Ethien: engine reliability is excellent with nothing more than basic scheduled maintenance and a little sense. I'd get a buyer's guide and/or mechanic to make sure the RX-7 you want to buy doesn't have a broken engine (or anything else wrong). Then do all the scheduled maintenance and you should be fine for a very long time. The 1989-1991 non-turbo model is the one with the 8,000 rpm redline and a little more power than the 1986-1988 non-turbo. Go to www.kbb.com to see what a good condition RX-7 sells for. If you go cheap it better not be broken or you're only asking to pay more later. Beyond that I'd save a few hundred bucks or so in case something random fails like the clutch, plus however much parts and labor your planned upgrades cost (find out ahead of time).

Almost none of those are critical or a common source of major problems. Most help a little though. I wouldn't bother with an aftermarket radiator on a stock FC (an FD or upgraded TII is another story). Get a Haynes manual or owner's manual or factory service manual and do all the scheduled maintenance. Pay special attention to cooling system maintenance. Change the coolant and thermostat every 12-18 months, using only OEM thermostats (i.e., from a Mazda dealer or certain websites). A Lisle funnel (google it) is nice to get air bubbles out after a coolant change, but again it's not critical. Pull over within 30 seconds of an overheat; don't wait for the next exit.

It's not nearly as bad as the FD since the TII turbo system is far less complicated and more conservative. But yeah turbo problems will kill your engine so stay on top of the turbo system. If you upgrade the boost or exhaust you need to add more fuel which means tuning, fuel pump, fuel injectors, etc. And a good wastegate to prevent boost creep. One good strong knock from high boost and low fuel and you can kiss your engine good bye.

Overheats and knocking (only on turbos) are easily the most common cause of engine failure. Both usually destroy the engine instantly, not over time (though the cooling system or turbo can slowly fail if neglected). But both can be easily prevented. A distant third is sudden loss of large amounts of oil from a super loose oil drain plug (Jiffy Lube/etc. ftl) or a busted oil cooler line. Pull over within 30 seconds if your oil pressure suddenly hits zero and/or your oil buzzer goes off. Once those things are out of the way do also stay on top of other scheduled maintenance as I said above.

A search through these forums and the FAQ can answer other buying and new owner questions. Besides all that, search for these topics: "fuel pulsation dampener", "DTSS", "auxiliary ports" (non-turbo only), "deflooding procedure" plus any problems you happen to have.

 

ericgrau i love you haha answered all my questions thank you greatly haha
the non turbo models are the only ones with the elevated redline?
What would be the recommended path for modding a turbo upgrade the fuel system, upgrade Radiator and what else i just want to set up a reliable platform for further power gains and an N/A seems to be difficult to just reach 200

 

im 18 and my first car is an RX-7, im hooked on it, best value for money, eats anything else you buy 4800 aussie dollars, think commodore and falcon, wouldnt have it any other way

 

My first car is my 1990 GTU, it's such a fun car and nothing major has fallen off/broken yet, aside from normal old-car things like the exhaust rusting out and calipers sticking.

 

The non-turbo uses auxillary intake (aka 5th and 6th) ports similar in purpose to VTEC cams and the 1989-1991 model uses a Variable (length) Dynamic Intake, a.k.a. VDI. Both provide extra air and therefore power at high rpms. Plus better balanced rotors to survive the higher rpms. The turbo models rely purely on the turbo for power; and w/o the first two times to increase high rpm power there'd be no point to raising the redline anyway. You can add a turbo to the NA models, but it's highly involved. Starting with a turbo model is much easier. www.aaroncake.net has more info on adding a turbo to a NA.

For a reliable stock turbo, you maintain it well according to the manual. For a reliable upgraded turbo, I'd do a forum search to make sure you don't miss anything I forget. Just off the top of my head there's a ported waste gate (so boost doesn't get higher than it's supposed to), tuning an RTEK or SAFC or standalone ECU to tell the computer to inject more fuel, higher flow fuel pump, higher flow fuel injectors, regularly changed fuel filter to prevent flow restriction, knock sensor, boost gauge and an aftermarket radiator. Tune upon upping the boost or upgrading the exhaust to tune it.

Besides that handling upgrades are at least as important as power for fun, safety and track performance. Search forums for more info.

The practical limit for NA power is around 170-195 at the wheels (probably 200-230 at the engine). Most of that comes from a full exhaust, street port (search for info) and tuning. More than that is possible but difficult and it has drawbacks. At that point it's easier to start with a turbo car.

 

I just recently bought an 88 fc n/a with 138k on the motor and body. Everything is still in good condition but I was wondering what are the first things I should do with the car. What oil to use. Any suggestions and comments will be nice. Thanks guys.

