How to... make a reliable 7
 

Alright, I'm getting my engine rebuilt soon and would like to know any hints, tips, tricks or ways to make my 13b more reliable. It has a RB true-dual system, aluminum rad, and air filter. I wanna get rid of my OMP and ACV. I've already started pre-mixing (lines broke) I don't wanna do anything else performance wise to the engine as this is my daily. So, having said that, to all you RotorHead Jedi's; please help this young padawan. Thanks, much appreciated.:worship:

Do the water cleaning once every [year?], redline regularly, change your coolant [use cleaner!] every two years and use water wetter [or equiv. this boosts the rust protection as well as the cooling ability], make sure all of your coolant hoses are in excellent condition [especially the heater hoses, they often get neglected..]

Also, there's no harm in squeezing a bit more performance out of your engine :)
6-Port Sleeve Inserts (Pair) & pins(2)

All of that is already in practice, that water wetter is friggin awesome stuff! Thanks for the tip tho.

When you say "air filter" are you referring to an open cone filter? If so, you really should consider building a custom air box to keep that hot engine bay air away from your filter. Adding some good ducting to that air box would be good, too.

Here is my custom air duct. It should at least give you a few ideas as to how or where to do this. -> dwb87's Custom Air Duct

Be sure that your fan is always working properly. Make sure you have the factory undertray installed. Also, it would help to have the plastic radiator panels near the hood latch in the engine bay installed. Or you could invest in one of these -> 86-92 Mazda RX7 SIGNAL Auto Radiator Cooling Panel FC3S

Have you wrapped your header? Do you still have an air pump?



Oh, and DO NOT perform the throttle body modification.

Those are some great ideas! I def need to think more about a way to get that cool air in. I've thought about the headlight vent from rx7.com, is it worth the 144 tho?

Isn't other stuff besides regular coolant maintenance?

Like shimming the thermo pellet under the front bolt?
Smoothing out the oil ports around the oil pump area on the front iron?

Is there anything else that would be helpful to do while the engine is disassembled an what not?

Redo your wiring harness. Brittle connectors and exposed wires is never a good thing.

You should fix the OMP...... and you wont have to ever worry about pre-mixing ever.

I've seen more trashed engines due to pre-mixing with a ratio thats too high (not enough premix in the tank) or having smoking issues running too low of a ratio (too much premix) than I've seen with motors running a fully functional OMP/MOP system......


You're also talking about a car/chassis thats 21 years old (at its youngest model year).... things are bound to have issues over time..... the best way to keep any rotary happy is to not touch anything in the engine bay and only do regular oil/filter changes

The OMP is being deleted... sorry, but its gonna happen. I keep a close eye on the ratio when I fill my tank. Even when I'm only putting in a set amount I always calculate the ratio on the spot. I've got a cheap aluminum rad from ebay right now, til I can afford a nice multicore one. I'm deleting my ACV system and porting my 5th and 6th ports. Rotary Aviation apex seals, ACT stage 1 clutch kit, Mazda factory everything else... Cant wait til' she's done. I have pics on the way.

Im also conditioning my harness and putting brand new wire wraps on everything.

Dont know where to start with this golden advice ;)

I would argue that every stock engine I have taken apart for rebuild would have looked a whole lot better had it been premixed its whole life.

I would also argue that housings and plates on premix engines I have gone back into for repairs look and spec out miles better than stock injection engines.

Dont get me wrong, stock injection is adequate and will do fine but to say that stock oil injection is in any way "better" is absolutely false. It is easier, more convenient and adequate but not better.

The stuff I have worked on is run at 1oz per gallon which for light load and cruising is too much premix for street use. No problems with those cars.

Fact is premixed engines have a reduced rate of side step wear on the plates and a reduced rate of wear on the housings over stock mixed engines.

And for the second bit of advice, the reason why my car is now reliable as hell is that I took out the stock efi setup and did an aftermarket system. No offense to anyone still using the stock stuff but I have not had any problems since I put everything in a box and stored it in my attic.

Yep, dont touch that pulsation damper or those crusty vac lines. The cracked TID or snorkel should be left alone as well. Oh and dont replace any crusty fuel lines when you dont clean your injectors. Not even going to get into not fixing your 6th ports.

If you touch anything under the hood you really cant do much without fixing everything. Its just the way of the stock rotary.

