kiddoskeme

im trying to buy a turbo II FC. ive found a hand full of them that share the normal problems of an old FC. Some of them smoke at start up , have over 100K miles blah blah etc. I can get one for 2500 or a little less but because its going to be my daily driver i was planning on doing what i could to make sure it didnt die on me and fix it little by little. I talked 2 a rotary specialist who told me it would be a better idea to just rebuild. the only problem i have with this is the extra parts i'll need. I dont have enough to make this car brand spanking new. i was wondering if its normal to use parts ( not including the block of course) from the old FC. have any of you done this? the rebuild will be 1500 - 3000 including the ecu i think. i wont be able to afford a new cooling system, exhaust or anything else. Im scared the FC will have unknown problems i'll find out about when he tears it apart which would be horrible because by then it will be too late and i'd have paid for nothing but labor for no reason. i was already planning on changing the cooling system but because the swap and rebuild will be so much i wont be able to do it right away. please help me out if i could hear how you guys manage to take care of your old FCs or the smartest way to go about rebuilding id really appreciate it. i just gotta know if im getting my hopes up with this. thanks.

MR. ROTARY

i bought a vert that i had and i am dumping money to make my daily driver. In my opinion buy one that needs nothing...for a couple of hundred more you can find one. save yourself the headache.

kiddoskeme

i've been looking for one in really good condition but its hard. im not sure to trust it with over 100k on the engine. i was planning to find a decent one and just replace the radiator , hoses , and the rest of the cooling system and what ever else to make it last till i can afford a swap or w/e. the people selling them just don't have the cars in very good condition.i'm scared it'll mess up on me with an internal issue and then i'll be screwed. u aren't afraid of oil rings or seals going out? i'm totally up for rebuilding on my own little by little. you recommend that over a professional rebuild? i know there's ways to check if the cars a complete piece of ****..lol i just wanna find one i can work with i'm fine with that.

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

Why do you think a 100k mile engine needs a rebuild? If taken care of, the engine will last a long time beyond 100k. Don't buy a $2500 TII if you can't handle the work involved. That's dirt cheap for a TII, and you get what you pay for. If it's that cheap, there will be some big expenses right away.

Smoking on startup means the oil control rings are aging, and the engine will eventually need a rebuild. This is a problem that will at most become a hassle, but not damage the engine. Oil seeps past the rings into the combustion chamber, which is not horrible since the engine burns oil in small amounts normally. Just don't forget to add oil every so often.

Find a car that is in good shape, and has been well maintained. Buying a car that immediately needs a new engine is going to be a money pit. If you can't rebuild yourself, the labor costs will be steep. Expect $3k+; seal/gasket kits alone can be $800-$1500.

kiddoskeme

thanks alot thats just what i wanted to hear. ive been researching so damn much every day so knowing now that it can last past those miles is good news for me. ive been on all the websites that tell how to test for damage and what to do to keep it in good shape so im feeling good about this. the reason i wanted a second gen was a car to work on anyway so thats no problem. I'll def. put money aside for a rebuild later though. wow im so excited now hopefully soon i'll have it. and the reason its so cheap is probably because the owner doesnt realize what he has. thanks for the advice and information!

Cordt

they can last a very long time....i have 250,000KM on my 86 N/A now and the engine is still strong and doesn't smoke at all. actually it's the only thing i haven't had a single problem with on the car...
that being said, buying a cheap car like that there is bound to be some stuff wrong with it. plan to spend at least 1-2000 getting it totally reliable.

kiddoskeme

but wouldnt it be the same or better to rebuild the block with that 2k? what mods are you talking about exactly? cooling system hoses water pump etc?

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

When an engine is rebuilt, it is standard practice to reuse usable items. If the housings are not too worn, they can be reused. If the irons are still serviceable (they almost always are), then they get reused.

You mention in your original post something about the ECU, and a lot about the cooling system. Can you clarify exactly what you are referring to? Because neither item is of concern when driving around a stock TII.

kiddoskeme

well thats good. well i know that TIIs are prone to over heating since alot of their owners dont know much about rotarys. i know the hoses become brittle and crack cause leaks and radiators get clogged. not to mention if it does have an oil leak due to worn seals a neglected cooling system would mess it up faster no? the ecu thing came from the mechanic who told me who couldnt use the original ecu it had to be after market but im guessing he figured i would bring him an N/A but thats not the case. Isnt it the first thing you want to do? to keep the engine cool? i figured its what the majority of rotary maintenance was all about. Oil and coolant.

