1986 rx7 GXL

[peacereef]

hey im a new member here, and im in the process of buying a 1986 rx7 GXL with 77,000 miles on the body, and 89,000 on the engine. it is a 1.3l non turbo. that is all the info i got from him through emails. i am taking a look at it tomorrow. what i would like to know is what should i be looking for and checking since im very very new to rotarys engines. i am looking for basicaly a list to check when im viewing the car. i will take pics. i am buying it for 1100 bucks. i think it is good. i know that a big prob with this year are the apexx seals. but that is as much as i found out from the research i conducted.


peacereef

 

[atticus1398]

if possible, check the compression on the rear rotor. thats the one that died on me twice.

 

['87 Turbo II]

the apex sealrs aren't a problem on the 86, they're just a problem that's part of a rotary, and those give out at different times depending on how well the car is taken care of. If they stayed on top of their oil levels and got it to near RPM revs at least once a month it's good (the revving clears out carbo buildup that damages the seals) If all is well taken car eof N/A engines can run up to 200k miles with little to no modification and no problems (mods normally bring in trouble) if not taken good care of they can go out as low as 40k miles (not one oil change in it's lifetime etc.). But when you're looking at it, check the oil, if it's 2.4 full to full, then that's a good sign that the oil levels are taken care of (these cars burn oils perposefully so those levels go down with driving. Should be checked about every 3 gas fill ups) use non synthetics to prevent carbon build up. Check the elictrical, 2 common problems is the sunroof operation, wiper switch only working on 1 speed, and the power antennae.

 

[peacereef]

thank you very much for the info gentlemen.

 

[melicha8]

Check the opperation of the pulsation damper which is a little pressure regulator with a yellow(when old) transparent white(when new) cap below the upper intake manifold. Replace immediately to prevent a car fire. It uses the same pulsation damper as the protege5. I just addressed this myself on my 88gxl. Make sure the differential is not worn out

 

[peacereef]

okay i will check all these out thank you very much, you guys are much nicer than the guys over at rx7club.com their mean prunes.

 

[melicha8]

They're not meaner there is just a brain drain there. People go on all the time and ask questions. Remember you are the nth person to go there and ask the same exact question. Do you think the old guys that know everything want to answer the same question again and again. They're even too lazy to tell you to search. Your best bet in the future is to just spend your time searching and figuring things out yourself. Asking questions is often futile there. Most of the time there is no black and white answer anyway.