Mazdas most bullet proof engine?

[mazdaspeed777]

So I was cerious to know what are some of the most bullet proof best of all around engines mazda has ever created. More specifically the newest. I have heard the BP in the old protege's were pretty rad. Anything newer than that??

 

[LordWorm]

So I was cerious to know what are some of the most bullet proof best of all around engines mazda has ever created. More specifically the newest. I have heard the BP in the old protege's were pretty rad. Anything newer than that??

FE3 is pretty bullet proof...slap a turbo on and they will put up with 400hp+ on stock internals before they give in...apparently pistons are the first weak point.

The FE3 was also used by kia in some cars, but i have read the kia examples are not as good as the genuine article (surprise surprise).

From an NA perspective, they are also a great engine for revving the hell out of, thanks to the relatively short stroke. Although the valve train would need some series revision to get decent revs out of it (would need to convert from HLAs to solid lifters, and with that possibly custom cam shafts) - but any decent workshop should be able to perform such a conversion for you.

Then theres the KLZE - 6cyl, 2.5L of high revving fury...fairly reliable from what i've read - but the big point here is effortless NA hp.

As for mazda's "most bullet proof" engine - well for ordinary operation, i'd have to say it'd be the 13b rotary. With only 3 moving components TOTAL (2 rotors and the eccentric shaft), there's not a great deal that goes wrong with them. If rebuilt with decent apex seals, and looked after, they are incredibly stout.

 

[mazdaspeed777]

FE3 is pretty bullet proof...slap a turbo on and they will put up with 400hp+ on stock internals before they give in...apparently pistons are the first weak point.

The FE3 was also used by kia in some cars, but i have read the kia examples are not as good as the genuine article (surprise surprise).

From an NA perspective, they are also a great engine for revving the hell out of, thanks to the relatively short stroke. Although the valve train would need some series revision to get decent revs out of it (would need to convert from HLAs to solid lifters, and with that possibly custom cam shafts) - but any decent workshop should be able to perform such a conversion for you.

Then theres the KLZE - 6cyl, 2.5L of high revving fury...fairly reliable from what i've read - but the big point here is effortless NA hp.

As for mazda's "most bullet proof" engine - well for ordinary operation, i'd have to say it'd be the 13b rotary. With only 3 moving components TOTAL (2 rotors and the eccentric shaft), there's not a great deal that goes wrong with them. If rebuilt with decent apex seals, and looked after, they are incredibly stout.

Sweet, thanks for all the info lordworm. I was just cerious to know about all the good engines Mazda has put out over the years. What model Mazda did the FE3 come in?

 

[niky]

Hmmm... from what I know, the naturally aspirated rotaries were fairly robust... and could be revved to kingdom come for a helluva long time before they broke.

The Kia Sportage, AFAIK, used the FE3... but some versions might've used the RF... scavenging for parts from local Sportages, it doesn't seem a direct port to an FS.

 

[mazdaspeed777]

Hmmm... from what I know, the naturally aspirated rotaries were fairly robust... and could be revved to kingdom come for a helluva long time before they broke.

The Kia Sportage, AFAIK, used the FE3... but some versions might've used the RF... scavenging for parts from local Sportages, it doesn't seem a direct port to an FS.

No, Not lookin to do any swappin. Not yet at least, if I do it will be a 6 cyl. KLZE. I was just cerious to know and add yet more knowledge to my Mazda addiction. lol Plus it is good to know when picking my next Mazda down the road.

 

[LordWorm]

Sweet, thanks for all the info lordworm. I was just cerious to know about all the good engines Mazda has put out over the years. What model Mazda did the FE3 come in?

The FE3 (correctly called the FE-DOHC....its called the "FE3" because of the castings on the head, FE3N) was in the JDM MX6 (forget which generation) and appeared in some euro models as well... theres a whole wikipedia article devoted to it.

Hmmm... from what I know, the naturally aspirated rotaries were fairly robust... and could be revved to kingdom come for a helluva long time before they broke.

The Kia Sportage, AFAIK, used the FE3... but some versions might've used the RF... scavenging for parts from local Sportages, it doesn't seem a direct port to an FS.

Rotaries are very robust...really until you start pushing astronomical amounts of power, they should by rights out live a piston engine being spun at half the speed....sheer reliability is part of the reason why the FIA effectively banned rotary engines from Lemans.... find the simplest 4 stroke piston engine and count the number of parts that have to move to make it work....compare that to the most sophisticated rotary mazda ever built.... the 4 rotor 26B.....

as for an FE3...i wouldn't touch the Kia version with a 20 foot pole, from what i've read there are plenty of problems associated with what kia did to th engine (overheating issues etc).... but yeah, the sportage had a licensed copy of the FE3.

