Alcoholic

Ok so I'm going to explain what happened and tally up the money spent...

I bought my '95 FD with 43xxx miles on it several months ago for 13,200, I haven't been able to drive it much. It was bought out in cali. It sat in the previous owner's garage for two years probably only started once or twice if at all. There were oil leaks, old fluids, stock ast, etc. I had tripoint replace some worn ****, fix all the oil leaks, install a mazdaspeed rad and an aluminum AST. That bill, plus shipping it out here to florida came out to about $3200.

So anyway, I get it here, pay taxes ($600 or so), then start driving. It now appears to be running hot, and I keep smelling this sweet coolant-like smell coming from the car. No smoke, just the smell. Later on it started smoking a light white smoke for a few minutes on start and it appears to me to be running hot. I never had previous experience with FD's, but without a quite extended cool-down period before I pulled into my garage, I could pop my hood and it would warm up my garage. So I take it in to a local rotary shop, the mechanic tells me that by the noises the engine is making as the metals start to cool down and contract, that the car is running warm, although the temp gauge never, ever leaves that normal spot a bit below half way. He also tells me that my primary turbo (that got a clean bill of health from tripoint a few hundred miles earlier) is eating oil and eventually needs to be rebuilt. I get quoted for something like $2k for the turbo rebuild and associated labor.

Maybe two weeks later my car won't start. My mechanic diagnosed this as a fuel system problem and went through a lot of BS to get the car running again. I ended up replacing the fpd, fpr, and got a silicone vacuum job while he allready had the UIM off as well as some other little crap, bill came to $1400.

So I drive it around for another couple weeks or so, then slide it into a curb because my 18-year-old-*** is a noob driver. I take it into the shop, I get a call later telling me what I broke and that I have a blown coolant seal as well.

Yay.

So before this, I paid $13,200 for the car, $3200 on maintenance and getting it here, $600 in taxes, $250 for the first short checkup at the shop and some minor stuff, $1400 for the fuel system problem and preventitive maintenance, and now I have suspension damage, a dying primary turbo, and a blown coolant seal at 44xxx miles. I'm allready in this for about $18,650 with everything including the taxes as my car sits right now.

So as far as the suspension damage goes, I have a bent rear subframe, a bent lower control arm, a bent trailing arm, and a cracked rim. I don't even know what that's gonna cost. A rebuild will be $3500ish and about an extra $1000ish for a turbo rebuild while I'm in there.

So now I'm just thinking I want to get rid of the car and try to cut my losses. I'm afraid that if I rebuild it and keep it, well, "what if" that motor goes again. There's another $3500 that disappears into nothingness so I can drive a damn car. Don't get me wrong, I really like my car, but I don't think I'm in the financial position at this point in my life to own a car that can be so problematic.

I don't think I can get crap for it as it sits, so I'm thinking I need to at least get the suspension **** fixed before I sell it.

My options are to fix the suspension and sell it, fix all of it and sell it, or keep driving it. I'm looking for advice. If I sell it, obviously I want to do whatever is necessary to minimize my loss because I'm allready set to lose some number of thousands of dollars which is going to hurt. However, if it gets rebuilt, at that point, it will have all the reliability mods done as well as some gauges so I actually know what the **** is going on inside the motor. Do you guys think it will last for a good while in that condition?

I don't know what to do, keep it, or fix what before I sell to minimize my loss?

the_glass_man

iTrader: (2)

LSX? Or you could always do this until you get some more cash.
http://www.fd3s.net/o-ring_fix.html

Farhan

Damn it sounds like you've had some horrible experience with your FD. What mechanic have you been taking it to? It just seems like they keep springing **** on you and that you originally bought a VERY bad condition FD. Sorry. I would think whatever you decide to do with the car you'll still need to fix it, so just go ahead and fix it and then decide.

Alcoholic

The ls1 idea is appealing, but how much money does it take to swap one in? Probably too much. Not to mention I allready slid a stock 220ish whp rx7 into a curb, it will be all the easier to do something similar with a stock ls1 and 300ish whp. Although, I learned a lesson in hitting that curb, too bad I had to learn that one the hard way.

I don't want to name names because I've gotten conflicting information between this shop and tripoint (been on the phone with tripoint since getting the car here) and there's been some other things that are kind of pissing me off, but I just don't think I should get into it on a public forum.

The thing is that I don't know if I actually need to fix all of it before I sell it if I do. I'd get it all fixed up though if I could net more money back out from selling it though.

