curtisharrington

So, i live in alaska. I bought an 84 rx7 last year, and took it to the mechanic, and he charged me 2500 for an engine rebuild. :\ this seems kind of steep to me, and was wondering how much an engine rebuild usually costs? and would it be worth my time/ easy to learn how to rebuild the engine myself? i have no mech skills at all.

im 18, this is my 1st car, and as far as i know there is only one rotary mech in alaska.

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Depending on what exactly was wrong and why it was rebuilt, that's a reasonable number. For example, the gasket/seal/bearing kit is about $1000. There's about 8 hours of cleaning and inspection, then about 4 hours of assembly. Plus the removal and reinstallation, and replacement of all the little things that show up as bad (hoses, wires, gaskets, clutch, pilot bearing and seal, throwout bearing, etc.).

Why though was it rebuilt? Did it show lack of compression? Generally if an engine blows, a replacement rotor housing for the blown rotor will be needed.

As for whether you should learn to do it yourself, that depends on if you want to know how to rebuild an engine. Assuming a quality job was done by your mechanic, then the engine will be fine for a long time. At least 100,000 miles.

Here's the rebuild process, if you are curious:

These videos will help you in the process of rebuild a 13B or 12A engine. While they deal with an older 13B from an RX-5 Cosmo, the engine internals are basically the same for any 12A or 13B. The only real difference is that on engines newer than '85, the coolant o-rings are in the irons instead of the housings as shown in this video.

The first video is engine removal. While it is an RX-5 Cosmo, an car that few will ever see let alone work on, the process will give you the general idea of an engine removal. Steps are similar for most rotary vehicles, it's the details that differ.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgsbVp22pOE

The next video is engine disassembly and some cleaning. This is an old carbureted 13B so the accessories bolted to the engine are different than newer engines. However the process of externally disassembling any rotary is about the same. Covered here is also flywheel removal (same for any rotary) and engine parts cleaning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1MXfs_Srs4

Cleaning of all engine parts continues in this video. Provided here are examples of how this is accomplished with a minimum of tools and supplies. It's a lot of labor to clean old parts until they are looking new again. At the same time, parts should be inspected.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5A5q61bzRI

Finally, here is the engine assembly. This video includes clearancing side seals, assembling all the seals onto the rotor, then assembling all the parts into a 13B short block.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijJeUk_GqiI

curtisharrington

i watched part 12 last night before i made this post, and i gotta say that your a badass. I want to learn how to work on these cars, but i have no idea in the world where to even start. I am scared to just dive into it, for fear of making a mistake and my engine blowing and then i have no car to drive. my car doesnt go as fast as i would like, and it just recently came to my attention, that something is hanging under my car. i think its a seal, and i feel like an idiot for not knowing anything more, but it is a cloth like material that looks ripped (reminds me of something a firehose is made of).

its located right behind my front tires, on the passenger side. when i got home, i got out of the car and i heard a hissing coming from it. any idea what this could be?

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Sounds maybe like an exhaust heat shield? Or heat wrap?

As for the hissing, probably just an exhaust leak.

curtisharrington

okay, so that is exactly what it was, i crawled under my car (attempted to.....these cars arent known for their clearance lol) and yeah it was a heat shield wrap that was torn apart from scraping against ice. and i think water from a puddle splashed onto the exposed pipe, and was just boiling off. anyways my original question was answered. thank you!

andernamen

iTrader: (2)

Aaron,

In the video you couldn't use a pair of GSL-SE rotors due to wear in the ends, i.e. being "V'ed" out. Can you give some tips on how to measure this clearance? I have a pair of Rotors with 212,000 miles on them. The clearance is difficult for me to check. I think the rotors need to be replaced, but don't want to throw them out just yet, I want to be sure. The feeler gauge tip goes in just a bit, but should I try to check by putting the feeler gauge at an angle, or straight on? Do you have a video of how to check the rotor to Apex seal clearance? Thanks.