im going to look at a 87 rx its a non turbo and i dont know the millage on it but the guy says its in good shape interior and extrior but the car smokes alittles and the engine runs like it has a missfire and im really intrested in the car but i want to know what im heading towards if i buy the car could it be maybe apex seals? some guy said the smoke was cuz the master cylinder but i dont think he knows what hes sayin someone else said oil rings so i need serious help this is my first time looking to buy a rx-7 id greatly appreciate your time to look at this thanks a lot

 

Get the mileage from the motor.. Could be worn oil seals..



If you can do this when you check the car, remove the top two spark plugs, and remove the EGI fuse under the hood. Get someone to crank the motor and feel/listen for strong even pulses from the spark plug holes.



If some pulses are missing, or uneven, or quiet/weak, stay away from the car unless it's really really cheap.

 

it may be hard to feel or listen to the compression strokes, if you have one get a compression tester. like colin said, screw that thing into the trailing plugs and crank the engine and look for the even pulses. if two or more are weaker then consider the engine a good canidate for a rebuild, avg cost for a basic refreshed motor is around 800 if you do it yourself. unless the body and interior is mint don't pay more than 1k.

 

thanks im going to see car on saturday and they guy wants 500 bucks for it so i might pick it up anyway

 

500 sounds reasonable

 

If you post where you are, maybe one of us can go look at it with you, there are quite a few of us in different areas of the country...

 

It will give you a basic idea of the motors condition.. If his 'misfiring' type problem was related to compression then it would show up on this style of test..



Plus you need basic tools just to do it this way.. No tester needed..



Basically it's just something quick and easy to do that will give you a general idea of the motors condition..

 

i live in blandon pennsylvania, and the car is up in bethlehem theirs another 87 up for sale but this one is 2k and he has some work put into the car id really like to get something were i can set my own path and not someone elses project but if the other car might not be the best buy i can settle for this one

 

Let me know if you want me to check it out with you.. I'm 10 mins from Bethlehem

 

i went to look at the car today theirs some rust on it under the wheel wel but nothin i cant fix but what worries me the most is the history, the guy said that he parked it for a while and something with the apex seals shrinking and someone told him to put trannny oil in the intake to swell up the seals but then the car started smoking so he turned it off and hadent started it so i tryed to start it sounded like it wanted to start but wouldent he said i would go through lots of spark plugs to fix this the car is a 87 its white has i think it was 147k on the engine, its the base model no sunroof and 4 lug wheels. i dont know if i should take it off his hands or leave it there but i wasent hard walking away from this one, if anyone around the cars area wants to look at it, it looks good for a project but im a 17 yearold subaru intern so i dont have much cash. but the car is in bethlehem so email me and ill give you contact info on it my email juanfc420@aol.com maybe its not my project but i might be what someone is looking for