Whisper

Huh. Well, ok.

I have the exhaust manifold off, I can't really see into the ports very well without taking the motor out, so I'm just using a flashlight and a mirror, and it's hard to tell the condition of the rotor and seals, however it looks like everything is at least in place. Didn't find any seal pieces in the exhaust pipe or manifold.

After having soaked, the motor feels like it's turning a tad easier, but there's still a point where it kind of catches and drags. I honestly don't know how freely it should turn when in normal condition, since I have no point of reference.

I'm gonna keep spraying it and see what happens..

Whisper

Ok, the engine is soaked and I can turn it a bit easier. Also wiggled the apex seals somewhat and I think all of them compress evenly. There's still plenty of carbon, but mostly on the rotor. Still not much compression on the rear rotor. Gonna soak it some more, and then try to start tomorrow, and if it doesn't, will try pulling it on the weekend.

But I have a quick question:

While I'm still cleaning it, are there any legit methods for hand-cranking the motor fast (without using the starter), just to vent out all the cleaners quicker? Ratchet is kind of slow, and I don't have an air pump to turn it with air pressure. What's the torque required to spin this thing? Can I use a power drill or impact wrench to spin it?

Kentetsu

See if your leading plugs are sparking. Lack of whoosh from rear rotor could be nothing more than flooding causing a reduction in compression. As long as the car ran before you did the work, I wouldn't freak out yet...

Whisper

Minor update.

After wiggling all the seals and spraying them with liberal amounts of Seafoam and then MMO for about a week, I used a power drill to spin the motor pretty fast. Unhooked all the belts to make it easier. Motor spun alright, but still didn't get any compression sounds from the rear rotor. Hooked up a compression tester and the front rotor bounced up to maybe 30 (and highest was 60), but the rear one didn't bounce at all. The arrow didn't even move.

So I put the exhaust mani back on, hooked everything back up, sprayed some starter fluid into intake, put in new plugs and tried to start it.

Crank, but no start. I also noticed that it doesn't show RPM. Like the tach is wiggling a little bit, but doesn't even begin to climb up to 200.

I can't tell if there's spark (there's definitely fuel, though, because it floods the motor pretty quick and the plugs are soaked). I don't want to test for spark in the garage, because there's a lot of gasoline fumes and I don't want to burn the building down (not to mention other residents are probably pretty tired of smelling fuel all the time). Hopefully tomorrow I can find someone to help me pull the car out onto the street.

But anyway, if my tach isn't climbing to proper RPM, what does that mean? Battery is fully charged, and I haven't touched any wires on the starter side. Ignitor gone bad? Starter gone bad?

Whisper

Alright. Got it started. Whew.

Finally found someone with a proper pulling vehicle, pulled it out of the garage, ran it around in 3rd with plugs out to vent the motor, cleaned the plugs, and then pull-started it.

Thank god it didn't get started in the garage. There was so much smoke, they'd have to evacuate the building.

Drove it around a bit, until the smoke went away. Messy idle issue is still there. Don't know what to do about it, but that's secondary.

Checked compression, and it seems acceptable on both rotors.

So thank you everyone for all your help.

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

I guess next time you will listen to me. Been there done that many times and when the SE will not start by going through all the normal procedures then you tow start it.

Doc.

Whisper

Yes, I was gonna do that ever since you mentioned it. I was just trying other things while waiting for an opportunity to get a tow-start. I'm sure that spraying the rotors and loosening the seals had some merit to it.

I hope it starts tomorrow.

Rx-7Doctor

iTrader: (13)

I can tell you from experience that spraying the seals probably had a very little effect in your case.


Normally if everything is ok and you soak the housings in an attempt to clean things up the engine will start with just a jump start from another vehicle or a very strong battery.

It seems to happen more when their is a lot of mileage on the engine and the wear of the apex seals may be close to the minimum specs.

Whisper

It's likely you're right, though I have not tried a jump start.

What about carbon lock or sticking seals on older motors? Would cleaning the insides reduce the risk of damage from those? The cleaners I sprayed in came out almost black. It likely didn't do much to help the motor start, but if it makes it last just a bit longer, then I see merit in that. I just want to make the motor and the car in general stay running as long as I can by taking good care of what's there now.

BTW, is it necessary to change oil after this kind of situation? I read that it becomes contaminated...