Any FD3S owners here?

[EvanGeliSt]

Am thinking of getting one - am in the stage of closing this deal ....

Any comments as to what is really important and to check out for?

Thanks

--EvanGeliSt

 

[Howard]

NOOOOSSS BABY

 

[notfred]

I guess I'd probably know what one was if I owned one.

 

[Marshallj]

It's a 3rd gen RX-7

 

[EvanGeliSt]

Lol - it's actually a Mazda RX-7

Linky to pictures & description

Linky

 

[BatmanNate]

Do a search, there's a thread about this at least once a week. The consensus seems to be if it's a turbo then it's not going to last very long.

 

[notfred]

Yeah, ok, I know what an RX-7 is.

 

[slikmunks]

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
Do a search, there's a thread about this at least once a week. The consensus seems to be if it's a turbo then it's not going to last very long.

don't get me started

 

[slikmunks]

check this thread out Text

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: slikmunks

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
Do a search, there's a thread about this at least once a week. The consensus seems to be if it's a turbo then it's not going to last very long.

don't get me started

You have a NA second gen, which were very durable. The turbo second gens were also still pretty durable. The 3rd gens were not so durable. I think it must have been a lubrication issue or something on the 3rd gen design, since modded second gens still seem to outlast the 3rd gens

 

[slikmunks]

Originally posted by: Marshallj

Originally posted by: slikmunks

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
Do a search, there's a thread about this at least once a week. The consensus seems to be if it's a turbo then it's not going to last very long.

don't get me started

You have a NA second gen, which were very durable. The turbo second gens were also still pretty durable. The 3rd gens were not so durable. I think it must have been a lubrication issue or something on the 3rd gen design, since modded second gens still seem to outlast the 3rd gens

i know i have a n/a 2nd gen... i also have a good friend that works on my car w/ me that has a turbo 2nd gen, and my other friend has a 3rd gen (i know a lot of rx7 people) and it's a heat problem with the two turbos in the more cramped engine bay... for that reason... a dp will reduce engine temps, as will an upgraded radiator, two very good reliability mods. that and people see turbos, they go whee, turn up the boost, forget the fuel, and *pop* there goes the rotary.

 

[Marshallj]

Originally posted by: slikmunks
i know i have a n/a 2nd gen... i also have a good friend that works on my car w/ me that has a turbo 2nd gen, and my other friend has a 3rd gen (i know a lot of rx7 people) and it's a heat problem with the two turbos in the more cramped engine bay... for that reason... a dp will reduce engine temps, as will an upgraded radiator, two very good reliability mods. that and people see turbos, they go whee, turn up the boost, forget the fuel, and *pop* there goes the rotary.

But the fact that they consistently have short lifespans is what concerns me. If it was just a few isolated cases of people turning up the boost without enough fuel, then I'd understand, but this problem seems to effect cars that have remained stock.

My friend got his 3rd gen rebuilt at around 70k, and they said they changed an oiling mechanism that injects oil onto the rotors. They said something about Mazda switching to an oiler that injects less oil to improve emissions, but that it had adverse effects on the reliability of the engines. So this company replaced the oiler with one that squirts more oil and they said that will help a lot.

 

[slikmunks]

Originally posted by: Marshallj

Originally posted by: slikmunks
i know i have a n/a 2nd gen... i also have a good friend that works on my car w/ me that has a turbo 2nd gen, and my other friend has a 3rd gen (i know a lot of rx7 people) and it's a heat problem with the two turbos in the more cramped engine bay... for that reason... a dp will reduce engine temps, as will an upgraded radiator, two very good reliability mods. that and people see turbos, they go whee, turn up the boost, forget the fuel, and *pop* there goes the rotary.

But the fact that they consistently have short lifespans is what concerns me. If it was just a few isolated cases of people turning up the boost without enough fuel, then I'd understand, but this problem seems to effect cars that have remained stock.

My friend got his 3rd gen rebuilt at around 70k, and they said they changed an oiling mechanism that injects oil onto the rotors. They said something about Mazda switching to an oiler that injects less oil to improve emissions, but that it had adverse effects on the reliability of the engines. So this company replaced the oiler with one that squirts more oil and they said that will help a lot.

i don't know too much about the omp on the 3rd gens (if it's even called an omp), but on the 2nd gens, sometimes it fails, and that's a big problem b/c you need to get enough oil injected into the rotors to keep everything lubed. but like i said, reliability has a lot to do w/ how you mod your car too... like the dp, upgraded radiator, silicon hoses, scheduled fluid changes and that sort of stuff...

