Life of the rotary...
 

One of my customers came in to my store today and was talking bad about the rotary engine. He was stating that is was a bad engine and that they did'nt last very long. I was just curious as to how many miles you can expect to get out of a rotary engine. I have always thought it was a long lasting engine. What are your thoughts on this.....???

well, assuming you had a rotary engine with no flaws, and a similar piston engine with no flaws, and both were maintained properly, the rotary is going to last as long, if not longer simply because it has far fewer moving parts and is much simpler mechanically.

the rotary engine has a bad reputation due to the turbo rx7s that didn't get enough cooling, and people pushing it too close to the edge.

also, once your engine is worn out, you can just have it rebuilt, port and polished, and it will run better, and with more horse power than before!

If you take good care of the engine, rotary can last a very long time, I use to have a 2 gen RX-7 with 260,000km on the rotary engine before is broke down.

Curious to know what constitutes "taking good care of the engine"? I hear this all the time but don't really understand what it means specifically. Also wonder if there has been a survey out there somewhere on the board to see who has the highest miles, and what problems they have had to date?

This is a common, BS comment made by rotary engine detractors. If well maintained, a rotary engine can last in excess of 200,000 miles without a major rebuild.

Rotaries have less things to go wrong with them than piston engines, your valvetrain isn't going to start clicking, your timing belt or chain isn't going to break messing up your engine, your connecting rods aren't going to break, however the rotary has its own problems which usually result in having to rebuild the whole motor :( Short answer, a taken care of naturally aspirated rotor in average driving should go well past 200,000 miles without a rebuild.

I'm thinking this person isn't much of a "car guy" if he doesn't know basic "taking care of the engine" technique.

Simply put: a solid maintenance routine - oil changes every 3000 to 5000 miles depending on driving habits, cooling system flushes and fills every so often (per mfr recommendations, but no more often than a piston engine), and attention to the induction and ignition systems to be sure the engine is running cleanly and optimally (since "tune ups" are a misnomer with today's engines - plug changes, air filter changes per mfr's recco's and if needed, fuel injector maintanence, and being sure all the parts are working right, oxygen sensors, etc.

Bottom line is that other than the designed-in oil consumption rate of a quart every 3000 miles or thereabouts (and honestly, other than a Honda or Toyota, try to find a piston engine that doesn't do that ...) that keeps the engine internally lubricated, requiring the owner to watch the oil level every other fuel stop, there is NO special maintenance routine required by a rotary engine that you wouldn't have to also perform on a piston engine to maximize life.

And the engine thrives on rev's ... no reason to worry about taking it to the redline! As opposed to a piston engine with all that "starting and stopping" motion in it.

regularly change the oil, make sure the oil levels don't get low.

the engine rebuild times on the renesis should be a lot longer than previous rotaries.

I guess that was what I was getting at. This supposed "taking care of the engine" is all basic, generic stuff that you would do with any car. So it just tends to be misleading. I would have just said it's the same as any other car, regardless of the engine style.

well... taking care of a rotary is a bit more important on the rotary since it burns oil by design. you might be able to get away not changing the oil / checking the oil on a normal piston car for a long period of time, but if you try that on a rotary, you're going to find yourself in need of a new engine.

Simple...keep the car up-to-date on all scheduled maint. Don't do anything with the car it's not built to do and IMO, always put only the best oils and lubes into the car.

- Irish :cool:

140,000 miles on my 1981 RX-7 before I got rid of it. The engine was still running fine but the rest of the car was falling apart. I never did anything special, just added oil when it needed some, usually about a quart between 3000 mile changes.

The old engines were easy and cheap to rebuild. I don't know how the Renesis will turn out but the basic engine seems similar.

Rotaries aren't anything new. Mazda has been making them since the mid 70s with great success.

Whoever told you that obviously doesn't really know much about cars and probably is just repeating something another ill informed individual told him. You might just ask what he bases that statement on. I am sure that it is nothing concrete.

What they said - plus, don't smack it around when cold. This also is a basic for a performance piston engine.

No sniff of trouble on 11000 miles here, including a lot of hard use. I went through 3 x VG30DETT engines in less miles than that.

:eek: Huh??? How'd you manage that? :confused:

230k miles on my friends 2nd gen. It still runs

another part of taking care of the engine would be: don't thrash on it when it's cold. sounds like common sense but you'd be surprised...

The reason some people feel this way is from lack of knowledge and partly because of the poor reliability of the 3rd gen rx7. When a complex forced induction system was added to the 13b it changed the complexity of the engine and wound up causing more openings for problems. Most of the people I've talked to who could actually give a reason for why they thought rotaries were shortlived cited something with 3rd gens. But most of the people just hate or don't understand and make blanket statements like "rotaries suck" without knowing anything.

I had 250,000+ miles on my 1st generation Rx-7 and it still started up on the first try everytime. The body went before the engine!

I put over 100,000 miles on each of two first gen RX-7's with fewer than zero problems. I say "fewer than" because I think they actually performed better as they got older. (Of course at my age it's now vital to believe that's possible! :p )

I'd have put alot more miles on them but the second one was stolen. The first taught me why you NEVER let off the throttle in mid-curve, especially with tight guardrails on both sides. OUCH! I totalled her with one dumb move. Sniff... :(

any engine or entire car for that matter will last if you maintain it according to the manufacture's requirements. my mom had a 1984 pontiac grand am with 250,000 miles on it and it ran fine. no rebuild. the previous owner was obsessed with maintaining it, logging everything that was done to it. everything. now granted none of us will put that much effort in maintaining a car. in my opinion, if you keep the wankle oiled it will easily go into the six figure mileage without any problems. a piston engine requires more to keep it up to par. especially if it uses a timing belt instead of a chain. even then the chain will stretch and gain slack, either will need to be replaced at the scheduled time. the wankle on the otherhand has a lot less maintainance replaceable parts. i think the wankle is easier to keep up there for will last longer just for that fact.

a rigid maintenance schedule is a great idea, but even that's not absolutely necessary for a long-lasting engine. it's a matter of using your head. stay in touch with what's going on with your car and make the same kind of effort you'd use to take care of anything dependent on you and i'm sure you'll enjoy many years and miles with it.

my friend also had a 2nd gen that went over 200k

That is exactly right. Listen to Jason.

Man Im so stupid. When I was younger, my rx7 locked up with 175,00 miles on it. I sold it to a junkyard for 100 bucks

dang i would've picked it up for 100 bucks;)...

oh i got 29k miles on my 8 she is running great:D