Cordt

yeah a lot of it is about that. use a good oil, always keep it clean (or better yet modify your OMP to use a separate reservoir of CLEAN oil...why Mazda did not do this in the first place is a mystery to me) and always keep an eye on your heat level. maybe im just paranoid but i find myself glancing down at mine every 15-20 minutes lol.
also your fuel system is a big thing to watch when you're running a turbo. you don't want to be hitting full boost with a fuel pump that's about to **** the bed and end up pinging your motor to death.

and the stuff i'm talking about fixing is just stuff that normally would wear out...wheel bearings, suspension components/bushings, clutch, pilot bearing (this is a big one with rotaries apparently). I bought my car for 700 bucks and I've put over 2000 into it already. Just about the only thing I have left to fix is the heater controls and the bodywork..although a transmission with no bearing noise would be nice.

kiddoskeme

awesome i'll def. be ready to do that when i get it. guy put a new clutch in already and i know what u mean im for sure always gonna be looking to see if its getting too hot hahaha wow thats some luck you have tho , 700 bucks and no big problems? all the money you put is the amount im gonna buy mine for. how many miles did it have?

Cordt

yeah that was kinda my plan, to gradually restore it (doesnt make it easy when it's the car you're driving to work every day haha)
i bought it with about 235,000KM and it now has 251,000. the work ive done (or had done) to it so far is

brand new racing beat springs + KYB struts/shocks + install = 1000$
used transmission (which still makes the same damn whining noise as the old one) + new pilot and release bearing + clutch kit with labor = 1100$
brake pads and front brake machining = 200$
studded winter tires to make it usable year-round = 400$
17" rims with summer tires to make it fun for summer = 250$ lightly used
stereo + install because the old one was shot = 200$
cat-delete pipe + install because the exhaust broke right off the manifold and was deafening entire cities with brappy goodness = 100$

also i have a new rear end and yet another transmission waiting for the next time I have a couple days off to throw them in and hope it gets rid of the weird decel vibration and the bearing noise.

oh and that horrible rear-steering has to go sometime...it makes it feel like you have a stupid amount of chassis roll going on when you corner hard. the bushings that eliminate this are like 60 bucks from racing beat.

kiddoskeme

wow i see what u mean. this one will also be my daily driver =/ i guess im saving my self alot of trouble not trying 2 make it faster, i just want to maintain it the way it is and little by little i'll get to that point. im living pay check to pay check so i gotta be wise. has it ever left you stranded? knock on wood haha

Cordt

yeah dont try and make it faster until everything that needs repair is fixed. going faster isn't nearly as fun if your suspension is shot or if you may break something that is in dire need of repair. that's what i'm doing..just trying to get the whole thing restored to (close to) original condition. these cars are pretty old now and most of them have a lot of wear on them.

umm well once but that was because i hadnt checked my belts lol...alternator belt snapped halfway to work on a -40 morning. not cool.

also ive had a problem one day it simply would not send fuel to the engine at all....no idea why, the next day it worked fine. electrical problems are not fun...im just waiting for it to do it again so i can test the main relay and see if thats what was acting up.

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

I think you've been fed some bad information. TIIs are not prone to overheating. You can make a blanket statement that all 20+ year old cars with original rubber hoses and radiators are in need of replacements. This has nothing to do with the design; it's just a matter of aging parts.

The only way oil seeping past the control rings can hurt the engine is if you forget to add oil and it runs low enough to suck air in.

What's wrong with the stock ECU? They've worked fine on stock & lightly modified cars for 20+ years, so that doesn't make any sense.

I think you're thinking of 3rd gens, which benefit greatly from cooling system improvements. It's one of the "reliabilty mods". But the FC cooling system is not as lacking. There is very little rotary-specific maintenance with these cars. The vast majority of work you'll need to do is going to be exactly the same on anything of similar age.

kiddoskeme

oh ok kool. yea im sure the mechanic just wanted to charge me for a new ecu. thanks for all the info everybody.