I have been looking into purchasing a 85 rx7 gsl-se for sale in the paper for $2500. My friends neighbor had a 84 or 85 and built it pretty good with lotsa power. This is i why i want to buy it. The original owner has had it in storage for the last 9 years and just recently in May the now current owner bought it because it was his dream car. Well space is precious and he has to get rid of it. The car currently has 110,000 miles on it. Everything is original down to the sparkplugs. He replaced the gas tank and oil cooler lines (probably rotten) and the sending unit. Other than that, thats all hes' done to it. He's driven it a couple of times (no tabs) and he noticed it a bit sluggish at highway speed, my guess is the sparkplugs from what i have read. I know NOTHING about these rotary engines which is why i came here for your expert advice. My uncle told me the 85's had some troubles and they burnt oil and he didn't recommend it to me which was a downfall since he is a mechanic : (. I have heard they go 300,000 easy so i would think they be a reliable engine. I want myself a reliable car that i can work on and pump out some power, but all these bad vibes that i am hearing from people who don't really know these engines are making me skeptical. Am i going to have to pump in a bunch of money to replace old dry seals? Is it going to run rough after sitting for so long? Would you recommend this year for the Rx-7? Were their major problems or defects in this year? You people are my only hope unless i get in contact with a Mazda mechanic that knows these engine inside and out. Everyone i know you love your rotary engines so please send in your input and inform me to help make the right decision before the car is GONE@!!
Thanks so Much ~Gavin

 

I hope your uncle mechanic doesn't consider burning oil a problem... if so then i wouldn't listen to him about the car.
Just letting you know, that most mechanics rely on myths and unproven theories on these engines. I am not just saying this because i "love my rotary so much" i am saying this because it is the truth. Go to any 40+ year old "mechanic" and they all say, "o those rotaries are nothing but trouble... they just BLOW UP for NO REASON at 100k miles!!" My best friend's dad wont' let him buy one simply because he heard from a friend who heard from a friend who heard from his uncle's roomate's cousin's dog that they are a lot of trouble. Mechanics love things they can work on. The ones that can't work on rotaries (90%) hate them.
I keep on seeing this guy's sig that has a quote by Cody who went to a mechanic
Mechanic: Wow this thing is a two cylinder?
Cody: Can i have my keys back?
And this would be really funny if it wasn't such a daily occurence. The average Joe Shmo doesn't know about rotaries and you can't blame them... why should they? But "mechanics should if they attempt to work on them or spread silly remarks liek "they burn oil".
As for the freeway problem... it could be anything... i would first start with, like you said, the spark plugs because 110k on original spark plugs... wow. If not that it could be anything prolly clogged cats if the guy only drove it short distances for fear of the tabs.
You are absolutely right about the long life and reliability of the engines... yes there are goign to be some bad apples, but if you treat it right you shouldn't have too many problems at all.
If you are going to get a 1rst generation, 85 GSL-SE is by far my favorite in my opinion. Not just because i own one but because of the 13b engine and stiff suspension. If you get teh leather interior that is a bonus too.
My advice? Talk teh guy down to 2g's if you can. 2500 for a 20 year old car that doesn't do too well on freeway speeds is pretty pricey. The next step? Get teh car. You will love it... RWD... pretty torquey... full powerband... you got the SE so you have LSD... just all around a fun car. You have the attitude it takes to be a rotary owner which is a lot of optimism and enthusiasm. Remember though, everywhere you go you are going to meet people saying "o der der my uncles grandpa who is also my dad once had one of them dernd things and it BLEW right up after we shot it a couple o times so them things are junk ya hear??", but of course it is just so much funner to beat them after you hear that
Good luck man... i hope you get it dude... you will be happy.

Zachstylez

 

What ZachstylezRX7 sort of forgot to mention is that Rotaries are SUPPOSED to burn a little oil. Oil is injected into the combustion chamber to help seal it.

My GSL-SE has about 140k miles on it, and the engine is in great shape.

The 1985 GSL-SE (top of the line) is easily the most reliable RX-7 ever built, and arguably the best.

It has the lager 135HP 1.3 litre engine instead of the 101HP 1.1's found in lower models. It has an LSD, and larger 4 wheel disc brakes. There were no mojor defects or problems that year that I am aware of, and I own both a GSL-SE and a base model.

There are only 2 major things to check.
1) RUST!!! - Look the car over very carefully for rust. In side the wheel wells and under the rear storage bins are usually problem areas you should check
2) Compression - The engines are quite durable, but you never know whata previous owner has done to a car.
Simple and easy check for comression:
remove the the top (trailing) sparkplug closest to the front of the car. Rotate the engine by hand, using the main pully on the front of the block. You should hear 3 strong "puffs" of air. Put the plug back in, check the other rotor by doing the same with the rear top spark plug.

If this all checks out and you decide to get the car, drop by the forum again, and we can give you some advice on how to get her humming again.

-Spencer

 

Any car that has been stored for so long is going to have it own set of problems. I would start by replacing every fluid in the car from the radiator to the rear end. Belts, hoses etc... time kills these guys to. $2,500 for a GSL-SE is pushing the high end for this car hear in the MN market. Example, I got and 84 GSL that was stored for 8 years for $100. Even with the car still be in great shape the rear wheel wells where rusted to hell and the storage area under the bins was also in need of attention. I know a 12A is not the car the SE is but boy when you take on a car that has sat like that plan on doing more TLC and tunning than driving for the first couple of months.

 

People keep telling me what you think of this car. Negative feedback is a goodthing. What else should i be looking for when i check over the car? Anything i should be listening to or feeling when i take the car for a test drive? Should i even drive the car home or have it pulled home? Thanx ~Gavin

 

well, the sluggishness on the highway may be stuck auxilary ports. kinda simple to remedy.

i bought a '85 GSL-SE that hasn't been driven in 5 years...tags expired in '97. i pulled the plugs and shot MMO in the enigine in all chamber s and let it sit over night. i came back the next day with a new battery and tried to fire it up and it wouldn't. checked everything out and found out the injectors were not injecting. sent them to RCEngineering and it fired up 3 seconds after i put them in.

bought it and got a '84 GS for $1000

 

So the auxillary ports are in the injectors i am understanding? Could i run some injector cleaner through the gas tank, possibly some sea foam or would that not be recommended with this kind of engine? Also could i throw some in the oil to clean that all up? Can i run synthetic oil in these motors? Would you recommend putting that in at 110,000 miles, it might help some of those dry seals. What kind of transmission fluid should i be using? What kind of differential fluid should i be using? Lots of questions that i hope can be answered Thanx again~Gavin

 

The auxillary ports are the 5th and 6th air ports which open up under a certain amount of exhaust backpressure, giving the car nice torque in the low range (ports closed) and more power up top (ports open). If the ports are stuck closed you aren't going to be getting that "extra kick" at the top end.

Click on my website (WWW below) and you will see some good pictures of a dirty assed engine and the auxillary ports.

Get it. Right on.

 

Redline is usually agreed upon as the best tranny and diff fluids. There's a big debate as to weather you should use Synthetic oil or not, but most of us just use a premium grade conventional oil.

If the injectors are badly clogged, getting them professionally cleaned is probably a good idea. If they're not too bad, any decent fuel-system cleaner should help.