ROTARY! Mazda Rx-8 13B Renesis JUNK Engine Teardown. Series 1 6-Port Disassembly. Is It All SCRAP?
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- Опубликовано: 11 сен 2024
- A Rotary! Yes its been 3 years since I've torn down a rotary engine on this channel so I thought it to be rather prudent to reset that counter. This is the engine from what we were told was a 2004 Mazda Rx-8. This was allegedly a bad engine that my brother took back as a core when he sold a good engine. This has been in his garage for years! Not knowing the full story, miles, or situation, this teardown sheds some light into what can fail on these engines.
Every week, I teardown at least one bad, blown or core engine to find out what happened, what caused it, and what parts survived. Here are a few of my favorites from the past:
Mazda 2.5 Skyactive with only 30K • Dead At 30K Miles!? Ma...
Legendary Toyota 2GR-FE 3.5L • Toyota Lexus 2GR-FE Te...
Audi V10 With INCREDIBLE Damage • DEVASTATED Audi S6 5.2...
Honda J Series, Absolute destruction! • Honda J Series V6 Tear...
Why am I doing this? My name is Eric and I own and run Importapart, a full service auto recycling business. Part of our model includes buying blown up, core and broken engines to dismantle and salvage the good parts. We do not rebuild or repair engines, merely supply parts to those who do.
For parts visit www.Importapart.com or email us at Sales@importapart.com
Use code "Idocars" to save 10% off of anything you can add to your cart.
As always I really hope you enjoyed this teardown. I love all of the comments, feedback and even the criticism. Catch you on the next one!
-Eric
Just a bit more background - I didn't charge a core on the good (7K mile Mazda rebuild out of my '04 RX-8 that was totaled at the end of a police chase in my driveway - there's helicopter footage of this incident elsewhere on youtube) Renesis I sold, but the guy offered his bad engine to me to sweeten the deal, and I'm a sucker for free Mazda stuff. I just knew it to be 'bad', which with a Renesis is anything from one blown coolant seal to zero compression because of carbon to broken apex seals and gouged housings. It had been in my garage for somewhere around 8 and a half years... I meant to tear it down years ago, well before my brother started doing these videos, but it was low priority, and this worked out better in the end. Glad to have it out of my garage, also glad to see us get a video out of it! As far as the parts... all looks pretty trashed to me. I'll consult an actual rotary expert/rebuilder friend of mine to see if any of this is salvageable/worth selling. - Ryan, Eric's brother.
That explains a lot - freebies always go to the bottom of the priority pile, usually staying there until space becomes an issue.
Where can we see the police chase?!?!?!?!
@@joshuagibson2520 ruclips.net/video/KWC9tPmlM7Q/видео.htmlsi=16vXp7PGB2bFgJ86
As a Mazda Master Tech every once in a while someone would come in and tell me that they found a really good deal on a RX-8 and wanted to know what to look out for. I always told the customer make sure you purchase a RX8 with a sunroof. You need the sunroof so when the engine loses compression you can turn it into a planter box for your front yard. 🤣
Brilliant ! 😂 Cheers from New Zealand
I'm used to hearing the "wank wank wank" of rotary's in the 80's and 90's, I've not seen one pulled down. I'm interested 😅 Cheers from New Zealand
Series 1 RX7's are wantable as..... all others are shyte...😊
Ha ha. Flip it on its belly ! Storey of your life bro.....😂 Cheers from New Zealand 😊
Wow ! You pulling apex seals was painful bro.....😮
1:10 As a Subaru EJ owner I am weeping at that comment. Weeping just like my valve cover gaskets do.
Yes, I had to have those gaskets replaced a short while ago.
Mine had its head gaskets blow 😅😅😅
But your garage floor will never rust.
@@UncleKennysPlace The only time there isn't oil beneath a Subaru is if there's no oil inside the engine
@@UncleKennysPlace Just like old VW's, whats with flat engines anyway ??
I love the blurring of the water pump cavity.
Porno pump.
Why it is blurred? :D
The penis pump
@@Hullu-Kukko I wondered that myself until I looked at the shape a few more times... Let's just say it's juvenile humor. 😂
@@jeffrogers2180 :D
It's funny. When I was a kid, Saturday Night Live was the highlight of my Saturday nights.