 

Take it to a season of Autocross.
If you can't get close to the FTD, don't upgrade.

Youngins wreck cars by not following this.

 

This sounds like it should have been a new topic, but oh well. Do ALL the scheduled maintenance in the owner's manual or a Haynes manual chapter 1, unless you have records for each item from the previous owner saying it was done recently. Cooling system stuff is what's most important. Use only OEM thermostats (from a Mazda dealer or certain websites).

Search forums for following topics: "fuel pulsation dampener", "DTSS". If modding the exhaust search "auxiliary ports" (aka 5th and 6th ports).

Any API certified oil is good and weight doesn't matter much. Usually 10w30 is best on a good NA but if you have warm weather and any leaks, strong fuel smell in the oil, etc. you can slow it down with 20w50. Get non-synthetic or one of the synthetics listed in the FAQ, just to be safe. It is highly unlikely the kind of oil will matter. Yes, some are a little better, but costly if you ignore the owner's manual and are stuck in the 50+ year old American-only 3k mile oil change mindset.

 

my FC was also my first car...

al lot of you guys know how it ended up
now after 5 years, i still fall in love everytime i step into the garage!

come to think of it, i still own every car i ever bought.
first the FC, then a renault kangoo as daily beater and now a '75 929 coupe

 

Owning a FC works out pretty well when you have a steady source of income comming in especially if you want this to be a superawesome track car or auto-x, but not so well in other situations

 

Well i just found a car that fits the bill of what i was looking for now the problem is getting my parents to support me in my decision....
Since i live in San Antonio theres only one mechanic that can work on rotary's
the car was rebuild a little under 1k miles.
my dad previously had an Rx7 and pretty much didnt know anything about them and the engine blew and he was hit with 2500 for repairs and basically scrapped his 7.
Any ideas on how i should handle this situation?

 

tell them you are a part of the rx7 club and it is in your destiny to own an rx7.

 

this was widebodyrx7's first car some people come up hard

 

I baught an rx7 for my first car... it wasnt stock either it had a 13B-REW transplant and has alot of little issues, i would highly NOT recomend one for a first car.. so far i have spent 10 grand ontop of the car, this included a diff, new clutch, complete engine rebuild and much more on little **** that goes wrong in these cars. How ever they are fun to drive, be prepared to spent shitload on premium petrol and oil which don't even last long lol.

 

I did my research on this car before buying it. i knew it wasnt the best choice but i just had to get my hands on one. My first car i bought was a 1988 GTU, it was more like a project in wait but i used it as a daily driver. tested the mpg on it and i found myself driving 23-25 mpg at around 300-350 miles per tank. hypothesis i thought was because the PO closed the aux ports and i was driving around with 4 ports opened all the time with no 5th and 6th ports. also, the PO never told me to run 2cycle or 2stroke in the gas tank. found out later that the emissions were all removed and blocked plus the omp was removed and blocked. also, the car had and ugly *** custom exhaust that was so loud, i couldnt even have a conversation without yelling. the sunroof drain holes were all clogged so water leaked through and the weather seal was some generic window seal strip. i had to unclog the drains and buy a used seal from a parts car. another thing was the PO's did a 4 lug conversion on the rear wheels, so i had to buy a 5 lug conversion to redo that mistake too. the car was constantly leaking oil too. it was leaking out the front cover, i had to buy oil every week. finally took it to a mech who said he could fix it. he fixed it all right, but after that another fail. seems to me he probably didnt align the crank angle sensor correctly so my timing was way off. i would of fixed the cas, but it was stuck on good. so i had idling issues and hot start issues. later i bought a stock T2 and sold my GTU. it was sad seeing it go... it would of still been a great car.

 

My 1987 S4 Non turbo is special to me because is is my first "choice" car. I've had the car for almost a year now and i found it in rare condition on Craigslist and got it for less than $2000. The motor and transmission had close to 89,000 miles on it.

I had always wanted an RX-7 long before i knew anything about cars, because of all the video games I'd play and thought the concept and design of the FD3S was cool and unique, but after i did some research and learned how hard it was to maintain one on (let alone find one in Illinois at the time), i turned to the FC as a less difficult car to drive. 3 years later i moved to So Cal, save some dough and after a couple failed attempts at trying to find a 240SX for a drift project, i go back to my rotary search and found the 87 NA RX-7 I'm currently driving.