And the car was givin a clean bill of health @ tripoint other then oil leaks and old fluids and whatnot. It's made 110psi+ on both rotors and was pulling 15 or 16inhg and this was only like 1200 or so miles ago.

F0RSAKEN

You are 18 right? Do you still live with your parents, or do you have housing bills to deal with too? If you live at home, do you have a place to work on the car?

If you have a place to work on the car, my suggestion, and what I would do, is get some tools, and the shop manual. You can fix a still running engine with a leaky seal for under 1k, and learn something in the process. Get the rebuild DVD's, I hear those help tons.

The cracked rim is an easy and cheap fix, people here sell them all the time, and usually very very cheap, I wouldnt worry about that. The suspension bits might cost a bit more, IMO, you should find someone who really wrecked their car and is parting it out, and buy all the stuff you ruined from them. You could probably fix your wheel and suspension for under 500.

If you sell it as is, and dont lie to the person you are selling too, you are going to take a massive hit financially. If you are honest, you probably wont get over 10k with the problems it has, and if you fix them first, then sell it, there is no way you are gonna get 20k for the car, so you're down again. It would be smarter to fix it yourself, and keep it I would think.

And Im happy no one was hurt when you slid your car into the curb, its a tough learning experience, but always always be thankful that the only damage was mechanical.

RX7Junkman

long story coming up

RX7Junkman

alcoholic is your FD an auto or five speed becuz i bought my FD with 41K auto and brought it from jersey previous owner had it sitting since 01' "but SAYS he turns it on once or twice a week, bought it and brought in april of 05'

when i got it compessioned tested had an average of 8, got new ast got rid of the pre-cat and ran good for about 2 weeks then noticed it started runnin a little hot and sometimes wouldnt crank, so had to let it sit til I got some more flow to send it to my cousins mechanic,

I didnt know much about the ROTARY back then, so I take it for a full inspection and they found my radiator was cracked had a faulty starter, bad relays and alternator, 3K later I got my FD back a week later at night drive it around for a while, and took it out the next day no problems till i get to my jobs parking lot the revs start to drop which I didnt know what to make of it, so I never mind it then while heading home I my revs drop to a point where the car wants to turn off then smell smoke and see it coming out of my hood lucky I was a mile away from home and parked it and pop the hood and it was the damn altenator it caught fire and melted away the inside, this time I buy me a new alternator and install it myself checked to make sure i didnt fry anything. ran good for about another 2 months

( keep in mind I would only drive it on fridays and weekends not daily) december 05, while coming home from FT. Lauderdale on the palmetto the tranny takes a bump and starts overheating. long story short I take it to my mechanic and get the news the tranny is dead, got several cracked hoses and would cost me about 2k to rebuild the auto tranny alone not counting labor , blowns shocks and front of chassis is twisted owner forgot to mention he was in an accident , I say hell no and since i was going to do the conversion, sometime later I figure I might as well do it know and save me the headache down the road, when he tells me it'll cost around or above 4k to do the swap if we can find the parts I again say hell no, and had it towed to a friends house who said he'd help me do it, I got me the 93' workshop manual from rx7city and started reading I read and printed me a copy, I read it like (sorry if this offends some of U) a bible. and stated saving up and looking for part having no luck finding the wiring harness decide to go even bigger

I buy me a microtech and a T60-1 single turbo because didnt like the rats nest nor didnt the headache of the sequential turbo setup. Good thing I did to cause when I took the turbos apart I find that the manifold has several cracks in it. and several months later still not ready( I only work on it on sundays because of I work 6 days a week 10hrs a day so dont get to much time) but if u look up my posts u can see my project from begining to now. so just know it could be worse, there are people out there in worse situations and If u asks guys around here who know me they will tell u I am not a patient person, but this car has tought me to be patient and to relax and take it easy, So hang in there.the stress comes with this car and if u ask alot of the guys AND girls around they'll agree

Farhan

+ 1 on being patient. My cars been down many times, but most of it reasons caused by myself i.e. modifications. Even "routine" ones have to be conducted on our cars and you just have to learn to accept it. I'm VERY happy with my car and have been for many years. I hope you can eventually feel the same way.

Alcoholic

I know it could be worse, that's not the point. I didn't post this to complain about what has happened, I just don't know what to do...

If I had the knowledge, tools, and skill to work on it myself, I'd get wrenching, but I'm in a much crappier situation because I can't do that and I'm looking for some advice.

Alcoholic

I've been plenty patient, I've had this car since I believe october of last year. It's currently been sitting in the shop for about two months and my mechanic now just told me he's not going to do the work on it. :-\ Time for a new mechanic.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Alcoholic,

IMO, fix the suspension, sell it and cut your loses.

