Reliable 3rd Gen? Can it be done?

Antoine

Administrator
The 3rd gen Rx7 is "down right SEXY"...The car is pure sports...if you observe the design everything from the doors to the interior is like a fighter jet...everything is centered around the driver...its a pure drivers car...

Now...Can someone shed some light on the whole rotary issue with these cars...I hear all the time...the rotary engines are very unreliable...etc...etc...etc....I have a friend who has had repeated problems and the car only has around 30,000 miles...even after taking it to known Mazda tuner (I believe sp engineering...or the peeps who put the supra engine in an rx7).

I would love to own one someday but can it be a reliable car...honestly?

sure hope so....thanks guys :cool:
 
I've heard a lot of that too...but what exactly is the problems that people get with the engines...is it all something specific or different things on every engine??
 
3rd gens can be very reliable. certain reliability modifications should be done to make the car reliable though. such as reprogrammed engine computer, silicone vacuum hoses, downpipe,silicone couplers,better radiator, lots of general maintenance. many cars have reached 100K+ miles on original engine,turbos,tranny. any car is only as reliable as the person taking care of it :)
 
Vosko said:
3rd gens can be very reliable. certain reliability modifications should be done to make the car reliable though. such as reprogrammed engine computer, silicone vacuum hoses, downpipe,silicone couplers,better radiator, lots of general maintenance. many cars have reached 100K+ miles on original engine,turbos,tranny. any car is only as reliable as the person taking care of it :)
This is good stuff...so true. I myself have replaced the vacuum hoses on a 3rd gen (pain to get to) and there are ninety or so of the little suckers(ha ha..pun intended)! Many of them were so crispy they split in two when I was taking them off and several were crimped with little or no vacuum flow. Rotaries run hot!
 
silicone vacuum hoses
This is probably the single most reliable thing that you can do to a 3rd gen rotary. Then the silicone connectors and a nice beefy radiator. Or you can scrap the twin turbo sytem and go with a nice clean single turbo upgrade and eliminate all of the extra vacum hoses:D
Other than that all I would do is upgrade the exhaust, filter, bov and down pipe. Keep it simple and sweet(the car is already damned fast!) After adding the above mentioned things on the stock twin turbo you should be at 330hp. Oh and stay away from the first year of the third gen.....they are very problamatic(mainly ecu problems)
Besides that and changing your oil very often the car should last you forever;)
 
yes the rubber hoses will detoriate fast will all the heat as you mentioned :)

you MUST have an ecu upgrade if you want the car to be reliable this way if you go above 12psi whether accidental or on purpose :D you won't blow the engine ;)

if you have any questions lemme know :)
 
Exactly, Vosko. Standalone management systems are the sh*t.
hmmm....I remember a post of mine from another thread:
Protege MP3/P5 Forums>Community>Flamewars>Mazda is a worthless car company

Mazdaspeedgirl said:

ah....I shed a tear for those sticking up for the mighty 7 and the miata...

it's not just the light weight factor that make a miata handle well. Take the new z06--it weighs about 500lbs more than the miata and handles well. A regular c5 weighs almst 1K more than the miata and they handle very well.
The miata is RWD with front/rear independent double wishbone suspension combined with 50/50 weight distribution.It also has the Power Plant frame which is the same as the corvette's frame being a single "beam" running down the center of the car supporting the drivetrain. Drop in a big ball bearing turbo and performance clutch and you have a high 12 car.

The 7 does have problems when being modded if you do not tune the engine when doing serious mods, like adding a boost controller when you are pushing over 14 lbs. Stand alone engine management systems are absolutely necessary when adding a single turbo. The major problems that occured were due to poor efficiency with the stock twin turbos in the 3rd generation 7s. But of course, they were solved after the 7 had been pulled from US shores in 1999 with newly designed much more efficient TTs.
The first generation RX-7 was not extremely fast, but it was introduced to the sports car market as an affordable sports car. And it had much success. By the time the 3rd gen 7 came out, the miata took it's place in the affordable sports car market as the RX-7 became a part of the grand touring market with the markIV Supra. (the 1st Supra was a Celica-Supra and was not that fast either)
Also the rotary engine is a weird concept to people and many do not know what maintenance is involved in owning one. Many people just wanted to change the oil, put gas in it and go. Those who did not read the owner's manual didn't know that you have to add oil periodically because it purposely burn it in every cycle to lubricate the apex seals. It is not uncommon to see a 1st gen RX-7 with over 200K miles. I know a guy who has over 150 grand on a 99 miata and it still runs perfectly and has had absolutely no problems. hmmm...

I know it's coming. Go ahead...tell me I don't know what I'm talking about...it's a girl thing...
Had to fix the URL...duhh diane...:)
 
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my FD (93-95 rx7 ;) ) came with a M2 stage III ecu, stock mount intercooler upgrade, downpipe,catback, msd 6a box, racing beat six puck clutch disk. needless to say during the winter it spiked to 15+ psi numerous times without ever hinting at detonation :) my engine gave due to bad coolant seals (equivalent of head gasket) and oil seals also went bad. still waiting to get my car back has a few more mods on it now to go with new engine ;)
 
Vosko said:
my FD (93-95 rx7 ;) ) came with a M2 stage III ecu, stock mount intercooler upgrade, downpipe,catback, msd 6a box, racing beat six puck clutch disk. needless to say during the winter it spiked to 15+ psi numerous times without ever hinting at detonation :) my engine gave due to bad coolant seals (equivalent of head gasket) and oil seals also went bad. still waiting to get my car back has a few more mods on it now to go with new engine ;)
nice mods...:)
I know what fd is...I just don't say it so as not to confuse the yougn's ;)
yah...spiking is BAAAAD...detonation is worse. I have only heard rotary detonation once. weird....sounds like change jumbling around in a bottle.

Apex seal have a tendancy to go huh? Kinda the most important parts of a rotary. My hubby used to have a 1st gen when he was about 17. the apex seals were so worn that it would die if you didn't pour ATF down the carb. boy, that's a jerry rig if I ever heard one....that's a trick we used to use on our v8s in high school!!
 
turboinstalled-1.JPG

just a pic of the new engine bay, not done yet though
 
Vosko,

Ummm how do you plan to stop that 747 engine sized turbo from sucking in children, goats, old ladies, entire families...lol....is it me or is that thing the size of Texas! :eek:

Is it the pic or is the turbo really big?...Anyway thanks for joining and posting on our site...welcome and enjoy! Let us know how the build-up goes.
 
jeez that's beautiful....

Vos, be careful with those towels ;)...my ex forgot he had one in the intercooler intake and swore to me he took it out...nope! it got sucked in. Poor baby wouldn't run right for a month after that...:(

but I know you knwo what you're doing ;);):p
 
Looks to me like the GReddy T78 upgrade I just help my friend put on his 94 FD. ALong with a vented hood stock mount HUGE intercooler and Haltech E6K along with a street ported engine with upgraded seals from rotary performance. That thing is unbeilivably fast he runs close to 14 psi daily.
 
some one help me out here...

what psi do the stock turbos run? All I can remember is .8 bar...
 
I want one!!!. The thing is that Rotary Performance in Garland always has RX-7's out front listed for sell. If I had the dough, I would get one.
 
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