Hey all,

I am in the market for a rotary compression tester, and I noticed that they have plenty to choose from nowadays aside for the oem testers, but I have decided to keep an eye out for the OEM compression testers.

My question now, is $785 worth buying a Mazda OEM Compression tester??? I noticed that brand new can range from $1800 to $2300. Im just having a hard time deciding, maybe someone can chime in. Different people will have different opinions knowing how fat or empty their pockets are, but hopefully the die-hard wankle guys can chime in as well.... You can always count on an OEM part for quality IMO.





Thanks!

 

I have an oem one and I can tell you first hand it really isnt a necessity. Its nice because it gives you rpm the engine is being spun at as well as compression for all three sides, but a reg compression tester will give you the same info with the shrader valve removed. You can prob get one for around 500 as a bargain basement price if you have to have one.

 

twisted rotors has some nice looking testers also but getting one is about as easy as a decently priced OEM mazda unit..

TR-01 Rotary Engine Compression Tester

 

You know it just hit me randomly today that, regardless the price, I think it'll be a great investment. I'm always concerned about how my engine, so I guess it would add reliability.

Eversince I started trying to work on wankles, it's no joke. Sometimes quality is superior for this type of work. You have to learn the car inside out, before you even start to pull the full potential out of this car. I still don't know what that is... Lol Hopefully I get there...

Thanks.

 

Agree, You could find something better to spend money on.

 

take this with a grain of salt.

the OEM units cost about the same price as a rebuilt engine, the test units will not fix your internals but only give a gauge on possibly how much life your engine has left.

a $30 generic compression tester will do the same.

the OEM unit is simplicity. you plug it in and it gives you all the relevant information. so for the extreme cost you get slightly less headache with more accurate(is it really? test units still fail, lose calibration and it isn't likely you are going to get one brand new in the box) comparative figures.


i use a piston compression tester, always have. have tested at least a hundred rotary engines and even gotten more accurate results than the dealership had provided for one customer who said his engine was done, which it wasn't and still was pushing 110+psi per face.

 

Here's another option: Pricing for shipments to US addressees

I've used a plain $30 tester tool myself in the past. My friend has the oem mazda unit. Yum.

 

I've looked into that option myself, and its not as friendly to use as the Mazda unit or the Twisted Rotors one. Basically you need a laptop to install their software, and the software just gives you a graph of each compression pulse. You have to manually look up the maximum PSI for each pulse and calculate the RPM. For the price and inconvenience of needing a laptop, I would have expected the software to be able to do that automatically in addition to the graph, and be able to normalize for the variation in cranking RPM and altitude.

 

I agree. I was just tossing it out there. I also so very much hate winblows. App looks like its an expensive piece of software setup for too many uses.

The twisted rotors one looks nice... but I can't buy it so yeah. Time will tell. Many things tend to fall through.

 

I ended up just picking it up... You can always count on OEM to do the job right. I think its a great investment on my end regardless of its price. A little nice christmas gift for myself I would say...

Thanks for all your input guys!!!

Happy Holidays....

 

I have a OEM tester but the pickup must be bad the unit itself is ok any suggestions on replacement?

 

How bout one of these, probably cheaper than fixing the one you have. My new firmware displays raw psi and cranking speed readings then normalizes to 250rpm and displays in psi, Kg2, bars and kPa.

 

?..hmm../\..!!!

Like swappin the 40 year old wife in for 2 Twenty year olds!..
The old one would still work but the New one?..heh..more "features"!

 

You're divorced, aren't you? And we wonder why


I've been wanting to pick up one of these testers, just wouldn't get enough use from me right now. My car would have to actually move under its own power!

 

They aren't for everyone, some of us 2 or 3 rotary cars so it pays for itself. I usually don't charge I want people to see my tester in action.
People will gladly pay you $30-50 for a test to not have to visit the dealer.

 

YES..Ya know..I miss my Wife,..,BUT my AIM is improving!

I had "another brand" of tester and sold it..Regretted it too.Handy to have,and the bonus is you make a lot of friends and conversation over it!

This new one has more features so IF I was inclined I'd pick one up in a heartbeat.

 

For those of us that have older firmware versions are you offering any avenues to update?

 

$20 for upgrade just send it to me I will get it taken care of. I usually can send them back out the next day.
Thanks, Steve

 

Managed to pick one up that is NOS, serial 287, it appears to be never used and comes in the original box w manual and apparently end of 1987 they made a updated firmware for it that is also included on a hitachi HN48016P flash eeprom. I already had a tester like this w serial number 177 that looks the same but has a different metal housing. The 177 unit has a older mitsubishi M5L2716 UV erase ROM