I've been there and done that, but I was a little older at that time. The car doesn't get much cheaper to own and at that age, you really shouldn't be wasting your money and time.

When I was 18, I had a pos car. But you know what, I had money in my pockets and I was out enjoying myself with my friends instead of stuck under a car with tools. Honestly, are you having fun now?

This car is not for everyone. No car is for everyone. Get something more reasonable and enjoy yourself. You'll never be the same age twice so why spend it in poverty and pain if you don't have to....

RX7Junkman

dont get my post wrong I did not mean to sound like u were complaining I'm just letting u know ur not the only one who has gone through this, u have no idea how many times I said to myself why didnt I just get me a regular piston car like a supra or evo those I know, but I went with the rotary and I learned and have had a some good times and bad times when I just closed the hood and comeback to it with a clear head. But its really up to U, like u said if u dont have the tools and u might not want to spend hundreds in tools like I have, as for me I want plan to have mine finished and tuned in about 3 weeks, and am thinking about buying an FC and passing the FD on to my little brother

tphan

FDs are toys...just like beautiful women. If have no money to keep them happy...it's time to get rid of them...

Alcoholic

This has basically been my plan. I'm just concerned that the car won't sell for much with a blown coolant seal but I'm not sure how much a fresh engine would do to increase the value of the car. What do you think it would be worth once I fixed the suspension?

I'm not going to buy a POS, because I can afford to drive a pretty nice car and still have money in my pockets, but at this point all the time I spend at work is pretty much just to keep my car running, which sucks, obviously.

Milo 7

I did alot of research before buying an RX-7. It took me two years before finding the right car for me. I use this form to aid me before buying the right RX-7. The previous owner replace everything. From a new motor, turbos, clutch, new paint, and many other things as well. I guess when I came across it, it was pure luck to find an RX-7 with everything being replace. It was a Red 1993 R-1. When the owner post it online, I guess he forgot to mention that it was an R-1. So when I went to check out the car, lord and behold that it was an R-1 with everything new in it. I paid $15,000.00 for it but it was worth it because everything was replace and the previous owner kept all of the recipt to prove that everything was replace. I was happy and glad that I waited that long to get me an excellent RX-7. All of those long research and car hunting finally paid off. I guess good things comes to those who wait. Hang in there bro and next time put some time into researching the car that you want to get.

RX7Junkman

its pretty tough to sell em here in FL for much, alot of people let them go here pretty cheap,and like I asked if its an auto not many people want it, at least here in S. FL nobody wanted to give it to 10K when I wanted to sell it, because I ran into some money trouble after I fixed it the 2nd time. had to move in back with my parents but I bounced back. and now am glad I didnt sell it cuz its gonna be a nice ride when its ready.

Alcoholic

I did. Not only research on here, but the car was checked out by two body shops, and a reputable rotary shop that gave the car a clean bill of health, then I started taking care of maintanence and getting reliability crap done. What more can I do?

Alcoholic

It's a manual, I'd be absolutely, totally screwed if it was an auto.

Force13B

iTrader: (19)

My car's been not working in my drive way for 2 months. From a tranny rebuild to fixing BS the exowner left for me. I still wouldn't sell it. Drag it to your house get out a manual and start taking bolts out. Not to mention you can find most anything on this sight, if you sell it as is your going to get raped.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

I think either way you are going to take a huge hit with it. It's going to cost you more to put a new engine in it than it's going to increase the price of the car selling it after it would be in. More people are willing to pick up an FD with a blown engine than one with suspension damage and a blown engine. Most people know blown engines are pretty common so that's not a huge deal. Besides, there are a lot of people doing LS1 swaps on these cars so it's easy pick'ns for those.

Basically, it sounds like you bought a lemon just like me. I bought mine back in '97; saw it on the lot and just took it. I didn't know anything about it at all or anyone who had one. When I got it, the coolant seals had already let go but the previous owner had run the block weld just enough to get it sold. If failed about 3 months of my ownership. In '97, I didn't know anything about the car let alone have an internet connection so I was stuck with a local dealership. At that point, it was going to cost me the same amount to fix it as it was going to for me to get out of my loan. So, $10,000 and 4 months later, I had a new engine and new turbos in the car (if I knew then what I know now, the car would have been at Pettit Racing getting something better for less). At that point, I paid over $20k for the car and then just forked out $10k in cash to have it fixed in less than a year.

So I've been there and I'm now spending another $10k on a "redo" of the engine and a few other parts. So, even if you get past this part, that doesn't mean you won't be spending it again later.