Now that I'm 40, it's I Do Cars videos. Well worth the change!
I am twice your age. Saturday Night Live was the highlight of my Saturday evenings. Now, I have I Do Cars to cap off my Saturday evenings. And, you are correct, it is well worth the change. In my case, my son (who is older than you) and I might discuss the week's teardown/post-mortem on our weekly phone call. 🤣😉
I'm 77 and watch all Eric's videos as well as Eric O's of South Main Auto too.
Perfect time for "Why not both" meme...
His teardowns are the last thing I watch before bedtime.
I'm 54, and if someone asked me to change spark plugs, I might take off all 4 tires to do it, but this is my Saturday night entertainment every week. I appreciate Eric's simple tear downs without the loud intro music, the goofy effects, just a simple teardown, and explaining what's going on.
Your original rotary teardown video has been a huge help for me. I’m rebuilding an RX8 and I lost all my disassembly photos when my phone died. Your video was the only way for me to figure out where the wires and oil lines go. Thanks
You don't owe us anything Eric, you do you and we follow what you do because of who you are and I think it's crazy that there are people that get upset if you don't upload a video for a month. Thanks for all the content you give us, keep up the great work!
@HaloToday
AMEN, I'll watch whenever Eric makes A video, anytime!
That's such an accurate statement could not have said it better
The rotary is such an amazing idea. It blows my mind that they are able to run at all. Almost zero moving parts. Insane.
Not only that, but the amount of power they generate
@@VoVilliaCorp Yup. upwards of 1600hp from a 1.3L
I remember reading an article from the 80s where they won in both GTU and GTO categories. Loved the purr my friend’s 7 exhaust had. Fascinating design.
I'd counter that it "was an idea'... that turned out not to be the best idea. For all it's lack of moving parts, you'd think it might have good longevity and be reliable... but it doesn't, and even the most ardent rotary lover will never tell you they are reliable and long living.
They are different and that's where their popularity is, and of course they do make good drag engines because they don't have to live long in that sport.
@@darkblaze176 Except it's not a 1.3L engine in reality, it's equivalent to a 2.6L engine. Not only a direct equivalent in terms of total displacement per crankshaft revolution, but also in terms of power and fuel use.
I used to own an RX-8, a wonderful car that I loved dearly. But before I dumped it, the engine seemed to go soft and occasionally would stall. At the time, I lived in Windsor Ontario - a big union town. Once, the car stalled at a major intersection, and while I was trying to refire it, a guy in a clapped-out Ford Tempo (I shit you not) rolled down his window and screamed at me “that’s what you get for buying foreign!”
Oh my, that must have hurt! (As someone whos owned a 87 Tempo... ) lol
Oh Windsor. $50,000 war homes and $80k domestic car in the driveway. That was pre covid of course
I had Mazda RX 7 from new in 1985, I live in the UK and I drove that car like the 21 year old nutter I was. I sold it in 1990, never having had to spend a penny on it other than new tyres, brake pads and general MOT costs. I went on to have several Porsches over the years but nothing ever came close to creating the fun I used to have in that RX7. Still my favourite car.
I had one also with proper oil changes and service they will last a while the problem is they are driven into the ground
I had an RX4 and then an RX7 for more than twenty years. They were great cars and I loved everything about them. The were dead reliable - never an issue with failures and were a true driving experience like no other. I did rebuild my RX4 engine not because of any drama, but it was a high mileage unit and was beginning to use a bit of oil. Parts were cheap and I had the cast iron housings surface ground. In saying all this, you have to be a rotary person, be scrupulous with oil changes, quality of oil and drive it like you rebuilt it. I drove the RX7 on a few big trips - 18 hours at 80 mph all the way - and it was a dream. People want the best for cheap without taking any responsibility and there are no cars that can take abuse without consequences. At least it's not a Ferrari, Maserati, Porsche, BMW, etc, engine that will shit itself way sooner than a rotary, but you never hear people talking about that elephant in the room. People are just scared of what they don't understand and will demonise stuff at the drop of a hat.
... and other jokes you can tell yourself
The naturally aspirated 12A and 13B engines will last a long time. The turbos on the FD shorten the engine life significantly, and the renesis out of the rx-8 is just kind of a train wreck.
