im looking into getting a fd but the one im looking at isnt running right. before the guy put it away for the winter he said that it would smoke alot..didnt have much power..and the exhaust would smell like gas..he tried starting it a few weeks ago and he said it wouldnt start. he got a new battery and it still wouldnt start. he says that the reason it was smoking was because the turbo needs to be replaced. but it sounds like an ecu problem and its causing it to flood and run really rich. but he says that its stock. any suggestions?

 

suggestion: do a compression test before you buy it. flooding is a common sign of low compression. i wouldn't even consider the ecu at this point. i'm also not saying that it couldnt be an ignition problem, but just check the compression before you go leaping into this.

 

yea i talked to a rotary specialist and they think it could be the apex seal so ill get them to do a compression test before i do anything..what are the prices like to fix a problem like that? thanks for the advice.

 

A lot. Around $4K. It requires a complete engine disassembly to replace apex seals and, what's worse, it's a relatively frequently occurring problem on the FD (anywhere from 40K to 100K miles). It is an expensive car to own.

But there are a lot of other things that can go wrong other than an apex seal... but the compression test will tell you for sure.

 

If your at all mechanically inclined www.atkinsrotary.com sells a good rebuild kit for just over a grand. Or www.pineappleracing.com, pineapple also has a few online how-to vids to see what your getting yourself into.