So, I bought my first rx7 (85 -SE) last fall. The last owner got all of the servicing done to it at a dealer about 20 miles away from where I live, and I thought I should bring it in to get the records of the car and have them check a few things out.

I didn't drive it all winter, but I got it out a few weeks ago and finally got a chance to bring the car in. The car is in pretty good shape, with 147K miles. The rear end was leaking a little oil, so I asked them to check it to see what was up.

They checked it out and told me the seals were bad (I didn't know differenals had seals... ) and that it would cost something like 430$ to replace these "seals". They also said that they may break something getting it off and if so I would still have to pay and they would give the car back broken and I would be SOL.

I told them to go ahead and try, but if they think there going to break something to stop.

After some inspection, they realized the car was burning oil and they wanted to do a compression test first to make sure it was running ok. I wanted to get some compression numbers anyway so I told them to go ahead...this is what they said...

" Customer request perform compression test. Tech noted the engine was burning oil. Performed compression test. Rotor #1 is bad. Compression is 6.5. It should be 8. Side seals or oil control seals might be bad. "

Now, I know I'm not really a rotary machanic, but 6.5? Considering there are 2 rotors and 3 sides per rotor, shouldn't there be 6 numbers (3*2=6)

I gave up with them and decided to just pick up the car before they did any more damage.

When I picked the car up, it looked kinda dirty, kinda made me wonder because I just cleaned it before I brought it in. Oh well, I thought as I drove away, I looked in the rear view mirror, and the antenna was hanging off the car Wasn't like that before....

So, after 158$, I got nothing but 4 days without my car and a broken antenna. On top of that they didn't even have the service records I came there to get in the first place

I think I'm going to just keep driving the car for now. I don't really want to spend money on a rebuild, because I wasn't planing on keeping the car for to much longer, just driving it till I thought I was mature enough to handle a FC TII.

Also, on a side note, when I brought the car in the person at the mazda service desk asked me if it had a rotary engine....I just sighed and slowly nodded my head.

 

yes, 6.5 is low.

try the Amsoil Power Foam or MMO trick. Might be able to restore *some* compression. Just search on it.

 

NEVER go to a dealer.

 

that is BS. if the front rotor was bad or not making good compression, you wouldnt be able to do more than 65-70 mph TOPS!!!! i think they were yanking your chain. the only seal would be the one that holds the differential cover on. thats the only thing i could see leaking. its a do it yourself job, seriously. i would make a claim to the dealership about the antenna and the next time, i would note the mileage to see what is going on. i wouldn't worry about your problems too much.

 

I think they're trying to screw you over. I've had some bad experiences with shady mechanics because of that I can't trust any shop to do any work on my car. As of know I only trust two mechanics and one is in FL and the other in Japan. Do yourself a favor and pick up a haynes and read up on the info on this site and conduct your own maintenance.

 

Well, my car pulls pretty smooth up to redline and I've had no problem going faster then 70mph

I already have a haynes manual, and I plan to countinue to do work on the car myself...theres just a limited amount of things a 17 year old without proper tools can do...

 

I feel you on that bro, im 18 and have the same problem with tools, money, and a garage. But lucky for my my car has no problems or leaks.

 

I'm 19 now, I started work on my car when I was seventeen. I've done almost ALL of the work on my car, including some pretty complex stuff (ie: entire brake job) with a simple 100pc toolkit I got from my local parts store, two jackstands and the stock scissors jack. You can do a hell of a lot more than you think with simple tools, that manual, and a little time.

Have fun My car had to have a whole shitload of work done on it. And we're all here to help you out. Screw the dealership, they want $900 apiece for the stock 13in rims, $1200 for a stock carburetor and way more than I can afford for pretty much any part you can list. They're also clueless.

Yes there should be three compression numbers. They may not have been using a proper tester.

Jon

 

GUYS, I work for a mazda dealer. Theres are some decent rotary mechanics at the dealers out there.... especially mine . Sorry, It didnt work out for you, but the best advice I can give you guys, is dont go to a mazda dealer unless it was reccomended to you by another rx-7 owner. You may also be able to call up a rotary shop, and they should also have a good idea of whats some dealers are that have good rotary mechanics.

 

Mazda put a deep scratch on my brand new rim, didn't fix any problems..... car came back in worse condition than b4.

Stupid fu*ks!!! Never again!! I don't trust anybody and I do ALL the work myself. They try to rip everyone off.

 

I took mine to a Mazda dealer......Just did an oil change for 14.95......I told them nothing else.......and no test drive.........

I waited at the service bay exit.........If they had asked me what type of engine I had I would have kept going........

 

That is true, I forgot you working for a dealer. The time I went their with my GTU They had it for two weeks and could not find what the problem was But I still had to pay $250

On another note, have you had any problems with the new 3's?