You fall into the trap yourself, friend. I mean, if those Ferrari, Maserati, etc engines are treated just like you treated your rotary, then maybe they last just as long?
@@wtfiswiththosehandles I hear you, but many of these exotic car engines have fundamental failure points that mean no matter how you treat them they fail prematurely. Something like a Ferrari, Audi or a Porsche has to be treated like a race car with oil changes every couple of thousand miles and tear downs for things like pistons rings, rod bearings, water pumps, turbos, timing chains and oil pumps every couple of years, just to keep them running.
@@wtfiswiththosehandles I was for a time a motorcycle race mechanic and have great engineering instincts, so while I don't know everything, I don't lack knowledge, skill or expertise. Just saying, not bragging.
My brother bought a new RX2 in the fall of '71 or '72. We drove it around 1300 miles down to CA for a wedding and then back home. I remember my brother falling asleep, while I was driving thru the Siskiyou's. I was kinda racing a Porsche thru the mountains. He could out corner me, but he couldn't beat me on the straight sections. When my brother woke up, he questioned why we were about a 100 miles further along than we should be by that time. I just said the traffic was light, which WAS true. I really liked driving it. It was very smooth, and pretty snappy, too. But then, I didn't have to deal with the eventual, inevitable problems, later.
My '73 RX2 is the only car I genuinely miss. Incredible fun, reliable, & great looking. I took care of it & it took care of me. Eventually succumbed to northeast road salt.
YEESSSS!!! I WANTED YOU TO DO AN ROTARY FOR A WHILE. YOU’RE THE BEST ERIC!!
Pretty sure he’s done one already
Yes he has😅
@@brotherloopsNo yeah, he has. But that was a couple of years ago. I kinda wanted a newer video of him taking one apart. Which is AWESOME. Lol
Been a while since we had a NSFW water pump... Thanks for the video!
I'm OK with this being short. I've never cared about rotary engines, but it was neat to see this torn down and to see how different it is than a normal engine.
Once you get accostumed about the classic engine design, with pistons, conrods, crankshaft, it makes the Wankel appear like it works with some sort of magic. Nice change from the regular tear downs, Eric. Don't apologize about video length: Knowledge is knowledge, and we learn from this videos.
Drove all three of my RX-7s long and hard in my self employment. Monitored and changed oil frequently. No problems. Used engine flush every 2 or 3 oil changes as the miles built up to clear gunk in and around apex seals. Most fun I’ve had driving ❤
I want to thank you as I have never had one of these apart. 59 year mechanic. Very simple design. Well thought out on sound mechanical principles. Too bad they got a bad rap for wearing out quickly.
My engine ran good for 75000 miles. Exceeding your recommendations, I always revved the heck out of it. Never a problem. The third gear synchro got tired of downshifts at 90, though. But being (and still) an old ( both me and the car) Corvair driver, double clutching instantly solved all. Moved on after 5 years with it functioning, except for the synchro.
My dad's first (and only) brand new car his entire life was an 81 RX7. He loved that car.
It's been long overdue for a Mazda Rotary to show up again for a teardown. The last time a rotary was shown on this channel, you've only had done maybe dozen engine teardown vids before then.
Amazing to think about how the channel has grown from then to now.
Hey Eric, you don't owe us any more time - we love you and your videos as you and they are. Thank you for all your time and effort in getting the videos out as often as you do!
The fact the video was short is a very good demonstration of the simplicity of the rotary engine (if only we had stronger materials, the rotary engine would be (even more) awesome!)
materials are good enough, owners are not
whats stopping them from being common? do they make bad daily drivers? On paper they sound great but every one of these i ran in to had serious loss of power. I must be missing something.
@@saltycarl6581 Rotaries are, fundamentally, 1970s technology. Compared to the piston engines of the 1970s they're great, but piston engines have moved on from there, with every car company in the world spending untold billions of dollars on R&D. Mazda is one small manufacturer who almost went bankrupt in the 1990s, so rotary engine tech hasn't really changed much.
As for what stopped them from being common, rotaries are inherently less fuel efficient and much harder to control emissions on, both of which are serious problems in the EPA and CAFE regulatory world.
I think we need a brother cameo now
Dad too, if he’s available!
