Reliable Repair Shops in Los Angeles area?
05-26-15, 02:07 AM
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Reliable Repair Shops in Los Angeles area?
The compression check on my nearly stock FD motor reads: 100 psi on the front rotor, 90 or 85 psi on the rear. I suspect the engine is being fuel starved at high rpm and is about to blow an apex seal. How likely is it that the problem is injectors/fuel rail related (last part touched)? How do I troubleshoot and prove my case to the shop where the car was last serviced, given that the motor is about to blow? Who are the reliable/recommended shops in the Los Angeles area to do a rotary re-build?
Here's the history... Bought the car in 1998 with roughly 35k miles and a blown engine. Had the engine rebuilt by TriPoint and run it on stock ECU with a 3" high-flow TriPoint pre-cat, a 3" high-flow TriPoint main cat, and a Racing Beat cat back without any problems until now. With the odometer nearing 50k miles I took the car to one of the local area specialists to have an engine bay fuel leak and a problem with passing smog addressed. The repairs included refurbishing the fuel injectors, installing new injector o-rings, and installing a new 3" high-flow main cat.
I picked the car up last Friday. With the engine warmed up, and oil pressure good, I run it up to redline in 4th. At about 7500 rpm the engine stumbled and lost power. That same day I took the car back to the shop where the repairs were done. The mechanics there test drove the car and maintain that they do not detect any stumbling or loss of power. I test drove the car again last Sunday and this last pull stumbled at ~6000 rpm and was most violent. I plan to stop stressing what remains of the still drivable engine so that I can get the car to a reputable place for a re-build.
Here's the history... Bought the car in 1998 with roughly 35k miles and a blown engine. Had the engine rebuilt by TriPoint and run it on stock ECU with a 3" high-flow TriPoint pre-cat, a 3" high-flow TriPoint main cat, and a Racing Beat cat back without any problems until now. With the odometer nearing 50k miles I took the car to one of the local area specialists to have an engine bay fuel leak and a problem with passing smog addressed. The repairs included refurbishing the fuel injectors, installing new injector o-rings, and installing a new 3" high-flow main cat.
I picked the car up last Friday. With the engine warmed up, and oil pressure good, I run it up to redline in 4th. At about 7500 rpm the engine stumbled and lost power. That same day I took the car back to the shop where the repairs were done. The mechanics there test drove the car and maintain that they do not detect any stumbling or loss of power. I test drove the car again last Sunday and this last pull stumbled at ~6000 rpm and was most violent. I plan to stop stressing what remains of the still drivable engine so that I can get the car to a reputable place for a re-build.
Last edited by vr2cym; 05-26-15 at 02:23 AM.
05-26-15, 09:57 PM
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Reliable Repair Shops in Los Angeles area?
Thanks for the pointer SilverTDR. I'll take a look in the regional section.
As to the place that did my last repairs I'd rather not flame them in this forum. Once I have the complete story I'll post it. I already contacted Lucky 7 and I agree with the word out on this forum and elsewhere that Luie is the man. He listened to my sob story and had the symptoms and diagnosis down in no time. Again I don't want to go into the details prematurely, but I'm taking my FD to his shop this Saturday to do more troubleshooting. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that maybe my engine is not toast.
If there is one early lesson I can share with everyone, it is to go back to the basics and read again what it takes to keep your rotary going. Regardless of whose list you read, at the top in each one you will find: "get a boost gage". I had one, but during the car re-spray it got side-lined, then the smog issue hit, and then the gasoline leak, so it did not get put back on the car. If there was one thing I needed this past weekend before redlining my 13B-REW, it was a boost gage! I cannot say this anymore emphatically, if you are behind a rotary with a turbo, you are driving blind without a boost gage. Imagine... for the lack of a $100 gage, and for trusting in someone else's rotary knowhow, I maybe out $4k to $5k.
As to the place that did my last repairs I'd rather not flame them in this forum. Once I have the complete story I'll post it. I already contacted Lucky 7 and I agree with the word out on this forum and elsewhere that Luie is the man. He listened to my sob story and had the symptoms and diagnosis down in no time. Again I don't want to go into the details prematurely, but I'm taking my FD to his shop this Saturday to do more troubleshooting. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that maybe my engine is not toast.
