Living with a Rotary

[Deus Ex]

Posting on behalf of a mate

Hes recently moved to AU from NZ (fire away!) and is looking for something in the realm of an FC RX-7. So i thought id ask upon the awsome collective knowedlge of PF.

I know that the series 5 is the one to look out for, but i was wondering what the truth is to the rumors that they have terrible maintenance costs and reliability.

Obviously hes looking for an unmolested one with a history of maintenance, what are the tips and pitfalls about buying a RX-7?

Any advice would be great

[edo]

I wouldnt call that living.

[chops]

I have a series 5 - daily driver as well.
Make sure you find one that has been looked after, low ks and continue to get it serviced every 5000kms and it should be reliable.
Mine is, and has been the way for the last 2 1/2 years.

[Deus Ex]

So when you say service you just mean plus, filters oil etc?

What about the infamous Apex seals?

[Babalouie]

So when you say service you just mean plus, filters oil etc?

What about the infamous Apex seals?

Apex seals have a lifespan that is dependant in tuning, maintenance and general care. They are not very detonation resistant and so can be mortally wounded very quickly and easily. The other thing that can kill a rotary quickly is overheating. The rotary essentially has 4 head gaskets and overheating or poor maintenance can blow those easily too. In both cases the only remedy is a full rebuild.

You can reduce the risk of the former by only buying bone stock cars but there isn't much you can do to check the latter. One thing is for sure, before you buy, get a proper rotary workshop to test the compression using the special Mazda machine that measures all 3 chambers on each rotor.

Regular servicing is a must, since oil is injected into the combustion chambers to lubricate the apex seals. So you need to have 5000km (at most) oil changes to ensure that this oil supply is clean.

There are just SO many pitfalls. If the previous owner was a bonehead, then poor mods can hit boost cut at 10psi (S4s are 8psi) and damage the motor from fuel starvation...boost above 12psi and the injectors run out of puff, etc. Run without the factory shrouding around the radiator (which is mounted on an angle) and you will run the engine hotter than ideal.

Having owned a rotary I would say that you should budget for an engine rebuild unless the car you are buying has just had one from a reputable workshop. If your mate is not happy with this news, I would suggest a vehicle that had pistons

[AndyMac]

Seriously. This is almost an impossible question to answer.

Remember, you are asking about the reliability of a plus 15 year old car. The rotary engine requires more attention. Ensuring the fluids are at correct level, changed at correct intervals and following general warm up and cool down procedures are all part of the package, but it adds soul to the engine - if your into that...

If the car gets modified, then you start getting into grey areas, many rotary failures are the fault of poor tunning, or the ignoring of upgrading of support parts, when major parts like turbos and exhaust are upgraded.

Sounds Bleak ?

Its not really, its not hard to own a rotor and have it working properly, you just gotta be prepared to keep an eye on the fluids, observe the warming up and cooling down of the engine, and UNDERSTAND what effects a modification on one part of the engine will have have another part of the engine.

Also considar...

A FC 13B is about 2-3k to buy from a wrecker as a half cut, maybe cheaper. So the engines aren't hell expensive if something does go wrong.

Rebuilds can start from as low as 2k, if you can do some work yourselves.

[XAC15T]

This might help...

http://www.performanceforums.com/for...php?t=67163765

I was a n00b back then

[hostile]

tell your mate to buy my well maintained cosmo ? :D

[bugle]

Pitfall of turbo rotary see fig 2


PM C-Murder he knows all about rotaries

[Babalouie]

Pitfall of turbo rotary see fig 2


PM C-Murder he knows all about rotaries

That phenomenon is only temporary. The apex seals then go into the turbo and then after that you wil find that the boost stops comin.

[Deus Ex]

tell your mate to buy my well maintained cosmo ? :D

20B ftw

Thanks for all the info guys, that should be plenty to educate 2 ignorants such as ourselves.

[brasher]

P.O.W

Petrol, Oil and Water.

Keep them all fresh and she will serve you well.

They don't like heat, bad fuel or shit tuning though.

[AndyMac]

Oh... And PS....

www.ausrotary.com

[maddy]

pretty thirsty for a daily. but if you're willing to warm it up and cool it down.... go 4 it

[bugle]

That phenomenon is only temporary. The apex seals then go into the turbo and then after that you wil find that the boost stops comin.

Yeah pain in the arse not only do you have to rebuild the engine gotta rebuild the turbo too, damn rotaries