I got my first RX-7, an 88 GXL, and it's a flamethrower. I just got it less than a week ago, and I've shown off the flames a little. I get it to 7500rpm and drop it, and it backfires. Now, is this really hard on the engine? Does it damage the apex seals or anything? I'm no mechanic and, of course, new to rotaries (besides being on the forum looking for one for more than a year). Should I cut it out, or am I okay?

 

Be safe ,cut it out . The backfire is in the exhaust manifold ,extra raw gas and heat =boom . Be safe and not bust the clutch ,drive train ect. just to show off . When it goes boom and rolls to a stop and you get the tow bill. you will think , screw showing off.

 

well, i have not been popping the clutch at all, b/c i know how they are on these cars. i backfired sitting still in neutral, so is it hurting anything?

 

well its not really hurting anything compared to reving an engine that doesnt backfire or shoot flaimes you are just putting more wear and tear on your engine because of what your reving it to. but the flaimes dont decrease your engine life.

 

I've heard it really doesn't hurt rotaries to be revved high . . . that they "like" it (as long as it's not for long periods of time). Am I totally misinformed? Where's the experts? Help me out here.

 

I've heard that these cars last longer if you do that too. I'm interested on hearing an answer to that as well. What I think that the internals run at 1/3 the RPM because of the design. I also heard its a good way to get rid of the metering oil pump deposits . . . :p

 

Higher you rev it, the more exhaust you will produce, the faster you'll get carbon buildup and oil deposits out of there.

One of the reasons people suggest reving the engines out, and that they 'like it' is because of this. One of the killers of rotaries is carbon buildup, the more you rev it, the less likely it is to accumulate. This doesn't mean drive it around peging it off the limiter, but do it on occasion.

Reving these cars out isn't going to shorten the engine life at all. It's a rotary, it's going to go when it's going to go or when user error is involved (i.e. driving when it's overheating or tuning error etc.). Throwing flames from time to time isn't going to shorten clutch life, it isn't going to harm the motor. Have fun with the car, that's what it's built for.

 

A backfire out the exhaust is not going to hurt your engine at all. The actual back fire doesn't occure untill the end of the exhaust pipe, not in the engine nor the manifold.

 

Thanks, guys. About reving, Icemark said he redlines several times every time he drives. He said you need to use the rev band (2k-6500RPM) all the time for the engine to last longer . . . that babying it actually decreases engine life. I always listen to Icemark!

 

yup

 

There is alot of mis information around here.

I couldn't imagine that your afterburn (read 'after') is going to harm your engine, i do it all the time.

 

Recently, I've been blasting bigger and bigger holes in this rusty stock exaust with backfires. I've started doing it on purpose on the highway and when driving by ricers.

I've got a few sizeable exaust holes now and the car is quite loud.

I plan to replace this whole setup, but I'm going to see what kind of damage I can do to it while its still on :-p