Some mistakes can be good...

[666FLO]

That one was on sale on ebay for a good while ( Im sure it was anyway) back in August time,  ( when I was looking to buyone) was relisted at least once on there. think he wanted a fair few grand for it at the time. I might be wrong and thinking about some other car though. lol

[oldone]

So going back to the engine thing, I can replace the engine with either a piston engine which will be more expensive but last much longer or I can replace it with a rotary engine which will be cheaper but won\'t last that long!

Putting a ****ton engine in a ROTARY is like smoking dried banana leaves,like drinking 0% alcohol beer,like kissing your sister..........:spank :Typing

[andysmee]

Ah...best not to mention piston engines at all round here.
 
Well, you have confirmed my suspicions. You\'ve bought an RX on a whim and not researched it properly (don\'t take it personally, you bought with your heart not your head). The reason they gave you a good price is because an RX without engine rebuild history is not worth very much. As a buyer you need to factor in an engine rebuild cost of £3,000 straight away. So the price you think it is worth is actually out by a potential £3,000. £8,000 car worth £5,000 - £6,000 car worth £3,000. Even with lots of mods you own a potential wreck
 
If I were you I would put it on ebay and hope someone else takes the risk on it. Then spend the money on a car from an owner on the forum with a recent rebuild by a reputable tuner i.e. RE:Worx, Rotechniks, WGT etc.
 
Keep your fingers crossed at all times. EDIT: Or start saving for the rebuild now.
 
P.S. For goodness sake, start reading up about these cars on this site so that you don\'t bring a rebuild on yourself. Don\'t ever let the oil or coolant get low! Warm it up and warm it down! Pray to your god of choice every night that the car will start in the morning.

[Martiny]

 When he took me for a spin it felt and sounded as if  he had pressed the nitro button and the thought of me owning such a car left me like a dribbling wreck.

Ok, this is MAIN feature of the rotary engine!



I apologise, I haven\'t put in the kilometers because I\'m in a very strange situation, I can\'t afford to run but my wife doesn\'t want to sell it so I can see me having to have it rebuilt at some point.  Its done about 90000km.



I think most of us are in that situation !  If you were keeping the car, then I would not be too paranoid about 90K, thats about 60K miles. Now a lot of people on here are going to say its about to let go. But they can last longer. There is a guy in US who managed 160k miles on 1st engine.


Hmm, I probably should say that I drive the car to Asda\'s, work...practically everywhere actually...I presume that isn\'t normal

Nothing wrong with that. Mine is the same, and why not?

So going back to the engine thing, I can replace the engine with either a piston engine which will be more expensive but last much longer or I can replace it with a rotary engine which will be cheaper but won\'t last that long!

If you can get away with under 2K to have the engine repaired, then surely this is going to be cheaper than having a whole lot of mods done to accomodate another engine

Bear in mind, here, we are talking a car that is 10 years old probably. Also, we ask 260Hp+ from a 1.3 !  Thats a lot of strain on the little parts!

Most owners buy this car knowing the possibility of a rebuild is inherent anywhere from 45K and above. *though 60 k is bandied about and I beleive it can be much higher*

PLUS, any modifications not done correctly drastically increase the chance of engine damage.

You admitted it is a beautiful car , it could even be THE most beautiful car, and you said you were stunned by the performance. Most of us are, and those of us on here are willing to accept the rebuild cost as part of owning such an AWESOME car !

[TwistedHumour]

If I were you - invest some of your time to reading all the FAQs and posts on the forum.

Educate yourself on the car, then you can make an informed decision.  What ever you decide to do, good luck.  I hope you keep it and get as much enjoyment out of it as other members.

Something worth remembering - no one who lives within their means owns an RX7 :p

[666FLO]

If I were you - invest some of your time to reading all the FAQs and posts on the forum.

Educate yourself on the car, then you can make an informed decision.  What ever you decide to do, good luck.  I hope you keep it and get as much enjoyment out of it as other members.

Something worth remembering - no one who lives within their means owns an RX7 :p

that statement is spot on..

[RemarkLima]

As above and enjoy it until the engine does let go really... Then when you get it rebuilt it\'s not like you\'re going to do 60,000 miles in 6 months

I\'m lucky in that I commute on the train so my annual milage is probably 8,000 miles at a push... If I done ALL my driving an RX and 60,000 miles was the exact limit, i\'d still have 7 years of driving pleasure

[Warthog]

You have my friend crossed a line which most people only dream about.
They sit in traffic and see a Rex and think I wish I had one of those it\'s so beautiful or they stop on the path and dive for the mobile phone to get a picture of the best super-car in the world.
 This is not B.S. You want to come on a London Run next year, we stop the city.
Anyway, your car if standard will take on anything and nearly always win.
 It is a sports car that looks like a sports, drives like a sports car in fact it is a sports car.
The price we pay for that is that the engine does not have a long life when compared to ****ton cars. But and this my friend is the oh so sexy part. When the engine is dead, you get her rebuilt and like a Phoenix from the ashes she comes back with extra porting and all kinds of modifications on her single turbo, lots of power and ever so many BHP.
I challenge you to go out and find me a piston car that was the same price as yours, blow the engine up rebuild it and come back with up to twice the bhp. Without running into the 10\'s of 1000\'s.
These cars are fantastic to mod and a dream to drive.
 Keep it use it, have it checked out ( RE:WORX above banner at top of page are in Portsmouth, pop along and see them ) it will last as long as it lasts, but by god it\'s fun to blast it down that Private road M27 or something you have down there.
Good luck and keep us posted.:Thumbs-up

