Garage, Galley & Hangar
GG&H
Technical Owner's Manual
Mazda RX-7FIG. 1
MAZDA
Mazda RX-7
The FD Generation: A Complete Owner's Reference
REV 1.0 · 180 PP
JDM SPORTS
GARAGE, GALLEY & HANGAR
9 chapters · 45-term glossary · 143-entry index
JDM Sports · Mazda

Mazda RX-7

The last and finest rotary RX-7: a 1.3 litre twin-rotor with sequential twin turbochargers, under 1,300 kg, and a control system with a great many ways to fail. An honest owner's reference to the FD3S, covering compression as the health record of the engine and the two different factory minimums that apply depending on the manual year, the vacuum and boost plumbing the community calls the rat's nest, a cooling system where an overheat is fatal rather than inconvenient, the Series 6, 7 and 8 differences that decide which parts and which diagram you need, and the import picture now that these cars are clearing the 25-year rule.

Hardcover $149 · digital book $29
Customize it to my vessel · $260 →Read a free sample →

The digital edition is ready to read the moment you buy. The hardcover is printed to order and ships in about two weeks.

A sample of what's inside

Specifications

Engine1.3L 13B-REW twin-rotor, sequential twin-turbocharged
Power255 PS Series 6, 265 PS Series 7 manual, 280 PS Series 8 Type RS and Type R
DrivetrainFive-speed manual or four-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive; no factory six-speed on any FD
Kerb weight1,218 to 1,340 kg (2,685 to 2,954 lb) across variants
Used marketRoughly $25,000 to $35,000 for a good Type R and $70,000 to $100,000 for a low-mileage Spirit R, with wide disagreement between sources

Known issues, covered honestly

  • Compression, measured properly: six face readings on a warm engine, and why the 1993 manual sets the minimum at 7.0 kg/cm2 while the 1994-on manual sets 6.0, so the wrong figure passes an engine the other would fail
  • The rat's nest: the vacuum and boost control hoses, solenoids and reservoirs behind almost every boost complaint, plus the restrictor pills that go missing on cars that once ran an electronic boost controller
  • Cooling as engine preservation, from the air separator tank and the thermostat's blanking valve to coolant chemistry, where the wrong additive package damages seals that can only be replaced with the engine apart
  • The fuel pulsation damper, an ageing part whose failure a vendor describes plainly in terms of underhood fires, and the Series differences that mean one car's vacuum diagram will not map onto another's

…and the full survey guide, service schedules, systems, and parts sourcing in the complete volume.

Custom Edition

Make it your boat.

We fold in your year, your engine, your electronics and refits, your hull number, and your vessel name and your own boat's photo on the cover. The book stops describing the boat that left the factory and starts describing the one in your slip.

$260
personalized to your vessel