Megaton

What is this that i am hearing?
13B engine or rotaries the fc rx7 being problematic?

I am getting mixed results depends on where i look but a couple of people here and there are telling me the rx7 is problematic hell any car that is from 86-91 will probably have some problems.
really what can i be looking into heh, don't want to go in over my head.
the one i am looking at has 104k miles.


any way
taking into consideration the rotary engine has 3 moving parts 2 rotors and an output shaft.
and the piston engine has 40 plus moving parts
it would seem to be more reliable and possibly easier to fix?

Any replies are welcome, thanks.

BushyTea

iTrader: (4)

I wouldn't say the rotary is more or less dependable as a piston engine. They are about the same as any other car you own, if you put the work into the car to keep it dependable then you get great returns from it.

I have an 87 Turbo 2 and on top of that a JDM motor (which people are against) and I have daily driven mine in Texas for over 3 years now. Even modified it at one point and went back mostly stock again.

When buying one there are things to check, mainly the compression to make sure the engine is good. As long as you are willing to do the routine maintenance work and fix some things that need to be on a 20 yr. old car then they are fine.

Mike

Megaton

Thanks for the replies.
and i most certainly will keep care of it, from what i can see i LOVE IT and i don't even own one yet.
So yeah i am sure routine maintenance shouldn't be a problem for me.
changing oil, they burn oil i hear.
Also how is the mpg? gas prices are raising

I hear they get reaaaaaaal thirsty but then i hear they get 33mpg heh.
is it all a matter of tunning? as i am intrested in performance, don't want to go all crazy but i would like to get good gas mileage as well.

Jedsterama

HeHeHe, MPG depends on your foot.
My 93 Suburban gets about the same gas mileage as my 86 GXL. About 14MPG although my foot tends to be heavier in the Mazda.
I think they came factory with only 17 MPG combined.
Maybe 33MPG down a big hill in neutral but! performance-wise, it's great! Still an old car but will throw you back in your seat, blow away most everything and hold the road in corners on a those twisty backroads.
Like Bushy says, if you take care of it the car, it will reap great rewards.
Also be prepaired to fix things other people fixed wrong. This site is a great place to learn anything you want to know about your car.
Keep searching for things to look for when buying. Many, many pages in here from the racer to the ricer offering their experiences.
Good luck!

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Basically, these cars are 20 years old. Many of them are just plain worn out. As such, they can be unreliable unless you buy one that has been well taken care of. Of course this will be the case with most 20 year old cars, whether they are RX-7s or not.

If you do a search for something like "is it reliable" or "new owner reliable" you will find the hundreds of past threads that discuss this in detail.

InsomniacFC

iTrader: (4)

Rotaries will burn oil, but that is intrinsic to thier design as the oil is injected via an oil metering pump on the front housing and spray nozzles situated on the intake manifold to lubricate the rotors/seals/etc. If you're going through a massive amount of oil (say a quart every day) then you've probably got a blown or failing oil seal and I would not touch that car with a 10 ft pole unless you plan to rebuild it or get a reman which is expensive. If you're going through a quart between oil changes then you are OK.

As per the factory spec the NA FC will get about 17 in town and 24 on the freeway.and if you spend your days commuting, should be good for 300-400 miles per full tank, but most folks in here say they get 200-300 per tank, which goes to show how many leadfoots we have. The spec is similiar for the Turbo II model, but 23 on the freeway.

Secondmessiah

ive owned my turboii for a year and had few problems considering that its a 20 year old car
-clutch hydraulics went bad
-clock didnt work (fixed it myself)
-idle problem
-the logicon is a clusterfuck

i should add that it will kick the *** of any other 6,000 dollar car, no question

6k is more than you will spend, mine cost that much because it had 45,000 miles on it

Rx7TyreBurna

iTrader: (1)

The RX-7 injects oil into the engine.

Also, I know with my RX, I am getting approx 20 MPG. That is if I am light with the gas and shifting around 3k - 3.5k.

Reliability.... 20 year old car.

In piston engines, you usually get head gaskets going out, valve seals failing, stuff like that. Most of which is pull the head off and replace. From my experience, costs less and is easy to do.

Piston rings go out on older cars, but it doesn't happen as often.

Rotary engines that are getting old, or have been rebuilt poorly, tend to have coolant seals go out. This leads to major rebuild. This is usually very very expensive. The whole motor needs to be pulled apart and most of the seals replace. I have seen kits on some sites for $1k - $1.5k. And that is just the seals. Labor to have someone do it will cost a bit too.

Oil needs to be checked pretty often, because if you run low, like I know some people do, and the oil injectors don't have oil to spit on the apex seals, things can break.

And if something like that breaks, you are looking at buying new rotors, housings, etc. This becomes very expensive.

Hondas are great DD cars, but not as fast. If you are looking for something that is going to be pretty reliable and get good gas mileage, you should consider a Honda or Acura. Also, Toyota (some models).

I see the RX and being an enthusiast car. Not something you would say, "Hey I want a really reliable car for someone that isn't knowledgeable about maintenance".