Newbie!
 

HI all!

I might buy 1986 Mazda RX7 from my friend. It needs some body work and new clutch. I have Nissan 240sx right now and doing engine swap. I have some experience w/ engines but I don't have any experience w/ Rotory engines. I'm not sure if I should get this car. when I opened up the oil cover I smelled burning gas. It has about 100,000 miles on it. Is it easy to work on the engine and tranny? Do you think I can fix everything w/o any other special tools? Or should I just take it to rotory mechanic?

Start hanging out in the second gen section. Gas smell in the oil is somewhat normal for these cars.

neither my 79 or 91 had this.

what has happened is that the side seals are leaking allowing the compreesion to shove gas into the oil. there is no fix to this other then a rebuild. so price the car out knowing that you will have a rebuild in the moderate future.

I always thought it was crappy PCV (I never know rotaries had a crankcase) and gas tank ventilation system.

all i know is a hose coming off the oil fill tube going to a charcoal canister. generally if its not doing its job and dispersing into the charcoal canister it will cause condensation in the filler tube eventually rusting it out. if there are fumes from the gas tank (separate line)getting through the charcoal canister then it must be shot. however your 3rd gen might be different as i haven't poked through one to look at the setup. i'd guess it wouldn't be too diferent though.

Drain the oil. If the oil lost its visocity its more than likely the side seals or oil control rings.