I'm game. Though not a dad, I'm sure I can come up with at least a few dad jokes. I have another engine for my brother to tear down - one that I 'blew up', what a surprise - but it's in a car and I haven't gotten around to it yet. Soon? - Eric's brother
I had a 1977 Mazda REPU for over 20 years, in that time I rebuilt the engine once. I dont know how many miles were on it but I just wanted to freshen it up. I loved that truck and I treated it like a rotary is supposed to be treated, revved it to redline several times every time I had it out. Lots of people that I took on rides with me liked the buzzer it had when you hit redline, yes it did work the entire time I had it, it was nice because you didnt have to look at the tach, just listen for the buzzer and shift. Back in the day they were known for their power to weight and power to liter, the 13Bs were rated at about 130 or so HP so about a hundred horse per liter. I went on to have several more RX7s and rebuilt the engines in those as well. I was known around the area for being the Rotary guru.
As a lover of rotary engines ... I am sad to see the demise of this one. It hurt to see the rust on the rotor, and the locked up apex seals. They're a lovely engine, but yeah, have to be cared for and they're literal high maintenance ^_^
Do NOT give this to Rob Dahm heck, don't even show him; He'll be just as sad as us.
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One of my girlfriends had a late 70's RX7 (looks similar/same to yours I think) and it was a dream to drive. I wish there were more rotaries in the world. I also wish there was a way to make them consumer-friendly and not just enthusiast-friendly, and thus easier to maintain.
In 1974, my dad got me a Wankel rotary engine model for my 9th birthday. Never understood how they worked until I was older.
9:56, that's going to leave a mark.
I got one for Christmas when I was 11.
My first new car was a 1979 RX-7. What a fun car!! It was so easy to trigger that RPM buzzer LOL. It was my every day driver - except in the Michigan winter - for seven years until I bought a new Audi quattro in 1986. Never had any engine problems in the 70,000+ miles I drove it but then, I drove it like a sports car. In 1988, due to a move to Arizona, I sold it along with my 1969 Mini. Yes, I always went for the unconventional when it came to cars. The only mod I made to the RX-7 was installing a nice set of headers. That necessitated the removal of much of the rudimentary pollution control parts - smog checks in much of the country were not yet instituted. Anyway, fast forward to 2010 when I needed a more sporty 2-door replacement for my aging 1998 A4. One of the cars I test drove and seriously considered was an RX-8, but I ultimately went with the new Genesis Coupe which I got to test drive on an actual race track. I opted for the gutsy V6 in that car and never regretted it.
Years ago I worked in a shop and across the street was a guy that was a wizard at hot-rodding these engines. One of the oddest memories I have was when he would pour ATF into a pretty high revving engine to try and get the seals to "seat'(?) which also killed every mosquito in the county with toxic white smoke. He also used Super Glue to hold the apex seals in place while assembling, he kept a tube of it in our refrigerator. A 2 rotor motor with a small turbo would produce well over 300 HP, at something like 12k RPM. Thanks for posting this.
If ever there was a car I jonesed for as a pimply faced high school freshman, it was the homecoming queen’s beautiful black and silver 1984 RX-7 GSL-SE, loaded to the gills with all the options, manual transmission, leather, everything. In hindsight it pains me to realize that like most chicks she probably just puttered it around in college until the seals went bad and daddy wound up trading it in at a huge loss or who knows what. All I know is I would have driven it like I had stolen it! Whether or not I would have lived very long is another question, but hey I’m still here.
I had a RX8 for 16 years, 2nd owner but low mileage when I got it. HP version, no premixing, kept the coils and plugs in good shape, revved it to redline when properly warmed up and kept the oil at a nice level. Had to replace the engine at 130k miles. Premixing should keep it healthier for longer. The R3 version of the RX8 had extra oil injectors added for durability.
The car was a joy to ride, so I didn't care that it needed a new engine eventually.
honestly, all cars will need an engine rebuild, but... rotaries are usally sooner then later.
All second gen rx8s had the third oil injector, not just the R3. Lost of changes were made with the s2 rx8s that made their engines much more reliable than s1 rx8s
@@Grayson203agreed - as a happy owner of R3 should 😉
@@Grayson203 I thought R3 was 2nd gen?
