RX7Bobby

Hows it going. Ive been doing a little research about RX-7's and I think its time to pull the trigger and get one.
I test drove one with 55k miles on it that looks prety well maintained.
The car drove prety well ecept for when its in idle and I rev it up to about 3k and let it rev down, the whole car shakes a little. Im not sure if thats just what rotarys do or its not normal...

Im fairly new to the world of rotary so bare with me. Im a long time car enthusiast but rotary is new to me.

What should I be looking for? are there any signs that the car has something wrong with it?

How much does a rebuild of the motor cost on a rotary?

thanks guys.

rotard_robbie

Search. That being said. Read, read and read. Oh and if you're not mechanically inclined, be prepared to spend alot of money. That being said, read here:
http://www.turborx7.com/rx7specs.htm
http://www.maxcooper.com/rx7/
http://rx7.voodoobox.net/
http://www.autosportracetech.com/RX-7/rx7stuff.htm
http://www.fd3s.net/index.html
Engine rebuilds will depends upon your mechanical aptitude/size of wallet/geographic location. Like everything else in life, you get what you pay for.

Gabriel82

iTrader: (8)

what rx7 are you thinking of buying fc fd fb?
hmm well im still learning about rotaries aswell
ive had my fc for 1 year now
and thats not normal and i havnt experienced that in other rx7's
i dont know what the problem is


rebuilds
well its up to you on that one stock rebuild or rebuild with a bigger port
just like porting a inline 4 , 6 v6 v8 we can port rotaries street port, bridge port
so its up to what you want to do in that department
but well i know that the racingbeat rebuild kit is 1500 if you want to do it hands on by yourself and feel that appreciation that you did it by yourself
or you can send it to a shop i think its usually around 1k

i hope i helped a little

doofy421

um 1600 rebuilds, they just take it apart clean it and put it back together. Go for the 2400 rebuilds, or Atkins Rebuilds, they are ****** gods. When you get a rebuild get all new seals.

Things to look for :
First off, make sure it has the stock fan shroud, the under-tray.
Check to see if the vacuum lines are ok.
start the car up (let them warm up NO MATTER WHAT) take it for a drive, let the oil pressure get to about 45-50 psi <-- and fo get it to red-line. don't take off, ever. always let it warm up.
If that goes well, and there's no really bad hesitation, you're ok.
If you read up on it, look at the actuators, on the passenger side of the engine, check to see if the hoses are all there, and connected.
Check the oil levels and coolant levels, Very important for a rotary owner to do all the time.
That's it for visual, the rest is up to driving it.

Something You should know, Every rx-7 I've EVER seen (except ls1 conversions) smoke, and have this little issue with starting, easy to fix, but still kind of annoying. Sometimes, you have to click it over a few times before it starts. I was told it's perfectly normal. I just got a new starter, fixed all my grounds, and cleaned the connections to the starter, and it still gives me that.

some of my knowledge passed on to some new guys. Good luck =D and welcome to the world of rotary.

RX7Bobby

thats all the information I needed to know!
much appriciated.

doofy421

Just keep in mind, that no matter how well you get your car tuned, let it warm up. Always have a quart or 2 of oil extra.and I've gotten the best results with 20w-50. Really good oil =D

RX7Bobby

with the little research that I have done it seems that most people stress the point of letting it warm up.
Thanks for confirming it.

Detroiter

Castrol gtx 20w-50 is good stuff.

The way I've always heard it is theres 2 sides of the coin. Some people love to let the car warm up and then theres the guys (alot of them too) that say let it warm up for 15-20 seconds then take off, driving it low rpms until it's warmed up. The engine doesn't sip but drinks gas so why sit and get 0 mpg when it doesn't hurt it to drive easily and warm up on it's own actually going somewhere. Makes sense to me.

bewtew

iTrader: (7)

def get Castrol gtx 20w-50

Supernaut

iTrader: (83)

My 7 doesnt smoke at all. Im pretty sure a smoking 7 is something that is relevant to a purchase.

Arent you supposed to use 20w50 in the winter and 10w30 during hotter seasons?

Karl573

Opposite of that. You want the thinner oil in the winter because oil doesn't circulate as well when cold (10w-30), but you want the protection from the thickness in the summer during the heat (20w-50).

SLOASFK

iTrader: (5)

Please specifiy the year/chasis code and trim level of the RX-7 you're looking at. All RX-7s are not built equally, and advise can vary from year to year or trim level to trim level.

Also keep in mind that there are a lot of people who look at one particular type of RX-7 and may think that due to the actual price of the car that it is the one for them, when in reality the upkeep on some can be much more expensive than the actual cost of the car. A lot of people over the past 30 years have gotten themselves in deep by going for the wrong RX-7 buying out of ignorance. Of course a lot of this does depend on the previous owner, however some years/trim levels are more proned to needing relatively frequent expensive maintnence and repairs--most notably S6 FDs and S4 TIIs, especially since most weren't properly maintained in the past.