Sorry, rant complete. :)

i built the ultimate reliability RX7. full coilovers on the corners, R&P kit, 8.8 rear, LS1, and T56. I doubt it will ever break down now ;)

All advice is appreciated, I'm up for any of it as long as its factual. My 5/6th ports are being deleted all together so thats one issue to be taken care of. I forgot to mention that I am having a slight street port done as well. I know it affects longevity, but I'm by no means a street racer. I found a place that cleans and rebuilds injectors for a decent price, so my fuel lines will be new. I agree with GregW, premix is definitely the way to go.

Too much premix is a bad thing though. I've fouled good plugs due to too high a concentration of premix. Careful monitoring will prevent this of course.

engine swap, put in somthing that is not a rotary.

I think for a N/A street car, there is no better mod to kill low-speed driveability and fun then removing the aux port sleeves.

Yes, it makes the engine more simplified and less parts usually mean less trouble, but i don't see that weigh up against the lack of lew-end torque.

A ported primary port also lowers low-end, so you could end up with less then stock.

But have you pre-mixed for 100k+ miles and 20+ years?
You don't know this 100%

Personally, I don't give a fuck :D I'm too lazy to do the premix thing and I barely drive the car. OMP stays.

I always measure out 1oz per gal premix... What would ya'll recommend for a better mix ratio?

And yes... I'm aware of the low-end torque loss, sadly... I've already gotten used to being a bit slow off the start, I just make up for it further into the powerband =)

And as for getting rid of my rotary, not happenin... If i wanted to be like every other tuner in H-town I would of bought a civic or a 240. I recently met a great friend because we have the same car.

But since we're on the subject, does anyone have the thread link for a MAF swap? These stock maf's from mazda are killing me... any suggestions for greater air flow?

The stock MAF is never going to be a restriction.. so why would you want to swap?

I would disagree. My sleeves aren't removed but have been wired open for 13 years. Never missed them. I will admit when I first did it while I was running the stock mufflers with my header presilencer combo it did lose alittle pull in 5th if I was below 4000rpm. When I got the HKS setup the power came back. I think it is in how you drive. Shift so your revs don't fall below 3500rpm and you won't miss them.

As for reliability. Maybe I have just been lucky but my engine has been rock solid with no trouble except been through two water pumps( the stock one and an Advance reman) and cracked raidiator tanks since the rebuild in 1998. I replaced all the vac. lines with silicone ones when I did the rebuild and all new hoses. I finally changed the thermostat last year as the temps on my autometer gauge started creeping up higher than I liked. Change the oil regularly. I haven't kept the coolant changed as often as some but it always looks as clean as the day I put it in when the pumps/ rads. were changed. Pre-mixed ocasionally but not currently(too lazy) in addintion to the stock OMP. I currently have approx. 140,000mi. on the rebuild. Still runs good but it smokes on start up when it's cold. Oh and I have to floor it to start it when it is warm( but I think this is leaky injectors. They have 265,000 miles on them). Stock ports and mods are in my sig.

The only time i've ever seen someone swap the stock maf is if they were switching to MAP for a turbo setup.....

hell even most TII's are still using the stock MAF...

No has ever seen the stock MAF as a restriction, not that i know of anyway

^^^ Not in an NA

keeping revs that high is not the character you are looking for in a streetcar.
streetracer maybe...

a streetcar should run smooth through the revs and you should be able to cruise through the streets at 2-3krpm without having to shift down if you need just a little acceleration to run through traffic.

i have a 400hp FC, that is twitchy as hell in the low end range, and it prefers to run above 3-3,5k. that has taken all the fun out of it and i dont like driving it through town..

that is also one of the reasons i am getting rid of it and going to build a N/A setup for my 929/RX-4 with street-use as main priority

I typically will just stay in a lower gear to avoid having to downshift. As long as I don't drop below 3k the power is fine. Of course It may be more livable for me due to the 4.30 gearing of my rear end. I don't know how much difference it makes over the 4.10 gears.

Everybody is different. I won't/can't argue there isn't less low end with them wired open/removed. Just that it's not necessarily the terrible thing some make it out to be. Whether low end loss is important or is a problem is up to each individual. I would recomend trying them wired open when possible first to see how one likes it before commiting to removal.

Just got my freshly rebuilt engine dropped in. Mild street port, R-tek 1.0, true dual RB Exhaust with Aero 2540i mufflers, Aux ports removed as well as ACV blocked off, OMP has been removed and the entire OMP system aluminum weld blocked off. I plan on removing the BAC, as its winter time here in TX and my A/C is seized up anyway... All new vac/ fuel/ water lines

What exactly is the VDI and can I remove it safely since I'm getting rid of all my emissions anyway?

Is there a diagram for vac lines after emissions removal? I found one, but it was for an S4 TII...

And is there an easier way to upload pics without having to fuck with their size so much?