rotornoob

iTrader: (2)

Got the to start for the first time in over a year. No stuck seals, but it was running on one rotor. Inspected the dizzy cap and rotor and found the problem...corroded to hell. Next item on the list is a full tune up and fluid flush followed by seafoam

Ms. DIY

Hey rotornoob, starting is SOOO nice!

It was a balmy 38º outside, so I got some work in... I didn't get a heater fan installed B4 the cold, so the brutal sub-freezing weather provided the inspiration... well, in my defense, I WAS distracted there for a while about NOT RUNNING!

Anyway the old heater fan's squirrel cage was full of leaves (a clue that it had not functioned for quite a while). and skid marks on the outside tell tale. I suspect the PO put the cushy foam seal for the outside cover inside the assembly. I couldn't get the fan cage off of the motor spindle, so my sweet man clamped the old assembly to his work bench so I could get a bigger hammer (literally). It took a crow bar and a hammer's claw to pry this apart. Cleaning the black stuff off was more than even my trusty hair dryer could accomplish, and I resorted to coarse sandpaper to try to achieve perfect weight balance. AND SUCCESS! I have a defroster! Only one speed - high... OK/PERFECT! The heater ducts do not have integrity of continuity, so I'll not use anything but defrosters for now, but I can drive safely in cold weather!

Next trick to get the sub zero assist connected to the intake... Just mounting it to the firewall doesn't get it.

I also installed new/used weather stripping on the doors... One might think that with 3 strips... chance would provide a pair, but alas, 3 passenger pieces. A little persistence and a rotary (funny) leather hole punch, and their both SOOO much better!

Took her for a spin... flooding still. But she started eagerly. Next nice day I have off I'll play with timing (yes, I'll use the light) and fuel mix.

It seems I have reactivated a historic oil leak by running at higher rpms. Peel the onion!

DreamInRotary

iTrader: (49)

Good to hear you could take her out for a ride!

Yeah - oil leaks sure suck. The 12a I have right now has a bad oil pan gasket leak and OMP leak as well. I think fixing these on a rotary though are much easier than a conventional piston engine. Oil pan can be taken off with only lifting the engine a few inches and installing sealant and a new gasket within an hour. OMP can be done within an hour as well and that's including a rebuild without lifting the engine. They sure suck, but I'm always a believer in "better safe than sorry."

I'm gonna go wash this beast today since it's got road salt on it, maybe mess around with it in the fresh snow - we shall see

dougingraham

GSL-EV:

Got it all back together and took for a drive. Broke 1800 EV miles. Tach is working great now that I re-routed the sensor cable away from the motor power cables. Also used the burgundy SEM to paint another trim panel. Added another column to a spreadsheet I use to keep track of energy. One column I was using to tell people about the car is the MPGe figure of merit (Miles Per Gallon equivalent.) I usually get between 90 and 100 MPGe. One of my friends objected to this because it is difficult to understand how the number is arrived at and in fact you have to drive the car on a special test course the EPA has for this purpose to get an official number. So I added the calculation of miles per dollar. This will change with the cost of electricity. It also changes depending on how much fun I have driving. On my normal days it is between 29 and 30 miles per dollar of electricity. On days when I have shall we say too much fun it is as low as 22 miles per dollar. To compare with my GSL-SE I get around 16 MPG driving the same route and in a similar fashion and gas for it costs about $3 per gallon so 5.33 miles per dollar.

I had three photos under the hood to attach but all I get is an error Upload of file failed. Have to figure it out. Using a different camera and it has 16mp resolution. Maybe the forum software cant resize these.

dougingraham

Here are the photos I couldn't upload earlier. It is starting to look pretty full under the hood.

DreamInRotary

iTrader: (49)

99% sure I lost a rotor last night

Will go out and test in just a minute. But I'm pretty positive that it's only running properly on one rotor. If it is I'll take a GoPro video of it for others to see what it looks and sounds like to lose one rotor. Might as well help others while I'm at it.

Qingdao

iTrader: (3)

A 13b will do 60mph foot to the floor if you blew a rotor. I'm speaking of course from personal experience. It'll idle like a champ though; if you compare it to a v6 that lost three.

DreamInRotary

iTrader: (49)

That's nuts! Never thought a 6.5b (one firing rotor on a 13b ) would be able to propel a car to 60mph?

