Engine failure poll?

[brianboru]

Hi,
Rod knock just started last night - 1999 with 61k mi. So, where do I get an engine and how bad is it going to hurt (my wallet)? I would be REALLY upset except ths is one of the best and most fun of all the vehicles I have owned.
Also is it possible to drop the oil pan to actually check out the damaged rod?
Thanks,
Brian

[VX_PA]

Brian, that's sad to hear. I'm not sure how much a new engine will run you. It seems that the prices have gone up since I replaced mine a few years ago. You should be able to pull the oil pan and notice the damage to the rod if it is bad. You may have to turn the cam to check all the rods thouroughly though. Good luck to you and sorry to hear about your misfortune.

[rx7tt95]

I'm currently a bit over 100K on the original engine. It's used oil since about 40K miles perhaps....recently I switched to 15w-50 Mobil1 synth instead of the 10W30 synthetic. I've used synth since day one, either Royal Purple when I'm feeling frisky to off the shelf Mobil 1 synth(which if you didn't know, is no longer a true synthetic but a highly refined dino-based oil like Syntec). Oil consumption problems stopped with the switch to the heavier weight. Being in subtropical Florida, the heavier weight isn't an issue. I JUST replaced the sparkplugs for the first time...they were almost gone, worn down to the electrode "nub". Replaced them with stock plugs. I use Royal Purple in in the tranny, transfer and diffs. It's never been in for regular maintenance (other than oil, tranny and bearing repack for the hubs) and is still going strong. If we don't trade her in for a "vert", I'll probably spend the money to change the belt and have the valves clearanced.

[WyldWeasel]

I'm curious about Majork's question, as well. Would replacing the oil pump with a beefier one fix (or at least mitigate) this engine failure issue? Are there any other mods that could be considered preventative maintenence?

[Mark B]

2000 Dragon Green, 39,999 miles and still going.
No major problems at this time.
All the issues on engine failure concern me.
Anything I can do to hopefully extend the life of my engine?
I do regular scheduled maintenance on my VX.

[colmhd]

My Green Dragon 2000 had it's tooth pulled last summer,
An expensive little operation which has left me with an engine warning light that blinks on as soon as the diagnostics had cleared it..
It had 84k on the clock that's miles not km, when the #1 cylnder started that little tapping noise.
Caught it just in time.

[orionblues]

I've got a 99 VX that just broke 100000 miles. I drive it everyday, and for the most part, it's been a great car. The big exception is coolant issues.

I had to get my Head Gasket replaced last winter, and no one gave me a definite answer as to why it failed. I just recently had to get a water pump replaced, which is understandable, as it was an original part.

Biggest Problem? got to be part confusion. I have a VX made in 5/99. As such, it's on the cusp of the next manufacturing run. Mewchanics are always ordering the wrong part for my car (timin belt, water pumo, head gasket) doubling the wait time. I'm sure that problem isn't unique to VX or Izusu, but it sure is damn annoying.

I've never had any engine probs, but just have become paranoid about coolant. I heard from a mechnaic when I bought it that coolant was the main issue/problem with the VX. With all the VX's in CA and thier hot areas, I'm curious if coolant is an issue there as well. I rarely even use the Power Drive, as I worry about overheating the engine.

[LeglizHemp]

2001 39,500 miles

had some overheating probs this summer. nothing bad. noticed in late may while sitting in parking lot at work smoking a cigarette at break time with car running and A/C on that car would almost overheat in 15 mins. this is 1st year no workplace smoking laws in effect here. it sucks. it never got that hot while driving. i attributed it to the 90 degree weather. noticed again while in traffic after the F1 race in june. hot day air conditioning on and stopped and stopped more traffic. it concerned me some but but didn't happen again. i went from indy to DC and virginia coast and back in early july. no problems. took car in for oil change tonight and told dealer about overheating and to look into it. guy said they took off radiator cap and it was bubbling, which he said was a sign of a blown head gasket or a cracked head. he said i'd be fine thru the winter but next year could be real bad.

what do you think? fix it now or fix it later? and does this sound correct?

[MoonRaker]

Im rebuilding my motor cause someone sludged the oil before I bought it, I told isuzu about it when I got it at 36,000 miles but they said it was OK, iwalked away calling them cocksuckers. Its at 65,000 miles now 5000 over warenty and im lucky I made it a 1000 miles from DC to Florida, had to change the oil every 500 miles because it was fuming me out and the oil was burning that fast. It also blew the rear main. Gona do a teardown this week and look at the damage. Does anyone now what the cylinder walls are made of. Im thinking of getting them nickosiled to stock specks and getting total seal to make up some gapless rings for it. Do alittle head porting and angle cut the valves and seats, and bearings. Kinda build it bullet proof, atleast try.

[jgalt]

2000 - 65,000 miles

Rod knock started at dealer while in for 60K service. Bought a re-built long block from Rhino Engines for $3,900 (3-year, 100,000 mile warranty) vs near 6,000 from the local Isuzu dealer (1-year warranty). Seems pretty tight now.

[chriswtx]

I was looking at a 2001 with 52K miles on it to buy. Now after reading this I'm not sure. I drive 60miles round trip every day to work..I need it trouble free for the next 50K miles...

[WiSDoM]

MY 2000 has 120,000 +/- and I drive it over 60 miles everyday and no problems. I don't worry about it. Just keep track of your oil changes and fluid levels in between changes.

[MoonRaker]

Ive been dreading the rebuild and putting it off. Ive been reading alot on the history of problems with this peticuler engine. Im a very reputable engine builder so ive got alot of experiance from my 15 years of building. I work at Email address pettitracing,com and have been there since 04, the yellow RX-8 belongs to me. From the info ive seen it lookes like the main problem stems from sticking oil seals on the pistons. It causes excessive blow-by and from what ive seen breakes down the oil very fast causing lots of problems before you figure out whats wrong. Ive herd of crank bearings going out causing crank failure and also rod bearings. Im lucky to the fact of catching the problem early. It seems to happen from 50,000 to 80,000 miles. Im not shure if its from going to long between oil changes or carbon biuldup but im thinking that its the main cause. I mention earlyer in the thread that someone sludged the oil and can also say thats what started the problem. Maintnence or lack of tends to hurt the VX. As good as it still runs im willing to bet that oil rings are the only thing thats wrong with my engine so far. Bearings and seals are getting replaced for shure though.

[CoastieCosta567]

i have a 99' ironman with 117.000 miles on it and it has never had engine trouble in the past and its clean now too.

[mrtew]

The failures are horrible and everytime someone posts here I get that "there but for the grace of God, go I" feeling, but so far this thread documents 38/6000 of VX engines going bye-bye. Obviously there must be some that didn't get posted here, but a 1% failure rate would be over 600 engines. It looks like we have somewhere between a one-in-a-hundred and one-in-a-thousand chance of problems with a VX which is not enough to justify either that feeling of dread that I get when my oil is a touch low or brown, or the feeling that others get that maybe they shouldn't buy a used one. Right? What are the figures for other cars?