Reliability mods:
10-11-2002, 11:15 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Frederick MD
Posts: 6,331
Ok, now you have your RX7. I hope you got a compression check... 
Get the recalls done. Call Mazda; Have them run your VIN. If your recalls have not been performed, GET THEM DONE.
Do the fan mod. 1 Wire, 5 minutes. Unbolt ECU, find the 1 stray wire, hook it to a 2-pole switch, Ground it, DONE. Leave the switch on for 2 minutes before shutdown. Shutdown car. Fans will stay on. Wait 30 seconds, turn switch off. Fans will switch to low and stay on for 10 minutes. Engine bay heat removed.
Replace your AST with an aluminum one. Or remove it from the system. (Not recommended, but can be done.) The AST is a weak point in the cooling system. It will crack. I advise doing this BEFORE a downpipe, due to the fact that even though a downpipe will keep some excess heat from the engine bay, it will not keep the AST from failing.
Replace your downpipe. YES you can still pass the sniffer. The stock precat is a very heavy, restrictive pipe that retains a lot of heat after shutdown, and releases it into the engine bay. This leads to premature deterioration of vacuum lines, and wire insulation. The downpipe is fairly easy to replace, and can be done on jackstands, with hand tools.
Install a boost gauge, and a water temp gauge. There is a nipple on the intake manifold Mazda had reserved a boost gauge. Uncap it, USE IT. For the Temp gauge, either tap the filler neck for the Temp sensor, or cut the cooling hose running to the upper intake manifold and install a “t”. Don’t rely on the stock temp gauge. It is no good.
Flush the cooling system and REPLACE the Radiator. The stock Radiator has PLASTIC endtanks. They will fail. Replace it with an all aluminum one.
Replace ALL the cooling hoses. ESPECIALLY, the 2 going to the turbos. They can be removed, but again it’s not recommended.
Replace your thermostat. Self explanatory.
Replace vacuum hoses with silicone hoses. Or do the Non-Sequential mod.
3 MOD RULE: You may hear that you can run 3 mods with no ECU. It can be done, but is not recommended. If you have an exorbitant amount of cash, then don’t listen to me.
If you get three mods, your fourth should be an ECU. Enough said.
Please, do not buy an RX7 and think you rule the world. YOU DON’T. Take care of it. It is a VERY reliable car if treated right. If you want to be a statistic of the “ I heard RX7’s blow up at 60,000 miles…. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH….” Then pay me no mind. Happy Rotoring!
:bigok:
Get the recalls done. Call Mazda; Have them run your VIN. If your recalls have not been performed, GET THEM DONE.
Do the fan mod. 1 Wire, 5 minutes. Unbolt ECU, find the 1 stray wire, hook it to a 2-pole switch, Ground it, DONE. Leave the switch on for 2 minutes before shutdown. Shutdown car. Fans will stay on. Wait 30 seconds, turn switch off. Fans will switch to low and stay on for 10 minutes. Engine bay heat removed.
Replace your AST with an aluminum one. Or remove it from the system. (Not recommended, but can be done.) The AST is a weak point in the cooling system. It will crack. I advise doing this BEFORE a downpipe, due to the fact that even though a downpipe will keep some excess heat from the engine bay, it will not keep the AST from failing.
Replace your downpipe. YES you can still pass the sniffer. The stock precat is a very heavy, restrictive pipe that retains a lot of heat after shutdown, and releases it into the engine bay. This leads to premature deterioration of vacuum lines, and wire insulation. The downpipe is fairly easy to replace, and can be done on jackstands, with hand tools.
Install a boost gauge, and a water temp gauge. There is a nipple on the intake manifold Mazda had reserved a boost gauge. Uncap it, USE IT. For the Temp gauge, either tap the filler neck for the Temp sensor, or cut the cooling hose running to the upper intake manifold and install a “t”. Don’t rely on the stock temp gauge. It is no good.
Flush the cooling system and REPLACE the Radiator. The stock Radiator has PLASTIC endtanks. They will fail. Replace it with an all aluminum one.
Replace ALL the cooling hoses. ESPECIALLY, the 2 going to the turbos. They can be removed, but again it’s not recommended.
Replace your thermostat. Self explanatory.
Replace vacuum hoses with silicone hoses. Or do the Non-Sequential mod.
3 MOD RULE: You may hear that you can run 3 mods with no ECU. It can be done, but is not recommended. If you have an exorbitant amount of cash, then don’t listen to me.
If you get three mods, your fourth should be an ECU. Enough said.
Please, do not buy an RX7 and think you rule the world. YOU DON’T. Take care of it. It is a VERY reliable car if treated right. If you want to be a statistic of the “ I heard RX7’s blow up at 60,000 miles…. BLAH, BLAH, BLAH….” Then pay me no mind. Happy Rotoring!
:bigok:
12-05-2002, 11:12 PM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Wayne, NJ
Posts: 4,837
can i check the compression of an engine simply or does it require me to take it to a shop? im going to see n rx-7 saturday and i need to do this, i know i do.
anyone have a site that reccommends exact things to do when looking over/testdriving a 3rd gen rx-7?
please help, thanks,
kevin
anyone have a site that reccommends exact things to do when looking over/testdriving a 3rd gen rx-7?
please help, thanks,
kevin
12-05-2002, 11:26 PM
#6
Super Moderator
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 3,928
kevin..
youll need a compression gauge minus the schrader valve...
youll need to run the test on both the front and rear trailing plugs..
may i also suggest bringin along a boost gauge..
tap it into the available nipple on the upper intake manifold..
youll need a compression gauge minus the schrader valve...
youll need to run the test on both the front and rear trailing plugs..
may i also suggest bringin along a boost gauge..
tap it into the available nipple on the upper intake manifold..
01-01-2003, 11:56 AM
#10
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 980
The car i just bought had a new rebuild 3k miles ago, car pulls hard, runs perfect. the car has a downpipe, and a catback exhaust installed already, greddy turbo timer and the ast was removed. i will be buying a custom dual filter intake, kinda like the new greddy one, but its a one off peice. works very well on a friends car. what i want to know is... will it be safe to run the intake, dp, cb on the car with a stock ecu? i have a friend in cali wanting to sell me his gforce tuned ecu, tuned for 15psi, dp, mp, cb, intake, i/c. but i cant buy that till another month or so. is it ok to put the intake on, or should i wait till i buy the ecu and a boost controller so i can turn the boost down a bit?