I believe the RX3 had a recall on the early version, hence they had an improved second gen RX3.
I had a mate who used to race an RX-3-13B. He had an R-100 with a ported 12A. It would top 100 mph in 2nd gear. Got over 130 in 4th, but it kept wanting to fly. Not very quick till you got to about 7 000 rpm, then it was like a rocket sled.
Thanks Eric i have not seen a rotary teardown in a long while.
Had an ‘80 RX-7 that leaked a quart a week. Finally tore it all down and replaced the oil seals. That was a fun job.
Mine's been the most reliable car I ever owned. It's been almost the most reliable car we've ever had. Maybe I got lucky.
I put a bad sparkplug in it 5 years ago and it fell into the engine. It *ran* even with bits of plug running around it. But it needed a replacement engine. Can't blame it for that - it was a scam part.
Took the replacement engine out for overhaul earlier this year - doing some porting work and just giving it a 10 year 'transition to usually idle classic' overhaul. Everything was still in spec inside, and mint.
The chassis on the other hand, was only held together by the paint in places. The level of rust was staggering. The exhaust tips rotted and one broke clean off.
When I ran it daily, I treated mine like an ordinary car. Just keep the oil in it, keep a little premix oil in the fuel and use it like an actual car.
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Those eccentrics might be getting rare. Ones over here tend to eat their bearings for some reason.
As always Eric, thanks for my Saturday night entertainment. The video might have been short, but it's nice to see something different occasionally. Keep the great content coming.
A Wankle !! I’ve waited a long time for this 🥰😍❤️
Wankle was a German engineer. The company NSU used his engines, I’m not sure if any other German companies used the Wankel.
Thanks for your comments about much of the rotary's bad rep being due to abuse by ignorant owners. I have a bit of a unicorn myself. A 2009 RX-8 I bought from a friend who bought it new and only put 7,103 miles on it over the course of 11 years. He also stored it indoors and never drove it in the rain and he knew to rev it out when he did drive it. I've owned it 4 years now and am closing on 19K miles and also store it indoors. I will drive it in the rain but I try to avoid it. I also have a 1982 GSL with the 12A and two parts cars I bought hoping to save the 1982 but that's been a stalled project for a couple years now.
I love rotary engines ❤️
I have been daily driving RX8s for nearly 2 decades
Keeping it family friendly at 7:37. Love this channel
That is rare to see! Thanks for showing it to us!
In 2017, Mazda admitted that rotary-powered cars lost them money and were not profitable on their own, but they saw them as an enhancement to the Mazda brand.
I can't thank you enough for this video Eric. I have seen many of these in pieces before, but never watched one be torn down.. I remember when they were very popular to be modified for the street, and the noise they made way just so unique. Thank you again, and your brother.
I've been watching your videos going on 3 years and love it.i used to watch top gear now I'm 42 and it's you tube because there's never anything good on TV.
A pry-bar, where the hell is Blue?! Oh there he is … phew.
I got involved with Mazda before there were dealers around. Answered an ad and got trained on the RX engine and emission system. The later RX 7 and 8 were great engines. Two things that caused most engine failures were using synthetic oil and the US govt requiring 5w30 oil use. In other countries where they used 10w30 or 40 much lower engine issues. Also the majority of issues with the first gen RX8 engines were ones with auto trans.....these things needed to rev.
as usual i am grateful for your time eric always learning something new from your efforts no need to apologize for the short vid you owe us nothing sir
Speaking of "Fow-Lick" looking objects... 6:06 I worked at a company that made fans for engines. One day an engineer sent me a 3D model of the plastic blade he designed for a modular fan that could have 3 blades or up to 11. The root of the blade went in to a knuckle that allowed it to change angles but it was weak. So he added an emboss to add "stiffness".... That's when i saw it... A giant "cucumber" right in the middle of the blade. He didn't do it on purpose and was blind to it. So I went to my boss and said, "Hey... Have you seen Dave's new blade design?" He said yep... So I asked, "Did you notice the emboss?" He said,"You mean the Pleasure Boss!? When i told him to a stiffener... That's not what i meant! Now we are going to have to put D batteries in it!" I was grateful I wasn't the only sicko who noticed. Dave never lived it down (and the design never made it to production!)
