (like any parts, etc)

Besides, auto swap= aaaagggghhh... (i am going to have a nightmare tonight, lol)

My friend got jipped on a 240sx not too long ago btw. It was in "so-so" condition, but turns out, the subframe rails were rusted to ****, so he "sold it off" to someone "none he wiser" and got a nice mint as hell 240 coupe instead. and, yet while i feel sorry for the people, and know its not right, sometimes, you just have to, man... that's the way life is.

 

LOL, I love the last post by Asterisk. Ummm, don't you think this just happened to the tune of $8K? Duh.

Anyway you won't be able to pass this thing off at this point. However instead of focusing on the money here I think we should pay a little attention to what Pettit told you. Pettit is one of the best shops in the US but I'm having a hard time understanding how compression fails when the car gets warm. I know compression changes when things get warmed up but this seems a bit extreme. Did Pettit tell you what the problem is being caused by? Is it just worn seals? If they can't pinpoint this problem I suggest more research. Do you have a boost gauge? What vacuum are you pulling at idle and at what RPM? How is the idle? Is it rough? I find it difficult to understand how you have had the car for only one month, dumped $4K in to it and then discover the engine's compression is no good. The FIRST thing you do is check compression. You may not have known this but Pettit should have.

After you learn a bit more and if you still need an engine your options really are limited. You can go reman, rebuild, do it your self or pay Pettit. Remember if you go with a rebuild your cost isn't in stone until you open the engine. If you need new everything you are screwed.

 

Kharma will catch up to you.....

 

Troll ^

 

WTF were you waiting for with that kind of income? An invitation?

 

Considering your financial situation and that the car is an Auto, my suggestion is try to sell the car as is, or even part it out. Because even if you fix the motor now, soon you will want to do a auto=>manual swap...

so sell your car, save the money and buy a Manual FD in the future. Also, get one of those Engine Rebuild DVD during the wait, and maybe you can get a manual with blown motor, and rebuild it then~

 

I did the unflooding procedures in fd3s.net and put in new spark plugs. I cranked the engine without them installed. I know that I have spark, but did not see evidence of fuel coming from the spark plug holes. So now I don't know if i'm even getting any fuel. In the diagnosis box, what terminals do I jump to see if my boost pump is working? I will try to do the procedure Aceshigh explained to me. If that does'nt work, then what? Other than that, thanks for the suggestions, but if anyone know anything else I could do, please let me know. I'm starting to feel discouraged.

 

Yeah,I was a little concerned with the evaluation seeing as how i've been driving the car for weeks and have seen no symptoms whatsoever other than the 2 or 3 times the car has shut off on me..All of those 3 times were on longer than normal drives,being about 20+ miles or so..My vacuum at idle can be anywhere between 12-18,and I never really paid too much attention to it,but I believe the RPM's were around 400-800 most of the time...And I was also upset that Pettit would let me spend the money that I already have and then tell me the motor was bad..I brought it in the first time because it was stalling,and I wonder why the issue was never brought up?Regardless,i'm in a tough spot..To everyone's disbelief probably,the car being automatic doesn't concern me..Maybe i'm being too conservative,but I don't mind automatics,and my girlfriend hates riding in cars that are manual,hence the big reason I bought an automatic (had to,she helped me buy it!)..So the fact that it's automatic doesn't quite bother me..I'm not willing to part it out or sell it as a roller,so either i'm going to have Pettit do it,or hopefully find a cheaper option..With all of that said,does anyone have any opinions with the 2 choices I have given other than what has been stated??

By the way,i'm extremely thanful for everyone's responses.

 

+1 on RotaryResurrection.com

 

What kind of warranty do you get for the 5k rebuild? If there is no guarantee start making phone calls on a lower cost option if this is your only set of choices. Be wary as once it is apart that 5k may grow - this is an estimate not a guaranteed price.

 

Yes,you're right..Pettit said $5,000 would be best case scenario.And I am unsure of the warranty,if any.

 

+1 this is what i would do. post a new topic asking for help there have to be some members near you. good luck

 

IM not saying anything bad about Pettit but you have not really given any info to explain why a rebuild is the only thing that can be done! Everyone always says compression test first. Vacumn leaks? I wouldnt just give up if car has decent power, i would like to know why a rebuild!

 

All I know is what Pettit has told me..I asked how sure they were that the motor was done and he said 100%,without a doubt..But from the symptoms of a car needing a rebuild that I have read about so far,my car didn't demonstrate any.Since I have owned the car,it has never overheated and never detonated.I simply don't understand how I can take my car there because it is stalling,then they tell me they fix the problem,and then 2 weeks later I bring it back for the same problem and all of a sudden the motor is gone?I hate to think that they could be trying to take me for my money,but I don't have many other choices than to listen to their professional opinions...

 

Guys,

You can have a motor with low compression which still runs. It won't make as much power as a motor with good compression but it will run. However, the problem with Automatics is that when the compression starts to get too low, they will begin to stall. It starts out as stalling a few times here and there, then it gets more frequent until it becomes undriveable.

Whether or not that is what Pettit is seeing, that's what Authentikdit will have to ask.

 

What did they do for your original 4k? Just wondering and what labor rate per hour? I believe this is not a shop that deals with people on a limited budget. I have the utmost repect for them and their opinions. Now a lesson learned. I ran from my 86 fc when it started to stall without warning and after long drives-when hot. That was in 1994 when I got the fd. The dealer estimate was around $500 just to figure out what was wrong with the car-that did not include the repair $ and this is at a time when mechanics were trained on rotary engines. A good friend told me that given the symtoms my engine was going if not already gone. It ran fine but once hot and at the most bizzare moment it would stall - it restarted but not without a few minutes of frustration. I traded it in for the fd and got 3k with 96,000 hard miles on the clock. If you are going to fix yours be prepared for an expensive, frustrating and long undertaking no matter which path you choose. I do like the idea of a new post looking for some help - beer and pizza may draw them in....either way you go it is going to be a bit of money and a bit of time. Press on.

 

I could not agree more with your statement. I think the same scenario applies to manuals as well-perhaps not to the same extent but once they start stalling its close to the end.

 

Actually that's almost word for word what Pettit told me was happening..

 

just do the rebuild yourself.

label and document everything during the teardown and pick up a rebuild video for the teaching lesson and be sure to print out the FSM for your model.

the engine itself isn't difficult to go through, it is the rest of the crap that goes onto the motor that makes it a bear to work on but mainly it is just time consuming but not all too difficult if you take your time and are meticulous with things.

 

Lets see..They charged me (At $75 an hour I believe) $2300 the first time to replace O-rings and fixed a severe electrical problem I was having and a few other maintenance things..That is the money that I am most frustrated with because I feel that it could have been much better spent..The car had about 5 major oil leaks though..Then I spent $1000 on an aluminum radiator installed..It ws so expensive because they had to get the cooling fans from Mazda according to them..Then I spent $700 on all brand new pillowball bushings.

 

This is the signs of the OMP not injecting enough oil to lubricate the side seals and the engine slowly loses compression over the engines life. The only thing you can do with an automatic to be able to continue to drive it while you save money for the replacement is to manually tighten the throttle cable to make it idle higher. Might prolong it a bit more.

Tim

 

5 major issues and one severe - your words. THey are just doing their job. Fix the know issues. What you need to realize is that the issues manifest themselves after know problems are fixed. I just did my LIM gasket - replace anything you take off - hoses , gaskets, o rings - I want to be careful. Well the flippin car will not get warm - bad thermostat. Go figure - 2 hours to tear down something that was just put back. Not fair but the game you entered.