 

Paul's got it right - NEVER go to a dealer.

Dealers are in business to make money, not fix your car. Therefore, unless you come across a truly enlightened soul, you're going to get screwed, simply because there aren't still enough of these cars out there for mechanics to 'specialize' on them. Additionally, they will overcharge you for ANY maintenance that you can do on your own, and then they will tell you that your engine is bad, your brakes are bad, or something else to GET MORE MONEY.

NEVER go to a dealer. Find an independent mechanic, or better yet, get good at working on it yourself - much less hassle, much more of a learning experience... HTH,

 

I've seen some good work @ dealers and crummy work too. Back in 1988 Almaden Mazda did good work on my 81 rx7.

There is big money to be made in a service departments. I have seen big posters on the wall of the service department saying to the guys who write up the service orders: if you charge this much $$ a quarter then we'll send you to Hawaii.... that much gets you a set of golf clubs...etc...etc....

Some dealers really do want to rip you. Some really want to help you.

 

Back in the early sixties, the word was if you bought your VW from a dealer ,do it yourself , dont ever go back. Some things never change.

 

I posted my experience with one of the local mazda dealers a few months ago. It is unfortunate that the people that should be the "specialists" can be so uninformed. This Orlando dealer said they "didn't have" and "couldn't get" a manual for a 1985 GSL-SE. Despite keeping my car for a month and replacing the fuel pump (unnecessarily) three times, when the problem was finally diagnosed by Ortiz (it took them 5 minutes), the dealer said that couldn't POSSIBLY be the solution. It has run fine for 6 months now.

On the other hand, I took the FB to a dealer in Nashville when it was 15 years old for a minor problem and they fixed it for free because it was "so nice" and "since it only had 100,000 miles, it shouldn't be giving me any problems". So you never know.

 

You know its funny you should ask that. The cars we have the least amount of problems with is the RX-8 and the mazda 3. You know why? Both are the only cars we have that are both assembled in japan, and use all japanese parts.

Again, Not all mazda dealers are bad, just get a reccomendation from another rx7 owner first. Not every mazda mechanic is trying to screw everyone over. When I get an rx-7 in, I treat it like ******* royalty.

 

Man, there are three Mazda dealers around the college park area here in Maryland, Of the 3, one says it will only work on 2nd gen RX7s, another one said it won't even change the oil on them, and the third I dont even go to, there guys at the service desk chuckled when I asked if they did reman engines for the second gen.

 

I don't think its fair to say "never take it to a dealer". Like any business you will find good ones and bad ones. There's a dealer that is 1/2 mile from my office that has no clue and will rip you off, so I go 20 miles across town to a different dealer that knows what they are doing and don't try to add on tons of work you don't need.

just my $.02

 

@ my local dealership there's a parts guy who's cool... he understands that some customers baby their cars and just want the best part, and he does his best to accomodate them. Most of the rest of them treated me like a travelling salesman with body odor when they saw me driving an FB - nevermind that it was mint and clean. Every time I went there one of 'em would as 'Is that the one with the v-6, or just a 4 banger?' or something equally stupid.

 

with all the rotaries running around in orlando, I would think the dealer would have some people specialized but I guess not.

 

Wow, imagine that...Mazda3 and RX8 not having any problems. They've been out for so long too, very surprising that they haven't had anything go wrong. You'd think after what...2 years...they'd be in shambles.

Dealerships...reminds me of the time I took my '86 Prelude to the dealership, reluctantly, after having trouble getting anyone to touch the carburetors. I was quoted $1200 to replace them. I told the guy I paid $1400 for the car, I'm not paying $1200 just to pass emissions. He even then suggested a shop across the street that would "tune" my engine to pass, then set it back, because the setting to pass would be bad for extended driving. Ahh...gotta love dealerships.

One guy even told me he'd love to take my money to look at it, but they don't work on THAT car. I called Pinellas Carburetor, suggested by several shops, and even the DMV, who I had trouble with due to tag registration being late, due to not passing emissions, due to my carburetor being bad, and noone would touch the carburetor! They pinpointed my year/make/engine dual carb as the ONLY CARBURETOR that they don't work on.

I found a guy about 5 miles from my house eventually who when I asked if he could check it out, he quoted me $400 for a rebuild of both carbs. I thanked him and hung up. But he was the only one willing to work on it, so I called back, and he assured me he could work on it, no problem. About a week later I had my car back, running like a champ again. Ironically enough, that was the last year I had to do emissions testing, because our county lifted the requirements.

 

my grandfather took his brand new f150 to the dealer for some kinda recall simple fix well in the 2 days they had it some body either ran it into a wall or a dilivery truck scraped the pass. side real bad like 3k worth or more and they wouldn't make good for it so its not just mazda dealers the only reason we still go to the plase is my uncle is now head mechanic