If there is one early lesson I can share with everyone, it is to go back to the basics and read again what it takes to keep your rotary going. Regardless of whose list you read, at the top in each one you will find: "get a boost gage". I had one, but during the car re-spray it got side-lined, then the smog issue hit, and then the gasoline leak, so it did not get put back on the car. If there was one thing I needed this past weekend before redlining my 13B-REW, it was a boost gage! I cannot say this anymore emphatically, if you are behind a rotary with a turbo, you are driving blind without a boost gage. Imagine... for the lack of a $100 gage, and for trusting in someone else's rotary knowhow, I maybe out $4k to $5k.
05-30-15, 06:03 PM
#4
+1 for Neptune Speed or Garage Life. Both are great. Dan at Garage Life is rebuilding and tuning the motor on my FD.
OP - let me know if you still need a boost guage. I have a prosport electronic boost guage that closely matches the orange FD guage lights that I would sell for cheap.
OP - let me know if you still need a boost guage. I have a prosport electronic boost guage that closely matches the orange FD guage lights that I would sell for cheap.
05-31-15, 06:12 AM
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My engine is toast! Peak compression gauge readings on a cold engine, which I took this past Monday, were optimistic at 100 (front) and 85 psi (rear rotor). With a digital Mazda compression tester and warm engine the low readings are 82 (front) and 76 psi (rear).
The engine runs and this Saturday I drove the car 40 miles from my place to Lucky 7 and back. The 3 noticeable differences are: 1) how easy the engine is to crank, 2) more difficulty in starting especially when hot, 3) the exhaust note is wimpy. I have not tried to get above 4k rpm since I wanted to get home without the help of a tow truck. Needless to say, the car feels emasculated.
It took Louie 15 minutes to have a look at the rat's nest and come back with the smoking gun: "hose from wastegate duty solenoid was not installed in its correct place causing wastegate not to open and boost to climb over 20 psi, causing the ECU to hit fuel cut."
The shop who worked on my car before I had the problem diagnosed was TriPoint. Be forewarned, TriPoint is not what it used to be. My past experience with them over the years was that they were expensive but knew their stuff. Now days, the new owners/mechanics are still expensive and you be the judge of the work they do and whether you'd want your car there.
As for FD lessons learned there is plenty here. In my previous post I've mentioned the boost gauge. But the issue is more pervasive. I would summarize it by saying that if you have any engine/turbo work done, especially where the rat's nest is disturbed, get to the motor's redline gradually proving to yourself that nothing has changed. At any sign of a difference, especially when dealing with a new shop, don't flog the car and insist on a compression check before you pay and take possession. This is no time to be in a hurry, nor the time to be overjoyed at having your baby back on the road.
Postscript: 2000 JDM engine is on order
The engine runs and this Saturday I drove the car 40 miles from my place to Lucky 7 and back. The 3 noticeable differences are: 1) how easy the engine is to crank, 2) more difficulty in starting especially when hot, 3) the exhaust note is wimpy. I have not tried to get above 4k rpm since I wanted to get home without the help of a tow truck. Needless to say, the car feels emasculated.
It took Louie 15 minutes to have a look at the rat's nest and come back with the smoking gun: "hose from wastegate duty solenoid was not installed in its correct place causing wastegate not to open and boost to climb over 20 psi, causing the ECU to hit fuel cut."
The shop who worked on my car before I had the problem diagnosed was TriPoint. Be forewarned, TriPoint is not what it used to be. My past experience with them over the years was that they were expensive but knew their stuff. Now days, the new owners/mechanics are still expensive and you be the judge of the work they do and whether you'd want your car there.
As for FD lessons learned there is plenty here. In my previous post I've mentioned the boost gauge. But the issue is more pervasive. I would summarize it by saying that if you have any engine/turbo work done, especially where the rat's nest is disturbed, get to the motor's redline gradually proving to yourself that nothing has changed. At any sign of a difference, especially when dealing with a new shop, don't flog the car and insist on a compression check before you pay and take possession. This is no time to be in a hurry, nor the time to be overjoyed at having your baby back on the road.
Postscript: 2000 JDM engine is on order
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