RX7Junkman

What mahjik says is true either way u go ur gonna have give up some flow. my car sat for 4 months before I started if u really want this car u may want to learn how to do it yourself but it seems to me the car isnt for U, sorry. by the way mahjik I've never thanked u for all the advise u've givin me in the pasts months, so thanks mahjik.

Alcoholic

And this is precisely what I'm worrying about. It's hard to let the car go though and I'm a picky bitch when it comes to cars. It took me six or eight months of hard looking to find that FD and and it came from 2,500 miles away. I could take out a loan and buy an nsx or an e46 m3 if I wanted to, but I doubt I'd have as much fun though. The FD is just so damn nimble and easy to throw around.

chinoflyer

iTrader: (1)

Alcoholic, I feel your pain. But this is what I will do if this is happening to me.
First I will fix the suspension damage. To me all suspensions are pretty much the same to work on, from Pinto to a Viper. Some may just have a few more bolts then the others. I am sure you have friends or families that can help. If you really take the time to learn them, you may find yourself dumb to pay "THE PROS" to do this. However, if you are really that lack of time or confident, pay someone to do this and try to get used part off the for sale section.
Next, I will continue to drive that car with the blown seal. trust me, you can not break the engine anymore then what is broken, unless you do something crazy like over boosting and blow the apex seal. Even then you will still only have a blown engine which you already have. I also have a bad o-ring on my engine. I have been driving the car for almost a year with a bad o-ring. I still boost the hell out of it, even more so then If my engine is good. Because I know, it is already blown. Your turbo is going to be o.k. Don't worry about it. so what if fin breaks and it get into your engine, again it is already BLOWN.
With your car only having 40ish k miles, I am sure the rest of the car is o.k. just keep in mind that the most costly repair is already needed. Nothing is going come to close to an engine rebuild. If you get any other used car you are going to face all these maintenance cost that you will have with your fd.
There are a few things that you might want to get to drive the rx7 with a bad o-ring.
1) A jug of antifreeze, get the cheap stuff it is going to spill out anyway.
2) A rag so you can open the filler cap when it is hot (DON"T OPEN HOT FILLER CAP UNTIL YOU READ THE FOLLOWING!!!!!!!!).
3) A Filler CAP WITH THE PRESSURE RELIFE LEVER, that is a must. when you are driving and you see the low coolant light comes on and the temp gauge goes up. You know you are low on coolant. you need to relive the pressure on your cooling system before opening it. (DO AT YOUR OWN RISK).lol
4) A funnel, get one with a bottom opening big enough so you can burp the system with it. Do a search on burping your coolant system you will know what I mean by that.

enough of the tech stuff, You are going to put money into this FD and you already did, then why not ENJOY IT BEFORE you sell it.
Let say your luck is so bad 5000 miles later, you blown your apex seal, need a new clutch, and your turbos are seize up. What do you end up with? You still only have 40ishK miles FD with blown engine. All the other stuff means nothing to someone that is buying a non-running FD. But I think if you dirve it for a while, you will fall in love with it and not wanting to sell it.

so you ask for advice here is mine.

Alcoholic

Thanks for the advice, but I don't want to drag out problems. If I'm keeping it, I'm getting it properly fixed. I'm not going to drive around with a jug of coolant.

I wish I knew some people with knowledge and tools enough to help me out fixing the car myself, but I don't. I was told the labor for the suspension parts would only be about 5 hours anyway, which isn't much considering the amount of money involved in this. Buying tools would probably cost as much as labor or just make the difference negligible.

And I allready don't want to sell it, and I could rebuild the motor, the turbos, fix the suspension and mod it if I want to, but like I said before: "what if"? I'd be completely screwed if something bad happened and the motor let go. I don't need to be a slave to the car I'm driving, no matter how much I like it.

In some cases, it's just not worth the risk. If I could rebuild and have a gaurenteed 50,000 miles or more from the new motor, I would in a heartbeat because my work is 1.5 miles from my house, my college is 2 miles. Most of my miles are weekend miles.

RX7Junkman

take a look at these pics, and these are from me, which a few months ago didnt know squat about the FD and had a couple of hand tools here and there, its not just the motor that U have to worry about it can take a beating, its the little things,well if your gonna keep it u might want to install an aftermarket radiator about 45mins and u only need a rachet with an extension if u want to make it easier for u , with the sequential setup u have to worry about the lines cracking which will screw u big time cuz there a pain to find sometimes thats why alot of people like myself switch to a single turbo alot easier and simpler