max5roadster

Had a 87 GXL that was rolled several times in an accident, the engine was taken out (w/ 147,000) and put into another 7 that I saw still running 2 years later. I currently have a 87 TII with 134,6xx miles and it runs just fine.

Niaz

That means i hav to change da spark plug after 35000km

NoTears316

35000 miles = 56000 km (roughly)

StealthTL

iTrader: (1)

I don't think the "second language" is really his problem.

He asks for opinions on stuff that is in the manual, then claims he read the manual, but still asks "when shud I change my spark plug?"

He asks what oil he should use, of course, many people gave the standard answer "whatever the manual says to use", though RotaryGod and I both gave him reasons why he shouldn't be using the stuff he says he is.....and he's STILL ASKING! All evidence I've seen says he just likes to type.

I suggest to the jury that he is an idiot, and I rest my case.

...your witness.

S

Socr8tes

^ Yeah, Ebonics is not a legitimate secondary language.

NoTears316

What is his first language supposed to be?

cptpain

either do it by the scheduled maintenace, or change them every 6 months to 1 year. but considering the national average for miles put on a car of a bout 12k miles a year that would be equivalent to about every 2 years. if i were you i would do it the scheduled maintenace way. that way you get the dealers stamp on the maintenance book and thus keeping the value and history of the car on the "up-and-up".

Kings8

Pfft not even true. They don't just fall apart at 20k. That happens anytime someone pushes the self destruct button

grogiefrog

I had an '84 RX-7 (GSL-SE). I bought it at 100k, owned it until it hit 175k. A buddy who bought it, added another 10k to it, and he now has it sitting in a garage in NJ for the last eight years (he said he wants to restore it). Last I heard it still fires up!

While I had it, it always ran like a champ! I loved that car.

Rupes

I can’t believe I just read this whole thread.

Rotor Kreuzer

Uhuh, me too...

valpac

iTrader: (2)

Who are these ppl? People who have no real experience with rotary engines have preconceived ideas about rotary engines, usually incorrect. The next time a person tells you rotaries are not long-lived ask them if they have ever owned one. Ask anyone who has owned one instead.

Had a 1980 RX-7 that I bought with near 100k miles on the motor. Had to rebuild it because the previous owner overheated the motor (ran it out of oil) and cooked the O-rings allowing water into the combustion chamber. Bought a re-seal kit ($300) and rebuilt that engine in my back yard. No other work was performed.

Used that car through college and ran the **** outta that motor for another 97K miles before it started to smoke (a little). Still ran great just smoked a little until warmed up.

That engine was phenomenal.

Don't believe all the negativity.

cptpain

it was banned for the remainder that one year/season. then it was allowed back but with severe restrictions put on it on both the 4rotor and 3rotor cars. mazda still races in the lemans series running 3 and 4rotors just not as many cars. i belive mazda is running only 3 cars instead of that one instance when they were running 5 or 6. but there are other cars powered by the 3 or 4 rotor by private teams/organizations.

Chrisbert

I'm just glad we got an intelligent response.

rotarygod

A rotary is no different than any other engine in regards to longevity. If you don't take care of it, you'll kill it. If you take care of it, it'll live a long life.

The number one thing that kills rotaries is stupidity. I know that statement would probably make alot of rotary owners out there very mad but it is absolutely true. When you hear horror stories of rotaries blowing up early, it's almost always with a turbo rotary and even then it's almost always with one that had some work done to it. It's not to say you can't bost a rotary and make it last long. You can. Steve Kan is a prime example of someone who knows how to tune well who can get 600 hp out of a turbo rotary and not blow it up. Most of the people out there just think they can bolt on a turbo or raise the boost and everything is fine and dandy. Not true. There are many people who don't understand proper tuning. To some extent I've seen the same attitude here in regards to forced induction. You can't supply a generic map for an ecu and expect it to work properly for every different type of turbo or supercharger kit out there. It doesn't work that way. Boost pressure is not what is important. It's how much air you flow at that pressure that is. The RX-7 guys are alsways asking for a base map they can borrow to get their car running. It's fine if you literally mean "get it running" and not much else but many of them will assume that you can drive it reasonably hard. If it isn't tuned good, it isn't going to perform good and chances are you'll hurt it. You see guys with half the horsepower of a Steve Kan tuned motor blowing them up all the time. Why? They don't know what they are doing. Then they blame it on the engine. Do guns and bullets kill people on their own with no help or is it the result of the person pulling the trigger? Same thing. It's only as good as the person in charge.

The one exception to this when it comes to rotaries is with the 3rd generation RX-7. Mazda just screwed up with that car. The engine bay had the worst airflow of any RX-7. The radiator was the smallest. The engine made the most power of any rotary. This adds up to an engine that runs near the ragged edge in terms of heat. If you sat in trafic in hotter climates, you could overheat. The turbos on that car were also pathetic. They could make good power but spinning up to 150,000 rpm's will cause anything to be unreliable. Too many compromises on that car led to poor turbo life and coolant seals going out in the engine. That was a huge percentage of the engine problems. They weren't apex seal related. The ones that were go back to how they were modded. On a map based system, it has no tolerance for making changes without retuning. You have to do it. Many people didn't and half the ones that did, did it improperly.

If you set the engine up to work well, it will last a long time. Take care of it. Even boosted cars can have long lives. The key to a long life turbo rotary is common sense. Don't keep trying to up the limits. The more you go up, the more risk you take, the shorter the lifespan gets. Tune it properly. Don't just be content with what you have because you are too cheap to get it done properly. Retuning is cheaper than rebuilding every time. Common sense with how you drive it is important too. High rpms kill an engine faster than lower rpms. It's more stress. Don't overheat the engine. I could go on but this is really just good advice for any engine. That's the whole point. The engine is fine. It's the users that need more attention.

Carl3216

Sorry its kinda small.

kiyoshi

I really like that!!!

Anyways, I always feel it's not fair to compare rotaries against just "piston engins". IMO the comarison is too vague. Becaues rotary produces amazing power against its small capacity (1.3L) , it is obvious that it works negative for reliability, IMHO.