I have viewed loads of threads here on Pakwheels regarding rotary engines and swaps
There are less Rotary RX7's than RX8
Im just writing a general post to increase knowledge and to give some nice valuable advice to anyone who wants to buy a car with a Rotary Engine
RX8's in pakistan are delivered with either a 192 5 speed 4 port engine or 6 speed 6 port engine. Automatic ones i dont care about as thats just the worst combination ever and that is why im not including them.
RX7 with the usual twin turbo which was much more unreliable if gone in the wrong hands because of the extra power.
Me personally have tried all types only one i have not tried is the 3 rotor engine which i am very sure does not exist here.
There are a number of easy fixes that the owners were not aware of and they were just waiting for an excuse to chuck it away and swap an non original engine such as Toyota 2jz , 1jz , 3sge beams , and Nissan Sr20DET these are some of the ones ive seen there are probably more different types of swaps.
The 6 port engines are more known for failing , obviously more power + bad maintenance = blown engine
4 Port manual cars are still fine if they are serviced properly
I have owned one since 2007 and the problems this one has faced are following :
Bad plugs , 1 coil went bad (replaced all 4) , plug cables went bad/loose and at last the fuel pump.
Symptoms caused by any of these defected items might make the owner think the engine has quit as they had already heard the various horror stories and thought it was their turn.
Bad plugs and coils may cause the engine to not deliver the full potential as it would only be running on 1 rotor or partially on both which could be an intermittent fault. These would cause a CEL to light up.
Lumpy/uneven idling can also be caused by a bad fuel pump (some of the rx8's did have a common fuel pump failure)
I once thought my engine was done because it kept stalling when let off the accelerator and was misfiring badly , this time no CEL was showing on the dash. After alot of checking and searching the culprit was a MAF sensor on the intake pipe , it was loose on its fitting and was letting in false air.
Dont you think its easier to replace a sensor than a whole swap?
Even the catalytic converter can be clogged which has caused people to chuck away good engines.
Im not trying to convince anyone as i know this might be plain sailing for me but someone else would not prefer the headache.
Things you need to watch out for when buying a Rotary engined car
If no check engine light and it has poor starting , misfires and will take a long while to start when hot , then i would say 9/10 the engine is shot. If it does have a check engine light and is showing any of these symptoms then i would get it scanned and see what comes up.
Engines with poor compression might start up fine when cold but once reached operating temperature you can really tell if it takes a long time to start.
I dont want to get into the benefits of Toyota engines vs Rotary because you chose that car and you have to get done all the required and recommended maintenance. I know fuel consumption is high and everything else but then again do your homework before buying.
Like oil change every 1500km , premixing 2t oil every second fill up , waiting for it to reach operating temperature before driving , letting it cool off for some minutes after a nice run with loads of high revving! And no synthetic engine oil (unless you have a sohn adapter)
2T oil premix is a must because of the lacking 3rd oil injector.
I have followed all the guidelines since i became the owner. This was certainly not CHEAP but what can you do? You chose that car , i would rather give it whatever it wants instead of standing on the side of the road embarassed. To be honest if the engine in my car fails , i would 100% swap it for something that needs less servicing and delivers the same power. Not a rotary!
If you want to use it as a daily you cannot cheap out on things that are needed to keep it running trouble free.
I hope other members have some valuable feedback on this(H)