"Piston engine goes boing boing boing, but the Madza goes HHMMMMMMMM!"
oh a rotary! been a minute since we had one of these!
Yeah, don't apologize for a short video. You don't owe us anything. We likely owe you!
A Japanese company called O.S sold radio control model airplane engines that were Wankels. .30 cubic inches, or about 5 cc's. They made about 1/2 hp, but were predictably very smooth. Didn't sound any different from other model engines, but one thing they told you NOT to do was to try to start it by hand. These things have a NASTY tendency to light off, and then kick backward! If your finger is in the way, you can get a nasty cut from the propellor when the engine tries to start in reverse. As a result, everyone used 12 volt electric spinner starters on their engines.
I have two, a first and 2nd generation (they were peripheral ported). The first one I finally wore the chrome off the chamber. The second one is in running condition.
@@Aztom40 Awesome! This guy at the Toledo Weak Signals , Daly MacGrayne had one. I watched him fly this thing when I was 15 years old and he told me it was a .30 that made power like a .25 and you needed to use an electric starter with these engines, since they can kick back and cut your finger.
It's interesting how the Rotary engine works. The marvel of engineering engine design.
I bought a 74 RX4 new with the 13B engine. I was commuting from Riverside to South Santa Ana 90 miles round trip. I thoroughly thrashed that car trying to break it under warranty. Pegged the tach many times at 9000 rpms and could shame most smogger V8s of the era up to 400 cu in. Always stayed on top of the oil, running Castrol, I think, 10-30. Would use a quart every 1800 to 2000 miles till over 100,000 miles. By the time 140,000 rolled around it was down to a quart every 400 miles (I knew of era GM 454s that burned that much new). Anyway Mazda had a shortblock swap program for $1300. They were much simpler back then. The engines came from the Mazda Tech Center in Irvine, CA and was their racing program hq.
Sold that car to my daughter and later she sold it to a friend who destroyed it. I'd love to have that car brand new. Never left me sitting, never knew a tow truck hook.
i now know more about rotary engines than I did 30 minutes ago... thanks for sharing
Thank you, Eric, very interesting video. Mazda won the 1991 24 hours of LeMans race with its 787B Group C rotary engined car putting out 700 hp. The engine finished the race in good condition and could have gone the distance again, so they said.
To me, the rotary is kind of like that one ex we all have, crazy, ruined everything, but damn were they fun on occasion. Had an rx8 for a number of years, it was fun, i made it a point to hit redline daily, and it was pretty reliable for me, but i dont often miss it.
I owned a FB RX-7 with a 13B that saw redline every time I drove it (after after reaching operating temperature). I know it's a different engine but these engine love to be driven HARD. I drove mine for 175,000 miles before selling it to someone else and they started to have have problems soon afterward.
Mine was a 1985 and I'd still love to own a 1988 GTU but my sensibilities would never let me 'do it'. They were great for their time but that time has since past for this older guy.
Oh so it's like an old two-stroke Detroit Diesel, slam your fingers in the door to get nice and angry before driving it 😁🤣
I was excited with how short this video was, actually! Seeing a simpler engine being torn down is as equally as fascinating as the more complex ones (looking at you, audi.)
I once had a Mazda Cosmo 1976 which had the 13B and it failed due to excess oil consumption. My fault for not checking it more often. I also had an 1981 RX7 12A engine which went for quite a number of miles before I got into a wreck. I also had a 1985 RX7 13B manual shift which went to at least 125K miles when it got stolen. So the motors are somewhat reliable if you follow three things. 1): Check the oil weekly and add as needed. 2): Never let a rotary engine overheat. If you do it will warp the rotor housings.3): Do oil changes every 5K at most and use a good quality oil.If you do .. FYI the clutch in the 85 RX7 was still the original as were the brakes when the car was stolen. I had a 73 RX2 which ended up wrecked and a 74 RX2 that also got wrecked at some point.. I still have the giant flywheel nut socket and the flywheel holding tool.
Thank you for mentioning the premix, most don't know, and with premix they last. I had over 150k on my rx8 and it was running strong until i had to let it go.
I tore apart a 12A rotary (1980) in maybe 1988. One of the plastic oil feed lines snapped and the unoiled apex seals scrubbed the chrome facings from one of the rotor housings, as it turned out.