Well I went out and fired it off and at first it felt like it was only going on one rotor and maybe two apexes of the second. Then all of a sudden it switched sound and rumble and I drove it around the yard fine! Revs up like it should and warmed up just like it should I'm really confused right now. Wondering if either:
1. One apex seal is going bad on a rotor
2. Side seal is going bad on a rotor
3. Serious misfiring issue suddenly occurred
4. Timing changed itself overnight
5. The old nasty winter gremlin in Minnesota that only comes out at night somehow got into my car and messed with something in the engine bay causing a crazy sounding one-rotor running engine for a few hours last night.

Seems to run alright so I'm not super upset. Seriously considering my options though. There are some N/A 13b's in my area right now and with the RB adapter I could run a carb'ed 13b pretty easily. Or get a parts car with a 12a in it and hope for good housings and rotors. Ah, decisions decisions.

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

A bad (or stuck) apex or corner seal will usually take the oomph out of two adjacent chambers, not just one. The car will still run with four-of-six working, just not well. since firing order alternates front-rear, a bad apex gives a fire-miss-fire-miss-fire-fire-fire-miss-fire-miss-fire-fire[repeat] pattern.

A bad or stuck side seal will result in an increase of blow-by gasses into the oil spaces; gets pretty obvious if you run the motor with the oil cap off; you can feel pulses of pressure instead of the normal slight vacuum.

Timing can change overnight if the centrifugal advance mechanism in the dizzy is sticky; they can get dirty or gooped up with the old grease, and extreme cold can make that grease stiff too.

Just a few thoughts.

ioTus

iTrader: (5)

Lindhalish - might be time for an ATF treatment.

When I got my 13b TII from japan (last project) it had a stuck apex seal. I managed to work it loose by pouring little bits of MMO in ( i think through a spark plug hole using a funnel) and turning it until it was coated, then when the apex seal would go by the exhaust port, sticking my finger in there and working it loose. I got several years of use out of that block after that.

DreamInRotary

iTrader: (49)

Thanks for the detail! I'm gonna spitball off of your notes here:
1. Stuck Apex or side seal fire-miss-fire-miss-fire-fire-fire-miss-fire-miss-fire-fire[repeat]
This pattern seems close to what the car sounds like, but at times it's as smooth as butter revving as well. So it could be intermittently sticking or going bad over time. It's easier to notice the miss at idle, like it has to drag a dead rotor through it's paces instead of firing every once in a cycle or two. Like smooth-smooth-smooth-shudder-smooth-smooth-smooth-shudder[repeat]

2. Side seal creating pressure instead of vacuum
Should be pretty easy to check this one. Will go out and start the car tomorrow and see if I can feel any vacuum in the chamber from the oil cap.

3. Distributor mechanism
Maybe I'll restab the dizzy tomorrow on TDC to make sure the timing is on. It has 2GDFIS (I think that's the acronym - 2nd Gen Direct Fire Ignition System) where it's running one pair of the plugs on a 2nd Gen coil. Will need to check timing on the whole system to make sure it's on.
Can I spray this with carb or brake cleaner while cleaning it out?

I may have to go the MMO treatment here. When I did the TII swap I used a small bottle meant for lubing Minnkota trolling motors with 2 stroke oil to build compression on start up. Will have to go get some MMO and hope that does the trick. Will go in through a spark plug hole like I did before and fill her up, let her sit and soak, then try to start it later.

Thanks guys, this is why I love this forum. I appreciate the help - I need it right now

shaunfus123

I came across this same exact problem today when I tried to change my tag lights. Did you ever figure out what bulbs they were or where to get them? Its like they are stock tag lights but nothing is coming up about them in relation to the FB. Thank you.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

i just looked up the part number and its odd. weirdly it doesn't cross into anything normal, or in fact at all. most bulbs cross into a number like 0000-11-0H3, or something, and then it turns out to be an H3 bulb but not this little guy.

the Mazda part number is 9970-03-060T, they are available which is nice

777CheekZ

Today i untangled the wires for my cluster/ignition system..my wiring harness is going to be straight AF!! But my ******* garage is frozen! The furnace stopped working

seishowtime

Today I got the title for the car and got its emissions checked! Going to register it tomorrow and finally get to drive it!

JedisonsDad

This little guy arrived today while I was out flying, so hopefully this week I can have a working temp gage.

rotornoob

iTrader: (2)

Had a dream where i wrecked the fb at 125 mph....not a fun dream...