 

[BatmanNate]

Originally posted by: slikmunks

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
Do a search, there's a thread about this at least once a week. The consensus seems to be if it's a turbo then it's not going to last very long.

don't get me started

Numbers and statistics. An unmodified 3rd gen RX-7 over 100k miles without rebuild is a very rare find. Compared to the other FI vehicles in that class (Supra, 300ZX) it has a poor record for reliability. That is the consensus among owners of this car. I'm not saying it's a bad car and you shouldn't be offended anyway since you don't even own one.

 

[slikmunks]

Originally posted by: BatmanNate

Originally posted by: slikmunks

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
Do a search, there's a thread about this at least once a week. The consensus seems to be if it's a turbo then it's not going to last very long.

don't get me started

Numbers and statistics. An unmodified 3rd gen RX-7 over 100k miles without rebuild is a very rare find. Compared to the other FI vehicles in that class (Supra, 300ZX) it has a poor record for reliability. That is the consensus among owners of this car. I'm not saying it's a bad car and you shouldn't be offended anyway since you don't even own one.

i'm not offended, and in fact, if it does scare people away from fd's fine w/ me, that means more for when i get the $$ saved up, but the bad rep... see, the thing is, an unmodified 3rd gen rx-7 is either driven by someone who doesn't take care of cars, or someone who doesn't understand the importance of doing certain mods to reduce the chances of needing a rebuild due to blown coolant, oil, or apex seal....

 

[BatmanNate]

Originally posted by: slikmunks

Originally posted by: BatmanNate

Originally posted by: slikmunks

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
Do a search, there's a thread about this at least once a week. The consensus seems to be if it's a turbo then it's not going to last very long.

don't get me started

Numbers and statistics. An unmodified 3rd gen RX-7 over 100k miles without rebuild is a very rare find. Compared to the other FI vehicles in that class (Supra, 300ZX) it has a poor record for reliability. That is the consensus among owners of this car. I'm not saying it's a bad car and you shouldn't be offended anyway since you don't even own one.

i'm not offended, and in fact, if it does scare people away from fd's fine w/ me, that means more for when i get the $$ saved up, but the bad rep... see, the thing is, an unmodified 3rd gen rx-7 is either driven by someone who doesn't take care of cars, or someone who doesn't understand the importance of doing certain mods to reduce the chances of needing a rebuild due to blown coolant, oil, or apex seal....

That's pretty much a moot argument since there are uneducated drivers of every type of car, included the Supras and 300ZX's that competed against the RX-7 however they did not come away with the same reputation. It's a shame that a car should have to be modified in order to be reliable.

 

[slikmunks]

Originally posted by: BatmanNate

Originally posted by: slikmunks

Originally posted by: BatmanNate

Originally posted by: slikmunks

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
Do a search, there's a thread about this at least once a week. The consensus seems to be if it's a turbo then it's not going to last very long.

don't get me started

Numbers and statistics. An unmodified 3rd gen RX-7 over 100k miles without rebuild is a very rare find. Compared to the other FI vehicles in that class (Supra, 300ZX) it has a poor record for reliability. That is the consensus among owners of this car. I'm not saying it's a bad car and you shouldn't be offended anyway since you don't even own one.

i'm not offended, and in fact, if it does scare people away from fd's fine w/ me, that means more for when i get the $$ saved up, but the bad rep... see, the thing is, an unmodified 3rd gen rx-7 is either driven by someone who doesn't take care of cars, or someone who doesn't understand the importance of doing certain mods to reduce the chances of needing a rebuild due to blown coolant, oil, or apex seal....

That's pretty much a moot argument since there are uneducated drivers of every type of car, included the Supras and 300ZX's that competed against the RX-7 however they did not come away with the same reputation. It's a shame that a car should have to be modified in order to be reliable.

*shrugs* doesn't bother the enthusiast when you have slight design flaws in a beatiful car with so much potential... what'r u gonna do, go back to mazda and tell them off?

 

[slikmunks]

Originally posted by: EvanGeliSt
Am thinking of getting one - am in the stage of closing this deal ....

Any comments as to what is really important and to check out for?

