need rotary info!! please help

whiterabbit7500

whiterabbit7500

Spectator
considering possibly buying my buddies FC that i had posted about a while back, but have no idea about rotaries. I know how they work, and the general difference between them and piston engines. But need info such as reliability, how it runs as a daily driver/drifter, info on maintaining, etc. I would be using the car as a daily driver, and also as a toy. LMK, any info welcome.
 
i reccomend you PM "FAL" he owns a red FC, he's gone though like 4 motors he should be able to tell you whatcha wanna know, look for him in the members list.
 
i would never have a rotary as a daily and a toy. either-or, but never both. only if the motor stays very close to stock would i rely on it as a daily.

if you want to drift it, you need dtss eliminators, and mazda tricks steering angle kit. otherwise it will be poopy. just my .02
 
yuh man modded rotary as a daily idk id be scared but i love rotarys i read alll about em on wikipedia took forever u learn a bunch search wankel
 
something that ive heard from alot of people is that rotarys need rebuilds every year and half that the seals break alot
 
Choku_Dorian said:
i would never have a rotary as a daily and a toy. either-or, but never both. only if the motor stays very close to stock would i rely on it as a daily.

if you want to drift it, you need dtss eliminators, and mazda tricks steering angle kit. otherwise it will be poopy. just my .02
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dtss eliminators?

well, i know it would be a daily 1st of all, cause no drift without $ anyways...but if I save enough, and can afford it, then build it for drifting.

thanx for the info though guys...keep it coming :bigthumbu

edit: nvmnd on the dtss eliminators...googled it. guess mazda added something similar to the HICAS system, and this eliminates it right?
 
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fc's have rear steering, like hicas s13's. they sell bushings that eliminate it, i beleive they are called dtss eliminators, or rear steering eliminators same difference. :)

edit: just saw your edit. lol, yea. they arent all that hard to put in and arent too expensive. and give the car a much more stable feel when drifting or even gripping a corner imo.
 
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usually the rule is, oil changes are as follows:
you add a qtr. of oil every 500 miles and change your filter every 3k miles.
keep an eye on your oil pressure.
 
intheskywithpie said:
don't the suggjest you check te oil every time you add gas too?
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:laugh: yea, always carry a quart with you. and if it is a tII and you put a FMIC, i would suggest aftermarket radiator and some ducting or some type of air diverter or you will have overheating issues.(9 times out of 10)
 
Choku_Dorian said:
:laugh: yea, always carry a quart with you. and if it is a tII and you put a FMIC, i would suggest aftermarket radiator and some ducting or some type of air diverter or you will have overheating issues.(9 times out of 10)
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you act like you know someone with that problem haha

alexanderig said:
something that ive heard from alot of people is that rotarys need rebuilds every year and half that the seals break alot
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thats funny cuz my last motor lasted 124 k miles........... hmmmmmmmm strange. no offense but whats the point in giving advice on a subjuect you dont know anything about?
i drive my car to events , beat the piss out of it , then drive it back home. point is if you rag out a rotary without the proper mantance it will blow up just like any sr that isnt taken care of.

whiterabbit7500 said:
Why the constant addition of oil?
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thats how they work...... they burn oil. i personaly check my gas every 2 tanks of gas, also depends on how bad your getting on it. ive done half a qaurt in 2 days. rotaries can be a relibale motor if they are taken care of ! my advice to you is do your research and make your OWN decesion on the matter. if you still need info myself and a few other on this site may have the info you need, if we dont go to rx7club, or fc3s.org forums. hope everything works out.
 
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mushroom_cloud.jpg

done
 
Haha^^^

I used to work for a well known Rotary shop and I have seen both end of the spectrum.

There's no argument that the average piston engine is more reliable though. When both are maintained well, both will run well. But the difference is, a good piston engine can be abused and poorly maintained and will still soldier on.

There are very few poorly maintained rotaries that still run great. Overheat them badly, and they are done. Anything more than slight detonation and you usually need a rebuild.

It's not anything wrong with the motor, just the compromise of the design. Thats the way they are, deal with it or change engines.

Like Mazda says, no rotary powered car ever threw a rod, dropped a valve, holed a piston, or snapped a crank.

But hey, I've never blown an apex seal on my BMW.... :)
 
Thanx for the info guys, really appreciate it, keep it coming.

Lmao, m4nfred, but I don't think it would be that bad

Nfs_emo_fag, thanx, I'll check out those forums after work today

Also, any good local shops that specialize in rotaries? I know plenty for SR's, LT1's, etc, but none for rotars specifically...
 
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anyone with a rotary is they're own shop lol.they basically learn the engine inside and out so anything that goes wrong they fix it.
 
So there is no local shops in all of sfl that do rotary service and tuning? Sean, which shop did you work at?

Also, can anyone tell me the average lifespan of a 13b in miles driving it as a daily and maintaining? I've heard from some people say they can go 400k like a honda, others say 200k max...
 
whiterabbit7500 said:
So there is no local shops in all of sfl that do rotary service and tuning? Sean, which shop did you work at?

Also, can anyone tell me the average lifespan of a 13b in miles driving it as a daily and maintaining? I've heard from some people say they can go 400k like a honda, others say 200k max...
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it is all in how you treat it as Neo explained. if you treat it right it will last. they get a bad rap as only maybe 10 percent of them are actually maintained properly so they get a bad rap as those dont treat them right tend to blow their motors and run their mouths about how horrible they are..... if they had maintained their oil levels, broke them in right, and did a little bit of proper maitanance they would still be driving their little 1.3L right now.

I know a guy who had his 13BTT last 2k.... then blew the fucker up. On the other end of the spectrum I know 12A builders who have 400+K on their engine w/o rebuild.

I do agree

oralDrift said:
anyone with a rotary is they're own shop lol.they basically learn the engine inside and out so anything that goes wrong they fix it.
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it is so costly to have any shop look at a rotary and 99 percent of the time they just kind of look at it..... itch their head..... and say Idk or throw some oil at it and charge you an assload.

the best person to work on a rotary is the owner. though I do believe his holds true to for all cars.......

they are great engines...... once you build one I can pretty much grant you wont ever want to go back to piston rings again.......
 
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