i was wondering how hard it is to change the coolant seals and/or apex seals on my 86 rx-7. the car doesnt have enough compresion to hold the car on a hill when parked in first and im leaking combustion into the cooling system. i have built many v-8 engines but am new to rotaries. does the engine have to come out? how much do the parts cost? am i better off getting another engine at the salvage yard? thanks in advance.---tom

 

NO rotaries have any compression when sitting still. You should be able to turn the engine by hand with a couple fingers pushing on the alternator pulley.

Replacing the coolant seals basically means rebuilding the engine - you have to completely disassemble the engine. At which point you might as well replace all the "hard seals" on the rotors.

 

so your saying its normal not to have enough compression to hold the car when its parked on a hill in 1st? where can i get a good manual to tear this sucker apart and fix it myself? how much are the parts? how much nitrouse oxide can i can i use on this engine before it ***** the bed? i want to race this car localy in the spectators class cause it handles so good. it is an 86'n/a.---tom

 

Yes it's normal. In fact that's why you have to make SURE your starter and battery and cables are top-notch - if the engine cranks slowly, it may not have enough compression to start, and it will flood (which is ALSO bad for compression)

Always use the handbrake to hold the car. That's what it's there for. If your handbrake isn't working then you should fix that before you worry about the engine.

 

LOL don't use NOS.

 

well, i guess i cant rebuild it or make it fast so im just gonna junk it. thanks for all the informative replys. rotaries suck!!! what a price of ****. cant see what you guys see in them. first $400 takes it. car is in new hampshire. probly crush it next week if knowone buys it.

 

huh? so why can't you rebuild it or make it fast?

 

posted origanal question over a week ago and knowbody replied. i was trying to find a manual and info on rebuilding the engine. getting sick of filling it with coolant just to go to the store. my 5000lb. cadillac will blow its doors off. what a shame, it handles so well. car needs a v8. lost interest now. $400

 

You can't expect to be hand-holded through it. That wouldn't be fair to you, because you'd learn nothing from it.

Rotaries are orders of magnitude easier to rebuild than piston engines. It's worth checking out. Manuals are also easy to find, online or from parts stores.

 

my 90 is awesome, I think its got a blown apex seal, when I get enough money Ill put in a new engine. This is my third rx. Ive put so much damn money in these cars.....why? I dont know but I love em more than anything. They were made for me. I cant explain to you but its labor of love.

 

seems like a waste of money to me. how much would it cost you to get 300 reliable h.p.? i have a bone stock v8 that has 300 h.p. the car can be driven daily with no worry of breaking down like a p.o.s. rotary.

 

lol, sorry dude if u cant take out 300 reliable hp of a rotary, i wouldn't buy any v8 u built before

 

never seen a reliable rotary ever. even from what ive read on this site, "they are not reliable". judging from your grammer, i do not think you would be cabable of ordering an engine from me. rotaries suck. i went to the "import wars" at our local track and did not see a rotray run better than 13.3. mildy modified supras smoked them all day. there was a guy who snuck in with a 350 chevvett and he ran 11.4 all day. consistantly. sorry, just seems like a waste of money to me.

 

woops, i meant 15.3 for the rotary. it was an 85 with a 12a. my 93 eldorado will run 15.1. stock

 

Swing down to Texas, we got plenty of 12....11 and 10 sec street RX7's even a couple that run low 9's. Let's see your eldorado do that.

 

gafmasterslash, rebuilding a rotary engine isn't difficult, you just can't go into it with the attitude of a 2yr old. The Rotary engine has a total of 3 (yes, three) moving parts inside the block. Now, if you can rebuild a V-8, then I know you can count that high. So, go to http://www.howstuffworks.com/rotary-engine.htm to learn how rotary engines work (includes parts breakdowns and motion video) get a Haynes manual, and fix the car. Stop whinning like a baby cause you think you blew an apex seal and don't know how to fix it. Nobody was born knowing how to fix them. And peejay was right, we can't just hold your hand through it. What did you expect? To come to this forum, have someone type out the instruction on how to fix everything that could possibly go wrong with a RX-7 so you could print it out and fix your car?

 

yea. if u take care of a rotary it will taek care of you and last forever. off the line rotary would kill you so what if u can go fast ina str8 line. whoopty fukin do. these are sports cars. not drag cars. off the lien and aorudn the corner your toast. but ill admit nothing beats raw, reliable horse power for going fast in a straigh tline.

 

300 hp is really easy in a turbo. All u need is a compressor upgrade fuel pump injectors afc boost controller oil pump filter exaust and thats it. Im sure that would be reliable. As far as the 12a. 15.1 is hauling *** im impressed. Lets see what a 1.2litre piston engine can do. I think the geos are somewere around 25 seconds in the 1/4 but im not sure. I drive one as a daily driver thou so im pretty sure. Swaping a new engine is not only cheap but requires around 4 hours for someone expierienced who has done it a few times. Very easy. I droped my tranny and fixed the clutch in 5 hours my first time and didnt know what I was doing. Everything was fine after i put it back in. I also replaced the injectors and all manifolds and did my own power mods. Im a 14.9 right now in my N/A and proud of it. Remember that I had no mechanical expierience before my 7. I tried working on my friends miata and other piston engines and dam dood. Theyrs no room for **** or any kind of custom mods Just stupid 550 doller brand name intakes that give like 2hp. (jackson racing for ex) Who the hell cares about v8. Yeah thier more powerfull but the rotory killz all the other imports at the drags. Just not built v8 because thier like 4000 hp and ****. But as far as street and drag besides v8. RX-7s are scary cars and everyone knows it. Thier what other people compare their cars too I noticed. So if you dont know this than your not a real car enthuisiest. Just another hick that likes V8s only. No offense. By the way does your V8 rev out to 8300-9000 rpm. Man once you go thier you never go back to conventional 5.5-7000 rpms. Just everything seems so boring.