My torque wrench was insufficient to remove the flywheel nut, so I bolted some steel angle iron to the flywheel using the clutch cover bolts, used that as a brace on the concrete, and slipped a 6’ steel pipe on the end of my breaker bar. Stepped on the end. I was maybe 185lb at the time and that was barely enough to break it loose.
Not sure how it’s been redesigned since then. Steel oil injection lines would be better. I think we scored a 12A replacement motor and the wife continued to drive that one around for a while after the divorce (in which I got the Chevette) until (guessing) her oil line also broke and her motor met the same fate.
My two least favorite things about the RX-8 were that its interior was cramped (felt like being over 5'10" was a liability) and it had a rotary...torqueless wonder and a reliability nightmare. Otherwise I loved the car, handled great and loved the suicide door 4-door coupe body style...something I wish more cars tried. Always wondered what an RX-8 with a conventional engine could've been like. Yeah it would've probably needed a higher hood and raised the CG but if they designed the same philosophy with a piston engine, seems like it could've been amazing. The ~middle-00s was peak auto IMO.
I've seen a little bit about these engines. But I've never seen one torn down. This is gonna be interesting
Hi Eric, I so enjoyed seeing this video, I must have missed it when you did one before. It is so amazing that these engines work at all and develop enough power for a sporty vehicle. Best to you, Brett
6:04 how your mind went there that fast is wild 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Hmmmm....is that a Miata engine in an RX-7? If not, what kind of non-rotary is that? Oh, and I dig that oil pan getter-offer! What is that magnificent tool? I need one.
My 04 RX-8 has 95k miles and it gets to 9000 rpm a day to keep the mechanic away. Always premix and never short trip it. Always warmed up to operating oil temps before starting off. Also your original Renesis tear down is what got me hooked on your channel. Great to see you returning to it.
40 years ago, l had my first rotary, an NSU RO80, what a car, ended up buying another 2, and still have it today. Looks like the engine you pulled down had been run a lot on low rpm, going by all the chatter marks on the chamber.
I just finished getting my renesis rebuilt this week! Convenient timing lol
I was the Matco guy at the Mazda in North County. I remember these would come in on a hook flooded. The techs would drag it behind the shop truck down 367 and pop start it to clear it out and give it back to the customer.
They should make those tables angled like an autopsy table and funnel all the liquid to a common drain
Thanks for his. Former RX7 Turbo owner here, and had a Austro Engine AE50R Wankel rotary (derived from the Norton motorcycle Wankel engine) in a self-launch motorglider . I love Wankel rotaries, even with their issues.
I drove my '87 RX-7 200k miles on only two engines. The first one lasted to 125k. I didn't notice the o-rings to the filter housing needed replacement which caused oil to drip onto a heater hose causing that to leak which caused the engine to overheat which caused an intermediate seal to unseat which caused water in the exhaust ... Two o-rings took the engine out basically.🤣 It also gives me some pride knowing that my core (I never even considered doing it myself) might have been built by I Do Cars dad!
Another fun issue people often overlook that doesn't get enough attention is overtightening the waterpump belt, it causes the belt to pull up on the eshaft which ruins the eshaft bearings. Unfortunately i have been seeing a lot of engines which have been killed in this way. A telltale sign of this is when the front bearing is worn on top while the rear is worn on the bottom. Tighten your belts to spec people! Check them right now if you're not sure, you may be saving yourself a glittery oilpan in the near future
Have an acquaintance here in NZ who did 'his time' as a mechanic on these. Built a set of flat assembly boards to help hold all the seals/springs in place. Simple to flip over to do each side. He had quite a few old 12A housings stored. Intended to build a fence outta them.... My Dad used SACHS rotaries. Set up to drive a self -built pump to operate a suction dredge. Great little motor and light and easy to transport in the old school backpack. Had an alloy fan housing (was cracked) explode near me. Still have scar on my chin from a piece of it. Lucky the steel hand starter unit flew in a different direction (though found it behind me). GM were going to supply AMC with rotaries for the Pacer. But GM backed out. AMC used their inline six instead.
owned (bought new) RX3 wagon. Regular trips btwn Bay Area and Riverside CA. Smoooth car. Drank gas like crazy. Came with Holley 390 CFM 4bbl. Actually loved it - but only 80K mi, then oil burner.