 

[StealthWyvern]

as for an FE3...i wouldn't touch the Kia version with a 20 foot pole, from what i've read there are plenty of problems associated with what kia did to th engine (overheating issues etc).... but yeah, the sportage had a licensed copy of the FE3.

Wouldn't that be fixed with a better t-stat and water pump? Take for instance the v6 contours. They had cooling issues due ot the stock crap tastic water pump cmoing equiped with a plastic impeller... I know that s*** was designed to break it had to be. However you could get one witha metal impeller and be golden. Or did they **** up the crank, rods, and pistons to?

 

[mazdaspeed777]

Rotaries are very robust...really until you start pushing astronomical amounts of power, they should by rights out live a piston engine being spun at half the speed....sheer reliability is part of the reason why the FIA effectively banned rotary engines from Lemans.... find the simplest 4 stroke piston engine and count the number of parts that have to move to make it work....compare that to the most sophisticated rotary mazda ever built.... the 4 rotor 26B.....

Yet one more reason I want a 3rd gen RX-7 some day. lol

 

[LordWorm]

Wouldn't that be fixed with a better t-stat and water pump? Take for instance the v6 contours. They had cooling issues due ot the stock crap tastic water pump cmoing equiped with a plastic impeller... I know that s*** was designed to break it had to be. However you could get one witha metal impeller and be golden. Or did they **** up the crank, rods, and pistons to?

nah its to do with revisions they made to the cooling system within the engine

that and the block is apparently prone to failure...

its all apparently to do with economising - less stringent QC, and the fact that the mazda version of the FE3 was stupidly over engineered....

heres an excerpt from the wikipedia article:

Headgasket

The headgasket used on the kia version has different coolant holes to attempt to even out the flow through the head. when used with the fwd thermostat layout (a superior layout) this promotes overheating of the rear of the engine, number 4 particularly. The Australia market seems to receive the fwd style gasket from kia spare parts, bad news for the kia owners, and good new for the genuine fe3 owners.

could all be BS - but everything i've read says "stay the hell away from kia versions". It seems that kia well and truely ****** the engine up.

HOWEVER...
the fact that kia had the engine in production until very recently, cheap bits like head gaskets, water and oil pumps and so forth are available which is good...but start with a mazda block and go from there....

I know thats what i'd do

 

[Protege5 Driver]

FE3 is pretty bullet proof...slap a turbo on and they will put up with 400hp+ on stock internals before they give in...apparently pistons are the first weak point.

The FE3 was also used by kia in some cars, but i have read the kia examples are not as good as the genuine article (surprise surprise).

From an NA perspective, they are also a great engine for revving the hell out of, thanks to the relatively short stroke. Although the valve train would need some series revision to get decent revs out of it (would need to convert from HLAs to solid lifters, and with that possibly custom cam shafts) - but any decent workshop should be able to perform such a conversion for you.

Then theres the KLZE - 6cyl, 2.5L of high revving fury...fairly reliable from what i've read - but the big point here is effortless NA hp.

As for mazda's "most bullet proof" engine - well for ordinary operation, i'd have to say it'd be the 13b rotary. With only 3 moving components TOTAL (2 rotors and the eccentric shaft), there's not a great deal that goes wrong with them. If rebuilt with decent apex seals, and looked after, they are incredibly stout.

i know a guy with a GLC with a fe3 engine that runs 9's it is a great engine

 

[Sportege]

I bought my Sportage w/ 63,000 miles on it. Looks like a kid owned it before me by the signs.. no radio, aftermarket security, big reg wire cut at the trunk so you know it had a sound system. first thing I did was looked up whether it was interference cause I did'nt want to loose the motor just after buying it. Turns out the belt was supposed to be changed right around then, but because the motor is a 'NON" I decided to just drive on it till it snapped. Snapped at 100,000mi! I was a block from home. Got the belt the next day and replaced it without doing the waterpump. It has 136,000mi now and I've been beating the living pudd out of it since I found out it was a mazda at heart which was about three months after I bought it. I had an overheat problem, but it was the thermostat. New stat and she's great. needle never budges on the hottest days in traffic. funny thing, I did'nt need a new tstat gasket. Old one holds up.

 

[Ice88]

Dude this thread is like 6 months old.

Please refrain from bumping