I really like my car because of its sleek look, its relatively easy to fix and modify, there's a lot of specialty and aftermarket support, and it has its share of problems but it puts out significantly in spite of em. The only time the car ever broke down on me was from making rookie driver mistakes, like drivin down a hill with my foot depressed on the clutch pedal, or frying the clutch while going up a steep hill, or replacing clutch hydraulic parts with Chinese knock-offs from Autozone just to have em break down 4 months later, lol.

I ultimately have enjoyed driving and modifying my car this past year and I'm glad i stuck with my original choice of picking a wankel as a first car and not jump on the band wagon for a 240SX. I've been learning so much from the experience and meeting a lot of popular rotary enthusiasts. She's not drift ready yet, but
i'll get her there.

 

I've had my 90 convertible for 20 years now. 191,000 on original engine and still running. RX-7s are a way of life. Staying on top of maintenance is the key.

 

what my major problem is my parents saying the maintenance cost on it anyone wana share bout how much they spend a week/month on their fc?

 

what my major problem is my parents saying the maintenance cost on it anyone wana share bout how much they spend a week/month on their fc?
Also is their anyone living near me that could help me with the car thats also a big thing?

 

I average about $250/month on scheduled maintenance and repairs on my 88 convertible, which is typical of most sports cars that are 20 years old and have 100,000 to 200,000 miles. Just about any mechanic can work on an RX-7, with just a few exceptions such as rebuilding the engine or troubleshooting the ignition timing. The more typical servicing, such as the cooling system, tires, brakes, transmission, oil change, body & paint, etc., is pretty much universal.

Also, more info for your parents:
- The FC RX-7 earned a very good crash test rating... see Consumer Reports from 1987-1988.
- The 2Gen coupe design is very good for a college student because it can carry a lot of things (laundry, school supplies, baggage, etc.) in the hatchback area. The 1Gen and 3Gen RX-7 are not so good in this respect, nor is the convertible.

Check your regional section on this forum.

 

I was thinking about if the engine were to go kaput that i could just replace it with a jdm turbo one? How extensive is the work to switch from an N/A rx7 and convert it to jdm tII?Also is that 250 including gas haha

 

n/a's are notoriously more reliable.
don't buy anything that has signs of shoddy workmanship
dont buy a car that doesn't run, unless its being sold as a shell
learn how to use a compression tester and use it
have a basic knowledge of cars and how to do basic maintenance
dont buy a car that has signs of needing maintenance, because that is a sign of neglect
look at the framerails and the wheels, the condition of these are tell tale sign of abuse
research!

read the aaron cake buying guide

do this and you should be fine.

 

seems like you are all worried about the reliability of rotaries, the truth is if they aren't turbo and the car has been taken care of properly the engines don't just "go kaput" for the most part. yes **** happens sometimes but you cant spin bearings, blow a head gasket etc. it's a good idea to be prepared but have faith in the rotary!
and to actually answer your question about the swap, it should be just as much work as any other motor swap that wouldn't require any fabrication. you are getting 3 steps ahead of yourself though, don't be thinking about swaps when you don't even own the car yet!
good luck

 

evil aviator you must be paying people for your maintenance work. i averaged about $40/mo when i had my '86 gxl

 

Not a good idea for a young, broke, noob with only one car. I recommend an unmodified non-turbo car until you are on your own and find yourself a good job. A good indicator that you can waste money on your car is when you are able to keep 3 months worth of pay in your bank account, you contribute $416.66 to your IRA or 401k each month, you don't have any outstanding credit card balance or loans other than a home mortgage, and you still have money left over after each paycheck.

It does not include gas, insurance, personal property tax, vehicle inspection fees, or license fees.

However, it does include:
- Castrol GTX engine oil and oil filter change every 3,000 miles (4 months)
- Good quality wiper blades every 12 months
- NGK spark plug change, Prestone coolant change, ATE Super Blue or Castrol LMA brake fluid change, and Red Line synthetic transmission and differential oil change every 30 months.
- Supplies (Glass cleaner, Rain-X, brake cleaner, grease, solvent, hand cleaner, etc.)
- Other scheduled maintenance (battery replacement, tires, brake pads, etc.)
- Unscheduled repairs that crop up.

Just keep in mind that I averaged the costs into monthly expenses. Actual expenses will fluctuate, with some of them exceeding $1,000, so make sure you have some spare money set aside for emergencies if your car is critical for your transportation needs. This applies to any high-mileage used car, not just RX-7s.

So far I have only paid for labor to repair some body rust and to mount and balance the tires. My expenses probably sound high because I fix things CORRECTLY, I buy new quality parts as opposed to crummy Chinese Ebay parts, I only buy used parts if new parts are impractical or unavailable, and I actually track my expenses in Quicken. Most people don't realize what they really spend on their cars, and based on my experience they probably don't want to, lol.