That's the most "water pump" looking water pump in a while.
My aunt had one of the first generation RX-7's new, and she said the engine was replaced 4 times. I don't know how she maintained it or how she drove it, though. Love the blurring out of the water pump, lol.
I had an 85 rx7 with the a12 rotary. Loved that car. Horrible fuel mileage, and used more oil than gas
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I was at the Riverside raceway park about 35 years ago and a mechanic was working on taking apart a rotary valve motor. He threw away the crankshaft and I asked him if I can have it. I wrapped it up and it is still in my garage. I also carried the shaft on a jet from LA to the bay area. Things we could do back then.
I drove a Mazda Rotary several yrs ago and the small sedan could "Hull Ass"! It was a lot of fun to drive!
I've heard that you needed to be EXTRA careful not to let these engine overheat! This cause the engine to "warp" and thus burn excessive amt of oil and loss of power!
Yes and when the catalytic converter starts to melt because the air injector pump failed and you didn't notice that, then they will overheat big time.
In St Louis visiting, still gotta watch my Saturday engine teardown video
So Eric, you won’t sell a used water pump but I assume with the care you took that your brother will?😂 thanks for all the great videos.
Long video, short video, malice in the combustion palace, stuck in place, has aftermarket inspection windows, whatever, I'm sure we will still be happy to watch anything you decide is worth recording.
Very cool. Nice job.
I had an 88 RX-7... 13B. It was a fun car. It ran good. For such a tiny car & tiny motor, it LOVED gas.... You might get 15 on the highway, if you were lucky....
It was really a "handling" car... The speed was not impressive..... A Mitsubishi 3000GT would walk away from it at half throttle.....
It was a fun car though. I had it for 2 or 3 years.
I bought an RX3 wagon in about 1975 and sold it to my brother when the Air Force sent me to Italy in 76 as I knew it would be impossible to service. It was a hoot to drive, very fast. My brother loved it and drove it for about 5 years then sold it to a kid in rural Minnesota.
Eric, I can't remember the last time I saw a rotary engine pulled apart, thanks for doing this one! Even used up parts like these have a amazing resale value.
Love the wind-ups!!! Fun cars back in the day.
Blurring out the water pump 😂😂
I just found a breakdown on how it works here on RUclips. Very interesting. I'm glad you were able to tear this one down Eric. Thank you!
Awesome video. Such therapy just watching u tear engines apart. 😊
Eric in midweek video: I have too many engines and that is why we're going to tear this one apart
Eric in weekend video: I was at my brothers house and picked up another engine to tear down (rather than work on my existing ones)
Why you gotta call me out like that 🤣
The side housings can be Blanchard ground to clean it up but the rotor housings have to be replaced. I don't know how easy they are to get anymore. And those rotors look too far corroded to bring back. It may be possible, but if you can get good rotor housings, perhaps you can also find good rotors. I had a RX-2 back in the 70's. It was a fun car. I also worked in a repair/tuner shop specializing in RX-7s. When you have cast iron and aluminum sandwich held together with steel, operating out of the designed temperature range will squeeze the aluminum rotor housings. When the rotor housings cool back down, in comes coolant. At least that was the common failure on the 12A's and 13B's. They were great for club racing.
Excellent video! That is the first time I saw a tear down of a rotary engine.
The blur on the water pump had me laughing way too hard!
As someone who is TERRIFIED of rotary engines, this video is much appreciated.
Rotary engines come for you in the night! They'll turn your socks inside out, hide the one wrench you REALLY need right this moment, and encourage your cat to shred the couch cushions (OK, the last would happen regardless). Beware the rotary!!
I had a 79 RX7 and I loved it, what a blast to drive
When I was a kid, my dad brought home a brand new Mazda RX-3 after my mom roasted the engine in the Dodge we had. I remember telling my dad that the engine was weird looking.😆
Safe to say you’ve seen more engine designs and their related failures up close than the average car enthusiast… would love to see a video of the engines you’d be willing to have in your own car vs those you’d stay away from. I’m pretty sure I already know a couple in each category, but it would still be entertaining!