MAZDA ROTARYS
 

I have an intrest in early model mazda rotarys rx4`s more than any, does anybody else out there share my intrest? if so reply and tell me all about you car and what mazdas that you`ve had.Here in Australia we have a loyal following and small car clubs.

a bunch of my freinds are rotor heads. i however drive a miata. they drive old rx3's up to the latest rx7's and even an rx8.

I have an RX-8. Its my second car, first Mazda. The rotory is THE best engine I have ever had the pleasure of driving. They are so smooth.

ive always thought the rotary design was really cool...
never gotten to drive or ride in one... but id really like to sometime...

I was interested in an rx4, because I wanted a rotary project car and I love the muscle look of the rx4s. But I ended up finding a s2 rx7 for a fairly good price, with much conversions and no rego so I grabbed that.
Beauty of the rx4 is, you can get body panels from the old 929s and they'll fit straight on, or if you found a 70s 929 you could convert it to an rx4 anyway if having trouble finding one.
Best of luck!

I oncehad anRX 7, slow as hell, seemed fast cause I could rev it over 10,000 RPMs.

Rotarys need a turbo.

You better find a mechanic or someone who knows how to work on rotarys.

have had a 93 rx7 as a daily driver for the past 3 years, many modifications done, and a hell of a lot of fun. Lately i've been taking a lot closer look at rx3's 4's and 2nd gen rx7's and datsun 510's and thinking of a 13b turbo project. fun.

Ive heard that they guzzle oil though. Not to mention gas mileage being less then ideal for the car. Just my 2 cents though.

oil guzzeling is normal for them.. part of the design.

fuel economy is directly related to the amount of fun one has with them when pegging the tach at 8 grand or more.

Love the RX8 and cant wait till i can buy one.

I remember in HS a buddy of mine drove some 70s vintage Mazda of some sort. He would rev that thing until it sounded like it wanted to jump through the hood and it always ran strong. I've heard the thing about the oil seals on the older ones. Not sure about the reliability of the RX-8 but I would sacrifice an apendage for one I think.

Good to see there are some people with an interest, if any in the usa or any where else on the planet reads this is there a rotary following or is it just us mad aussie that are rota crazy??

I have a 2nd generation RX-7 myself, but it's not too fast though. Probably because it's N/A.

Anyone else with comments on rotaries? I don't have too much knowledge about rotary engines, so I'd like to hear more input about it.

I love the things. Ask questions and I'll try to answer them. The two things to know are that the stock apex seals on the 13b are crap, and that only with forced induction will you get a substantial amount of power out of them.

How rotary engines work - howstuffworks.com
The Renesis has plenty of power, almost as much as a 13b, so I disagree with you, unless you were referring to older rotaries.

Ok, here are some questions:
What kind of oil is good to use on rotaries? I know rotary engines use a lot of oil, but I was wondering what you guys use. How long does the engine last when you street port it? Is there any special way of taking care of rotary engines? And, what do you guys do to get more horsepower out of these things?

Sorry about the random questions. And I appreciate you guys trying to answer my questions.

What kind of oil is good to use on rotaries?
Depends on what year the car is, and what enigne you're talking about. Can't go wrong with 5w30, maybe 10w40 in older ones or in the winter

I know rotary engines use a lot of oil, but I was wondering what you guys use. How long does the engine last when you street port it?
Rebuild every 60k to 90k miles, regardless of apparent wear. Replace apex seals with good metal ones, not the crappy old ones.

Is there any special way of taking care of rotary engines?
Keep the oil topped off, check the apex seals if you start losing power of fuel economy, or if you start burning oil faster than usual. Make sure to use good gas (not dirty, at least 89 octane for N/A, keep ignition timing perfect, and other basic things to keep carbon deposits out of your drivetrain and sludge out of the oil. Change the oil regularly.

And, what do you guys do to get more horsepower out of these things?
Crank up the boost and keep air flowing in and out with as little restriction as possible.

First off the stock Mazda Apex Seals can take a good deal of abuse. most natrtually aspirated models can reach 150k or more on them. they only really break when the motor gets leaned out or too much carbon gets built up.

Second off, there is no reaosn to rebuild on that short of a timetable unless it is being actually raced, or you like pisisng money away.

Oil consumption should be about a quart every 1000 miles. oil is injected into the commbustion chambers to help keep the apex seals lubed. this is part of the reason they smoke so much at startup after being parked a few days at a time, as the oil bleeds off the walls.

USe the reccomend oild, generally 20w50 or 10w40 dyno oil. synthetics can cuase problems and smoking.

Streetports can have the same lifespan as anyother motor, which is strongly based on maintance history.

Apex seals are either 2 peice or 3 peice, 2mm or 3mm and steel or ceramic. they require a rebuild to replace and run about 60$ each for stock, and you need 6. aside form compression testing, there is no way to check them, as visually the only way to see them is through the sparkpluig hole, an those are pretty buried down the side of the motor. increased oil consumption would be from oil seals leaking, not apex seals.

General maintance calls for oil every 1000 miles (check level at each tank of gas) and oil changes every 3000 miles. flush engine coolant every 24,000 miles or two years, replace the fule filter at the same interval. clean the spark plugs every other oil change and replace them once a year (which you will see why after you clean them the first time). the MOST importnant thing is to take them to redline at least once a day. serously. it helps blow out the carbon build up, which decrease apex wear. furthermore on the 6 port N/A models it keeps the 6PI sysyem actuators free, which boosts low end torque and high rpm horcepower. serously visit the redline daily, it does help the motor. avoid going over 3000 rpm untill the engine comes upto operating temperature as well. on turbo models allow for a 30-60second idle down time.

the biggest killer of rotarys is overheating. thats how i lost mine. do not continue to drive the car if the temperature guage starts to go above the nromal position. do not drive the car with low coolant either. overheats kill off the waterseals and can warp housings. if it continually tries to overheat have it fixed.

adding power depends on what you have. like all motors thay are air pumps, however they are far more effiecent at it than a piston design. mods like freerflowing exhast and intakes can net 25hp or more across all models and years. due to the exhast port location, they take ot forced induction wuite nicley, capable of spooling trubos larger than one would suspect for an engine with their displacement. naturally aspirated street porting, bridge porting and perphiral porting are the main power getters, but require a complete teardown to perform.

deserio? what year and model is your Second gen? also go vist this site: www.rx7forum.com their second gen forum should open your eyes some.

Autoweek has an RX 8 they say puts a quart through every week... Which is completly unacceptable to me. My honda never needs a drop.

and your honda uses a completely different type of motor. one that doesnlt require burning a small amount of oil in order to properly seal or lubricate it. then again your honda doesn't make hp all the way to the redline, or run nearly as smoothly, nor benefit from frequent trips tot he redline. different designs call for different different maintance procedures.

Well thats what you get with a wankel design....can't get around that at all. Sorta having solid lifters in a race engine and complaining about adjusting them often...you just have to.

Hey man, fair enough. I didnt say that burning a quart a week was bad... Just not acceptable to me. Ill buy something else sporty that can run the same performace as an RX-8 when I have the money to do so.

I should add that (According to autoweek) Mazda claimed they at least improved on the gross amount of oil burned, and that their tests didnt comfirm it.

Just my spin on things.

I find that I need to add about half a quart every 1000 miles or 1 quart every 2000 miles. I knew the rotary used more oil than a piston design, so its not a problem for me.