Thanks

--EvanGeliSt

back on topic, do all the basic things, check for leaks (leaking oil or coolant, obviously bad, in a rotary, it's extra bad), check for smoke while you're driving, blueish smoke = oil, white sweet smelling smoke = coolant, if you have either or, that's rebuild potential rite there, seals are probably shot, if you get a black cloud while you shift, you're just running rich and need to be tuned... get a compression test, basically check everything out, and don't rush into it.

 

[BatmanNate]

Originally posted by: slikmunks

Originally posted by: BatmanNate

Originally posted by: slikmunks

Originally posted by: BatmanNate

Originally posted by: slikmunks

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
Do a search, there's a thread about this at least once a week. The consensus seems to be if it's a turbo then it's not going to last very long.

don't get me started

Numbers and statistics. An unmodified 3rd gen RX-7 over 100k miles without rebuild is a very rare find. Compared to the other FI vehicles in that class (Supra, 300ZX) it has a poor record for reliability. That is the consensus among owners of this car. I'm not saying it's a bad car and you shouldn't be offended anyway since you don't even own one.

i'm not offended, and in fact, if it does scare people away from fd's fine w/ me, that means more for when i get the $$ saved up, but the bad rep... see, the thing is, an unmodified 3rd gen rx-7 is either driven by someone who doesn't take care of cars, or someone who doesn't understand the importance of doing certain mods to reduce the chances of needing a rebuild due to blown coolant, oil, or apex seal....

That's pretty much a moot argument since there are uneducated drivers of every type of car, included the Supras and 300ZX's that competed against the RX-7 however they did not come away with the same reputation. It's a shame that a car should have to be modified in order to be reliable.

*shrugs* doesn't bother the enthusiast when you have slight design flaws in a beatiful car with so much potential... what'r u gonna do, go back to mazda and tell them off?

Which comes back to my point that you were trying to refute in the first place. The car is less reliable statistically, because most people that buy cars are not enthusiasts of modification.

 

[slikmunks]

Originally posted by: BatmanNate

Originally posted by: slikmunks

Originally posted by: BatmanNate

Originally posted by: slikmunks

Originally posted by: BatmanNate

Originally posted by: slikmunks

Originally posted by: BatmanNate
Do a search, there's a thread about this at least once a week. The consensus seems to be if it's a turbo then it's not going to last very long.

don't get me started

Numbers and statistics. An unmodified 3rd gen RX-7 over 100k miles without rebuild is a very rare find. Compared to the other FI vehicles in that class (Supra, 300ZX) it has a poor record for reliability. That is the consensus among owners of this car. I'm not saying it's a bad car and you shouldn't be offended anyway since you don't even own one.

i'm not offended, and in fact, if it does scare people away from fd's fine w/ me, that means more for when i get the $$ saved up, but the bad rep... see, the thing is, an unmodified 3rd gen rx-7 is either driven by someone who doesn't take care of cars, or someone who doesn't understand the importance of doing certain mods to reduce the chances of needing a rebuild due to blown coolant, oil, or apex seal....

That's pretty much a moot argument since there are uneducated drivers of every type of car, included the Supras and 300ZX's that competed against the RX-7 however they did not come away with the same reputation. It's a shame that a car should have to be modified in order to be reliable.

*shrugs* doesn't bother the enthusiast when you have slight design flaws in a beatiful car with so much potential... what'r u gonna do, go back to mazda and tell them off?

Which comes back to my point that you were trying to refute in the first place. The car is less reliable statistically, because most people that buy cars are not enthusiasts of modification.

alrite, you guys win, the car is less reliable statistically, i just felt that it was being exaggerated a bit... i guess it's a thing where you have to be into the car to take care of it, and you're right, most people aren't like that.

 

[EvanGeliSt]

Lol relax guys -- it's just a discussion.

I admit both parties 6 points + a pan of motor oil --- when I opened the gasket just now it nearly got my face

 

[slikmunks]

Originally posted by: EvanGeliSt
Lol relax guys -- it's just a discussion.

I admit both parties 6 points + a pan of motor oil --- when I opened the gasket just now it nearly got my face

hahaha, it is relaxed, from the normal consumer standpoint (the general case) they're completely right... my opinion only carries weight if you're a rotary enthusiast or soon to be a rotary enthusiast.

for more info go to rx7club.com forums