If it goes much higher than this I'd be looking at your radiator or water pump...but your problem would appear to be thermostat related as Mike suggests.
The 'stat' wants checking, but they are usually meant to fail open. The age of the car might point in the direction of choked rad, cyl block or a problem with the water pump. Has it had a history of coolant leaks at any stage? Too much hard tap water is bad.
Go along with all of the above, remember the old alcohol bellows, type wrenched? What are they now wax capsuled, or something else? Gee, this Motor Vehicle stuff, what tips are they using on the Wankel Engine now? Is it just Mazda, Did that Norton motorcycle ever go into production with it's twin rotors? Called the Interstate or summat.
Steady boy, you're in 'Way Off..' territory now! Norton built quite a lot for the police who they seemed to be using as their development dept. I talked to a copper years ago who was leaning on his. I got the impreesion they were working well technically, but commercially?? Why Wankel eh?? what has it achieved? It's themodynamics permanently relegate it to the top of the Worlds Worst Guzzler leaderboard. What on earth have Mazda spent on it?? Just baffled!
Personally, I think its amazing how good a Wankel is, considering how little has been spent on it. Think how much has been spent on the good old 4 stroke by comparison....
Probably why NSU gave up on the, RO80 was it them? Did they finally throw the towel in then or what? Saw the Interstate, Police Motorcyclist brought one around to show the students, related it to being astride a powerful electric motor, not as real as a proper bike.
I think the incentive was low parts count and weight compared to a reciprocating engine of similar smoothness. It takes a lot of cylinders and balance weights to make a smooth piston engine. With Wankel you get a six cylinder engine with 2 or 3 moving parts, effectively eliminating con rods, valves, camshafts, valve gear. So yes, I can see why effort was put into it. If fuel consumption wasn't a Big Thing, it would have been more keenly adopted. It still makes my mind boggle to think of the thrust on the rotor and what the poor tip seals suffer. I watched, and heard, the Mazda win Le-Mans a few years ago but still have diffculty believing it!
If fuel consumption wasn't a Big Thing, it would have been more keenly adopted. It still makes my mind boggle to think of the thrust on the rotor and what the poor tip seals suffer. I watched, and heard, the Mazda win Le-Mans a few years ago but still have diffculty believing it!
Thinking about a little more philosophically, you might think that the Wankel is to the petrol 4 stroke what a petrol 4 stroke is to a diesel. More power, less torque, lighter, smoother, less economical. I have managed to get 30mpg out of my RX, but only the once
So do you generally run at higher RPM with the rotary, I mean is it lower geared? Always had to suppress a secret hankering for an RX. Seemed a good package for the price. Then there was that fabulous Suzuki of the seventies. I didn't fancy many Japanese m/cycles but that had me fascinated. It's the Dan Dare/Thunderbirds thing I suppose.
Depends what you are doing. The series 3 RX7 has got twin turbos, so you're making decent boost by 2000rpm. Pootling around town is generally 1500-3000rpm. It's often in a low gear because its actually pretty highly geared; 3rd is good for about 115mph. Driving briskly I normally keep below 4000 because after that you get the second turbo on boost, and it starts drinking fuel. Driving fast I keep it above 4500, but its hard to find space; in 1st I struggle for grip, in 2nd its over fairly quickly, and in 3rd its seriously licence losing!
Thanks, interesting. I think I'll be sticking to the ridiculous heavy lumps accelerating and decelerating for economies sake for now.
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