Gave her a wipe down (door seals are toast) and started deleting my old stereo install.

dougingraham

Here is an excerpt from a document I am writing about using LED's in an FB

License plate bulbs:

Superbrightleds.com has an auto bulb finder. It worked for all the bulbs except the license plates. It recommended a bulb that has the same base as an 1156 bulb. But the actual bulb has a much smaller base. It might be that this bulb fits an SA or an earlier model year FB but it didn’t fit my car. The bulbs I am currently using are a BA9 base with part # BA9S-W4-90-12v which is a cool white colored bulb for $2.98. It does not illuminate the plate evenly over the whole surface but it has a nice appearance. I used a directional bulb with a 90 degree pattern. I felt no need to try another bulb. The housing is held on with two screws and then you pry off a rubber boot and replace the bulb. I spent some time cleaning off the grease and tar that had accumulated before putting it all back together. A wider angle pattern bulb might give a more even light and if you wanted to try that I would suggest:

part # BA9S-W-120-12V which is a 120 degree bulb for $1.98.
part # BA9SF-W-12V which is a 180 degree bulb for $1.98.
part # BA9S-WHP which is a 270 degree bulb for $5.95.
part # BA9S-CWHP6 which is a 360 degree bulb for $4.95.
part # BA9S-WHP9 which is a 360 degree bulb for $9.95 but is longer than a regular bulb so might not fit.

The 90 degree bulb I used illuminates the plate with what looks like a sort of spotlight effect on the left and right sides. You can still read the whole plate. I like the appearance enough that I don't consider it worth trying anything else. I hope that helps.

In keeping with the thread I drove the GSL-EV to work and then went to dinner in the GSL-SE to get it warmed up. When driving the GSL-SE I sure was missing the LED headlights that I have on the EV.

ioTus

iTrader: (5)

Wait you have LED headlights??? Which did you go with??

Today - my Megasquirt arrived but I wasn't at home to sign for it. Instead I began clearing out the garage for the install & wire tuck over the holidays.

Tomorrow I pick up the megasquirt and FC ignition.

Then I pull the car in, pull the fenders, run some wires, and finally get around to installing that aluminum radiator, while I'm at it you need to have a top notch cooling system for tuning, as you run the engine at various load conditions for extended periods, then break to cool. Don't want to cook the keg D:

dougingraham

Yes, I could have sworn I posted something about it here but it may have been just on my conversion photo album. After a lot of research I went with the Trucklite phase 6 bulbs. The JW Speaker bulbs might be a bit better for highway travel but cost more and I have read that they don't illuminate the ditch as well. The older Trucklites seem to have a decent pattern but look funny. Here are a few photos from last year when I put them on.

The low beam is the upper half and most of the time people only use low beams. When you select high beams both sections are lit.

They are a no brainer to install. As a DOT compliant bulb they fit perfectly. Exactly the same as the OEM halogen bulbs. A huge benefit is no aftermarket relays are needed to make them work because they draw about half the power and the light is a LOT better. I would say they are better than the Cibie eurobeams with illegal bulbs I had on my 82 back in the day. I would take these over HID types.

I saw that GE is now selling what looks like these bulbs but could just be a copy. There may even be other good choices available today.

Yes, the car needed a bath terribly!

Doug

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Doug, are those the Trucklite 27270C, or a different part number?

dougingraham

Yes, Truck Lite 27270C is the part number. I think I paid about $370 for a pair and I see that you can get a pair on EBAY for $355 with free shipping. Yeah, it still seems like a lot of money. The JW Speaker ones I did find today in a quick look for about $800 a pair. They are awful proud of them.

On the theme of this thread I worked on making a "good" RH side door pull cup for 84-85 FB. I have one perfect still NIB (New in bag) in red left side that I could make a mold from but I don't have a good passenger side one. What the hell was wrong with Mazda not making this symmetrical so they would only need one part? Not going to risk my perfect part until I pull a mold off the RH side one I am repairing. I will post some pictures when I get a little farther along. Or does this deserve a separate thread?

Ms. DIY

I submitted the photo and text to put her up for sale in the local newspapers I work at. After a whole year of having my hours reduced from 40 to 30/wk... I can no longer afford the luxury of a second vehicle. My husband's van IS more reliable, so Smooth is offered up to Christmas chance. Some kid is likely to score. She's been getting noticed about my small town.

I have a couple of good job leads, they have just been dragging out over months... I can't hold out any longer.

Hubby set the price at $2,000 (or it's not worth giving up... yet... )
Perhaps it's too much for the market to bear, and a job will come through.

Rx7_fanofspeed

As of 12/20/2013 at 11pm PST my newish 1985 FB GS turned 505 miles on my rebuilt 12a .

JedisonsDad

Unless you need the money, have you considered just uninsuring it, and parking it for the winter? It won't cost you anything to just keep it, assuming it's paid off. At least that way you wouldn't lose out on all your work you've put into it.