breaking the rotary
 

alright guys
sorry to be such a fucking newb but heres the deal
i have had my RX-7 for a month and am desperately trying to maintain it right but the more i read this board the more i fucking freak out
every other topic is about a rotary blowing and safety and stupid people. how in gods name can i maintain my rotary so that i dont end up as one of the stupid people spending 5-6k for a rebuild/engine?
here are my palns:
S-AFC, intake, DP. MP, straight pipes back, no muffler, no cat?
S-AFC before anything else btw
help me!

What generation is your car?

You should probably put some cooling related upgrades near the top of your list. Radiator, IC, etc..

2 things to worry about: detonation and overheating.

detonation in a rotary attacks the apex seals and since they are only 2-3mm thick, can only stand up to a little abuse. this is mainly only a problem on turbo cars. the two things to watch on this is never run lean and always stay with a high octane gas (turbo applications). run searches on this in your generation of the forum.

overheating. this is two things, temp and rate of change in temp. since the rotary is a big ass sandwich of different metals, some expand and contract at a different rate. if done to fast, it can cause damage. high temps will also cause warping and once warped, leaking of oil and/or coolant in various places.

thats all i have for class today. :)

3rd gen, 95

then you really need to do the reliability mods. run a search for the 3rd gen section.

welcome! :D

anyway ... i'd definitely advise upgrading the cooling system before you touch anything other than the exhaust.

there was a recent thread that got started, so i'll link it here as a quick reference so you can gather any information it garners.

-> LINK

yeah, but like jeremy, mks, and myself said ... cooling system is VERY, VERY important. aside from that, regular oil changes, high octane fuel, and regular general maintenance (tune-ups) are key to engine longevity.

another tip - is switching to silicone vaccum hoses.

get that turbo destroying pre cat out of there and get a nice downpipe for starters...and get a boost gauge so u can monitor the boost levels....if you do the midpipe and intake i would highly recomend replacing the prespool pill and maybe even a boost control....and hopefully by now you have gone through all the usual suspects...oil,tranny fluid, rear end, coolant,plugs, fuel filter,etc.....

i'd stay away from the s-afc as this will only be a security blanket in the whole scheme of things,plus it causes the ecu to hit feul cut earlier since it thinks its recieving more air than it actually is....just dont exceed stock boost levels and this wont be necessary...use the money for a nice set of gauges instead.....

have DP in as well a efini Y pipe and boost gauge, turbo timer and dawes fuel monitor

what kinda boost are you makin'?...

i imagine about .666 bar
i hate bar, im guessing stock boost maybe a tad more

.7 would be about stock.... .666 bar comes out to roughly 9.7 lbs......thats close enough.....as long as you dont spike or creep over .8 then you should have no worries......

what does detonation sound like in a rotary?

gravel because generally if its reached an audible level you have already smoked a seal and running on 1 rotor.

it sounds like im missing at idle, a very soft "dunk" "pumf""pook" on of those noises it happes reeatedly at idle, what is that? im replacing thwe plugs asap just to make sure and heading to manassas va to get it chcked by rotary perf. asap. hlp?

plugs are a good place to start. you could also have a vacuum leak. have you done the silicone hose replacement on your acuum lines yet?

doin it this week
how much is it gonna cost me, i dont like vacuum lines and i dont think id do it right so im trusting a pro on this one

if you have the money get a WOLF OR POWER FC AND A GOOD TUNER.....reminder A GOOD TUNER....you should be good after that

i'm not sure on pricing. a lot of these questions can be find searching or asking in the 3rd gen section.

NEVER run lean... that'll kill your motor. jeremy stated this and is exactly right. buy a pressure regulator and guage and check this once in a while.

and if your gonna take your rex somewhere, take it to Bret, im sure you wont be sorry. (bret=rotary perform.)