Engine life

[Dick Wolf]

Whats the average life of a rotary engine? And how much are they to rebuild? (parts,tools + machine work)

[Dick Wolf]

Would that be just as expensive to order a new rotor/housing assebley and put it all together

[endeffect0]

The life of the engine is really determined by how nice you are to it. You really have to keep up with the maintenance and spend lots of time in the engine bay checking hoses and looking for any sign of failure and wear. You can’t baby the engine, regardless of the generation the engines are very performance based and if u don’t reline the car every time you run it carbon deposits can build up. They really are a car best suited to car nuts who don’t mind the extra time and care that needs to be put into properly maintaining them. Also don’t expect to get away with skipping an oil change; you will pay for it in the long run.
If you keep after the car properly than they can run for a really long time the previous owner of my car had the same engine for the first 130,000 miles before it kicked out and he had to replace it.

As far as rebuilding it...
I’ve never done it my self so I might not be the best source but it seems that the kits work well for many people. At the same time getting reliability out of a self rebuilt rotary engine is tough and unless you know what your doing its really much more cost effective to just by a rebuilt block.

If your looking to buy a rotary car and you don’t have the money for one with low mileage than look into ones that have recently had the engine replaced and have the paper work to prove that someone who knows their stuff did it.

[drftk1d]

just buy an n/a, they last damn near forever if you take care of em

[Dick Wolf]

What would be a dealer price for a new housing? The rebuild itself looks pretty easy exept the clearence part. I though if went for it I would just buy new housings and maybe the rotors. + the rebuild kit.

[drftk1d]

well you have to see what wrong with the motor first

are the housings warped/ scratched into disrepair?

are the rotors in one piece?
i'd recommend having it rebuilt for you unless this car is just a toy project