[Mims]

You have my friend crossed a line which most people only dream about.
They sit in traffic and see a Rex and think I wish I had one of those it\'s so beautiful or they stop on the path and dive for the mobile phone to get a picture of the best super-car in the world.
 This is not B.S. You want to come on a London Run next year, we stop the city.
Anyway, your car if standard will take on anything and nearly always win.
 It is a sports car that looks like a sports, drives like a sports car in fact it is a sports car.
The price we pay for that is that the engine does not have a long life when compared to ****ton cars. But and this my friend is the oh so sexy part. When the engine is dead, you get her rebuilt and like a Phoenix from the ashes she comes back with extra porting and all kinds of modifications on her single turbo, lots of power and ever so many BHP.
I challenge you to go out and find me a piston car that was the same price as yours, blow the engine up rebuild it and come back with up to twice the bhp. Without running into the 10\'s of 1000\'s.
These cars are fantastic to mod and a dream to drive.
 Keep it use it, have it checked out ( RE:WORX above banner at top of page are in Portsmouth, pop along and see them ) it will last as long as it lasts, but by god it\'s fun to blast it down that Private road M27 or something you have down there.
Good luck and keep us posted.:Thumbs-up

^^^^^ What my man Hog said! :Thumbs-up

[clandestine]

:Thumbsup! Cheers guys I appreciate your help and replies.

The car is going into the workshop soon to have an automatic aerial stuck in so I will get the guy to do a compression test at the same time.

I will definitely run through the various posts and faqs because I can see us having this car for some time and of course we do intend to update the car each month because...well...its that sort of car isn\'t it!

I am a great believer in God so I will take andysmees advice and include the car in my prayers.

I\'ve had it for a couple of months and so far we haven\'t let a weekend pass without giving it a massage so I will add coolant and oil checks to it as well.

Thanks for the tip about RE:WORX, I will definitely give them a bell at some point just to see what they have to say etc.

...and last but not least...I have definitely crossed the line and for once the grass is truly much greener on this side of the fence.

[Adriansturgess]

Car looks very nice....You might just as well go on driving it and live the dream as it might well last for ages yet and if you punt it on now you\'ll stuggle to sell at a price you\'d be happy with. It is a buyers market and everybody struggles to sell FD\'s at the mo. As has been said you can maximise the engines life by proper warm up and cool down. Never thrash it until you\'ve given it a good 5 or 10 minute run and preferably longer. Keep a good eye on the oil level as some of them do drink oil. Change oil every 3000 miles and keep an eye on the coolant level in case it has any coolant system leaks. If it does, then keep it regularly topped up with deionised water and antifreeze mixture.

[Warthog]

Sorry to tell you mate but I very much dought the garage you are taking it to will have a rotary comp/tester, unless it\'s a rotary garage. I travel 130 miles one way to take my beast to Geff, if I was 250 miles away, one way, then I would do the same journey down to him in Portsmouth. You only live round the corner. Get in there.:wiggle

[Mobilemick]

""Curious""  
When u say engine fails at 60k  or whatever.  what actually happens to the engine,  does it smoke, or not start or is there no power.

will he have a rotary comp/tester

Is this a special type of tester.  Sure i could test my compression with the one i have ?? as long has it fits the threads and doesnt allow leakage, it should test it fine..??

[Warthog]

Ref engine fails, The normal thing is wear, in that compression rates drop, tips, seals etc. When the rates get to low then one of the first signs is poor starting when hot e.g. you have been on a run and dropped into Shell for some more go go juice, get back in the car and she just will not start. You then feel a prat and push her off the pumps. You have a look at all things you think it could be and ring everybody in the world. By this time 30 odd minutes has gone by and you think I will give it one last go then I\'m calling the AA/RAC and she starts. It then starts to happen a hell of a lot but only when hot and then when cold. You post on here and are told take it to a rotary garage for a comp/test but expect low readings 5\'s 4\'s and it\'s rebuild time. The 60,000 miles thing is just a number that is an average that people use to gauge when a rebuild is needed my one lasted to 80,000 miles.
Ref the comp/tester I don\'t know the full tech details but I think it\'s to do with the leading and trailing edges. I will let someone else explain that one.

[Martiny]

As per what Warthog said.
The other problem is that it satrts to use water. A lot of cars seem to have not be filled with the correct coolant. Corrosion sets in, and then the coolant seals fail near the combustion chamber, because their surrounding metal has been corroded.

In a way, I prefer this scenario. Yes I would have to buy new side housings. But when seals fail, they get pulled around and damage quite a few other parts - maybe the Rotor, and likely the (expensive) rotor housing.