Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the board so please forgive if this is a dumb question...

I've found a 88 convertible in excellent shape for sale, the serial is: JM1FC3515J0101606 . The car is very, very clean and appears to have been taken care of extremely well.

The car is silver(ish) with a blue leather interior loaded and a CD player in an 88??? Big feature, please forgive my domestic upbringings.

It's a manual with the 13b engine and I gather is completely loaded. Does anyone have a guide as to what goes wrong with this specific year? Common problems in general? Convertible problems?

Are 88 Verts of any special value? I know the Turbo II's are coveted, but what of the Vert?

There appears to have been some 'bottom end' leakage, if you can call it that on a rotary - sorry. It may have come from where the engine and tranny meet, I presume this is still called a bell housing on a rotary. It doesn't look like a big deal, but the car has been cleaned up for sale so I'm a little concerned about where it may have come from. Basically, there's a bit of oil on the steering rack and the cover the wraps from the front under the engine.

Any help anyone can be in decoding the serial or providing references to other sites is really appreciated, thanks!

 

The 88 is one of the best years for the FC and the vert (FC3C).

On the 'vert it was the only year with the real tailights (not the funky Ford T-bird knock offs found on the 89-91) and was 150lbs lighter than the 89, and 200 lbs lighter than the 90 and 91. The 88 'vert was only available in the US as a manual transmisson, and had the 3.9 rear end for better top gear gas mileage, but a slight sacrifice in 0-60 & 1/4 mile performance. Bear in mind the performace although not stellar by today's standards, is still as good as a 2002 Miata.

The 88 vert also comes with N338 ECU which will run the turbo motor.

Things to look for are the wiper switch.. (commonly needs a relay replaced) and most of the other standard FC electrical bugs of that era.

The top seals are expensive to replace, typically $50 a side for just the targa section, and a couple hundred for the top's main seals. Figure about $600 just in parts for the rear top section if it hase been ripped or damaged.

You will want to avoid a FC and particulary the 'vert that has had a front end damage where the front sub-frame has been bent. It is almost impossible to ever properly repair that problem on a 'vert due to the re-enforced uni-body design.

Common leak spots for the engine are the oil filter plate, which would follow your description of leak area. Its a simple fix to replace the O rings to stop that leak however.

You may wish to take a look at Aaron Cakes web page as he has a good write up about what to look for when buying a FC.

 

i always thought that due to the advances in engine design that 89 + verts were the better buy, always heard the engines were stronger and more reliable. N E V E R knew about the different weights. if this is accountable it would make more sense to me why people keep buying 88s instead of buying 89-91s for a few hundred more dollars

 

I have put over 100,000 miles on my two convertibles...on an island. They are a blast to drive.

Like boats and blonds...they take care and $ at times!

Dave in Honolulu

 

Look for signs of water leaks in the area just behind the side windows and down to the floor. The flexible top material on the sides is under a lot of stress and tends to rip there first. If the top was replaced, water may have gotten in for a while causing rust on the floorpan behind the seats. Make sure the top goes up and down properly, since I've heard those mechanisms cost a fortune to repair/replace, though I haven't heard of too many actual problems with them. Make sure a good spare tire is tucked away under that cover behind the seats.

Don't expect the factory CD player to be worth a damn unless you are driving on a glass-smooth road! This is first-gen CD technology with no read-ahead memory.

All other rotary engine warnings/advice apply. Just reading through the posts here will give you a pretty good idea.

I bought a beautiful red '88 vert and the motor blew just 4 months after I bought it. I't a roll of the dice with an older, higher-mileage engine. Good Luck!

 

Actually the series 4 motorare aruguably a little more reliable, since some of the parts are mechanical, (like the OMP) that are electric on the series 5 motors.

The big thing is that the series 5 motors only have 3 more ft/lbs of torque than the series 4 motor, which on the heavier 'vert actually means lower performance when the extra weight is considered.