For your refference, chasis codes(for american RX-7s) are as follows:

79-80 = SA
81-85 = FB
86-91 = FC
93-95 = FD

To break it down further, you may see series listed in any of the generational sections. I'm going to go with the international production numbers for this one, as it's common for Americans to import Japanese parts from cars that were not available in the states in that year.

78-80 = S1
81-83 = S2
84-86 = S3
86-88 = S4
89-92 = S5
92-95 = S6
95 1/2 - 98 = S7
99-02 = S8

You may notice, there was a lot of generational overlap in Japan. They were still making new FBs when the FCs were first released, and likewise they were still making new FCs when the FDs were first released.

So....What is the car you're looking at?

RX7Bobby

intresting.
I still havent bought the FD yet but im very close. Im just looking for a buyer for my m3.

maac0953

is the motor the only thing that goes bad on these cars? what about the starter,alternator, ignition system,other crap????

REVERE

The motor doesn’t go bad, it has bad owners and in some cases previous owners. Warming up is always a good idea, but you will not do any damage driving it if you can restrain yourself until it is warm.

Keep in mine if you baby the engine too much it can lead to problems as well.

From my experience, only the early model fd’s suffer from unreliability at stock levels, all other models only have the unreliability tag due to owners cheaping out when upgrading power levels

Ryan123

iTrader: (3)

ALWAYS warm up and cool down, expectably if its a turbo. That’s what gives the time to get the fresh oil and lets the turbo cool off after driving. Also if your thinking of buying an Rx-7, its critical to find one with no rust, the engine can always be rebuilt/replaced. If the owner says it only needs a few interior peaces, they’re probably the hardest to find. So just watch out, look it over good and you should have no problem finding one.


To whom said its normal for Rotaries to smoke, its not. When the engine smokes it usually means the oil seals are leaking, witch your could just change the seals, but why not just rebuild the motor while its all apart?


By the way, rebuilding an engine:

If you looking at an FD3S just spend the money and get fresh Rotors, apex seals, water seals, oil rings and if its not the first rebuild but the second or more invest in rotor housings too. I say get the rotors and rotor housings because if you want a quality rebuild you cant just change one thing, because once the apex seal breaks it mostly if not all of the time damages the rotor.

Hope I helped somewhat and answered some questions in the process.

Vince.SUE

Is there same problem on FD engine from 99 until 2002 than befor 98 engine ?

Are the 99 one "stronger" than 98 and before ?

How many kilometers are we expected to do with a stock engine FD (99% used in city...no race or something like that) ?

Ryan123

iTrader: (3)

Same engines same problems. The seals still break and wear about the same. If you do regular maintenance you should get 100k+ miles/160K+ kms. Im not to sure about FD's but all they were was just different body styles and the same engines.

stylEmon

iTrader: (2)

I've owned 3 T2s. None of them smoked and one had a starting problem. If your car has those problems, it's the beginning of a long and expensive journey.

There is a lot of good info in the 3rd gen section about what reliability mods need to be done to the FD. Off the top of my head, Better Intercooler, better radiator, and try to get a REAL cold air intake system. It is very beneficial to ditch the stock twins, but expensive.

Ernesto13B

iTrader: (4)

A lot of people say that the engine will only last about 60k-100k miles. There was an RX7 review I read once, in which there was a guy who bought his FD in 93 brand new and drove it for a little more then 10 years. He drove it with the original engine until 150k miles until it finally gave up. He said the turbos lasted to about 120,000 miles. He kept the car stock, and only did reliability mods. during those years he said a LOT of parts needed replacing: alternator, starter, battery, cables, wiring, etc, etc, but never an engine, transmission, or turbo's. Imagine if the car didn't have a turbo at all? theres no reason why it would't last to 200,000 miles or more. Iv'e actually heard of FC's running to 200,000 miles mostly non turbos

Vince.SUE

Don't you think all these problems arrive because of a bad maintenance or because people always want a car more powerfull than stock car ?

I think if you keep your engine stock, you take care of turbos (not accelerate like a crazy man when you start your car for the first time of the day) I don't know why there will be problems : If yes, it means that RX7 engine are weak....and it's really rare for Japan engine ! (but maybe I'm wrong)...

But I'm sur that most of those problems arrive because of the **** people place on their engine.

hanman

The third generation RX7 is prone to mechanical failure on many levels. You can argue the why's and how's, but that is my opinion. They are wonderful cars, but are on a different level than the first two generations. They are extremely complex and have many different areas that can be problematic. I would strongly discourage a newbie to RX's from owning one. I would also think twice if I needed to use it as a daily driver.
The first gen is rock solid and reliable, also easy to work on. The second gen is still very reliable, but has it's own set of gremlins, mostly electrical. But, either one is a solid car. BUT, remember, these cars are around twenty years old, they will require a lot of maintenance.

ExcessFC

The FD's biggest issue is heat.

AreExSevenProject

iTrader: (1)

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
all rotaries smoke....

CORRECTION...
all rotaries that are needed a rebuild smoke.

Id say if you are buying a FD make sure its a nice one with low miles and a somewhat fresh rebuild. FD are spendy and you dont want to get screwed with your money.

racer x7

I've got a stock S2, is an S3 w/the fuel injected 13b more reliable?