Well hello to my fellow rexers
Its not long now till I have the finance to get my hands on my very 1st FD3S engine \'oh yeah baby i said FD3S\':Thumbs-up Anyway I have learn\'t quite alot since joining this wonderful site but I would like to know what kinda things I need to be wary of when buying.
I already know to get one that has had:
1. a recent engine rebuild
2. no modifcations done to it
3. no excessive smoke from exhaust
Is there any rust probs I should no about or anything I\'ve missed.
Oh and rex\'s are so cheap right now I saw one in the autotrader for £2000:spank
take it for a test drive, once warm give it a bit of a thrash. make sure the second turbo kicks in nicely. you should feel it at 3.5k and then it should kick at 4k.
the usual i guess, drives in a straight line etc
there is a couple of other things. this gets asked so often some one should have made a definitive sticky thread by now.
they are very adictive and once you drive one you will want it. so take a step back and find a good one, dont jump at the first one you see.
i dont know what your budget is but any that are being sold by the members on here will be worth a look at, as you know they will be enthusast and well looked after
Thats very helpful mate thanks alot.
I to would have thought there would be a sticky by now How long have you had your rex for? do you have the fd?
Try to find another member in your area mate so you can compare. They\'ll probably be happy to have a look with you as well. Also get to some meets so you can see the quality of the good ones.
When it comes to the twins, the first blower normaly comes in to play at about 2000rpm. dont be alarmed if you see a boost pressure drop around 4000 as this is when the solonoids go dull and start opening & closing valves for the second turbo to spool up, then at 4500 you wil have a kick up the bum when the secon turbo kicks in and the boost returns to about 0.8bar!!
Jono
i have had my rex for about 4 months now, so not very long. although my engine has gone. this aint a suprise though as i bought a car which had had no engine rebuild to anyones knowledge etc. yes i have an FD. a bit of forward thinking and i might have thought spend £3500+ on a car and then £4k+ on a rebuild (and go without a car for a month or two) or buy one that is already done. with hinesight i might have done the later.
ow well i should have my car back in september. i fell in love as soon as i saw mine so dont get hooked in, there are lots out there, so get a good one.
sam
Would ditto what\'s been said...when the cars fully warm, find nice straight bit of road and bury the throttle in third gear - as you pass 4500 revs you should feel the second turbo kick in and it just keeps pulling faster and faster right up to the red line. This is assuming that the turbos are still set up to run sequentially of course. Would stress that you don\'t pussy foot on half throttle in the mid rev range the second turbo likes to know you\'re serious about needing its input -so foot right to floor.
Quote from: jag60dogThats very helpful mate thanks alot.
I to would have thought there would be a sticky by now How long have you had your rex for? do you have the fd?
Is\'nt there one in the Buyers guide section?
http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=256
Just for some reason no one goes in there to look??
Hey Jag -
With so much that can go wrong with this car definitely check out this site.
http://www.fd3s.net/buying.html
The US guys swear by it religiously.
As far as things that you will need - find a way to get a boost gauge of sorts. You want to give that thing a boost test once you get it out on the road to ensure the turbo\'s are spooling to full boost.
To do this, get a manifold pressure gauge and attach it to one of the nipples on the left side of the manifold (the thing on the top of the engine that looks like a giant metal hand - sorry no pics). Get enough hose to route it into the car while you drive it.
Once you\'re on the road, find your way into third gear (about 2k rpms). Once you\'re there open the throttle completely (floor it). You are looking for 3 measurements on your gauge.
1) Boost at 3000rpms (primary turbo should be at full spool = 10psi)
2) Boost at 4500rpms (transition to secondary turbo occurs. You\'ll see a slight dropoff to 8psi then an immediate spike back to 10psi)
3) Boost at 4600rpms. (Transition complete. You should go right back to 10psi after the transition).
This is what we call a "boost pattern". A stock rx7 with no mods and healthy turbos will put out 10-8-10 every time. Mods will change this boost pattern. If the car is stock and has low boost (9-7-9, 8-6-8 or any other combination lower than 10-8-10) then you need to do further troubleshooting. Chances are there is either a boost leak or the turbo\'s are broken.
Additionally, whether or not the car has had a "recent rebuild" be SURE to get it compression tested. Take it to a dealership or your local shop and have them check the compression of the rotors. I believe there are either 6 or 8 numbers in all (3/4 for the front, 3/4 for the rear). A strong compression motor will score 8.5 or above. 8 is a mediocre compression and could mean a deteriorating motor (but maybe not). It does not take a whole lot to blow a rebuild so the date of the rebuild is irrelevant.
Once you do the boost test and get the compression test (assuming you buy the car), we can then talk about reliability modifications to make your FD3S last much longer than the factory prepared it for.
Hope this helps and good luck!
Steve
I heard I need to do a compression test before I purchase one question HOW DA HELL DO I DO THAT? what is that? lol
one thing i read somwhere-probably on here or in a magazine-in terms of rust check the back of the sills and around the rear, as i didn\'t really look to much when i purchased an eg civic almost a year ago, a found that i was really bad and would cost as much as what i paid for the car to be repaired, so i decided to count my loss\'s and get rid of it.
apparently it can be alot worse on a uk car(but then again it also depends on how well it\'s been treated). i\'d probably recomend getting an import, the early imports also had more power than the uk models(about 20bhp more-correct me if i\'m wrong anyone-thats just what i\'ve heard).
recent imports are generally rust-free so it something worth taking in to consideration when buying one.
if you can, check the suspension bushes aswell, as the fd i\'m buying had 10 out of the 12 on the rear need replacing (well, there being replaced this week) and they can work out quite exspensive for a few bits of rubber.lol
and remember you get what you pay for at the end of the day
sorry if i cant be of any more help. just adding my 2 cents
Downside of an import is they cost a lot more to insure!!!