Lotus00

A couple of days ago I posted about a problem I was having with oil getting into the rear rotor housing. You can read it Here. I was told that my side seals were not sealing properly, and that the side seal springs were probably at fault.

Anyway, a few days before posting that, I read a thread that said you should keep RPMs above 2.5k to keep carbon from building up in the chamber. You can read that thread Here.

I realised that I used to try and keep the RPMs under 2.5k to save on gas (hey, I am broke ). I have since keept RPMs over 2.5k whenever possible. Also, I took the car out to some back roads and had some high RPM fun

Well, I drove it like that for about a week and a half, then I let it sit for a few days. When I went out to the car the other day, I checked the plugs and they were still clean (no oil on them at all ) and when I started the car it fired on both rotors immedatly.

What I am trying to get at is, is there any possibility that there was carbon buildup on the side seals (stopping them from being forced out by the springs) that was blown off by me driving like a mad man? The problem is gone, and I didnt do anything else to fix it. (I did switch front and rear leading plugs, but if it was the plugs, the problem would have only moved to the front rotor)

In any case, I couldnt be happier because now I dont need to tear down my engine (something I definatly could not afford!)

wwilliam54

very much
i didnt really think about it on your old thread
but i dont see any reason why a side seal cant carbon lock just like an apex seal

definalty something for other to kepp in mind, i know i will

btw mmo/ power foam it for even better results

Lotus00

I will probably MMO it soon just for a little insurance. It couldnt hurt after driving it around at low RPMs for so long.

wwilliam54

tru.dat

Steve Shulz

MMO will definately work/help, do a search for water cleaning to. When I first got my SE I ran about a gallon of water through it, seemed to help alot, I didnt see crap flying out the back but I know it helped. Basically I took off one of the vac lines and submersed it in the water, kept the revs up cause it will want to die, but the water/steam/heat will also help, quicker too. Good luck

inittab

Years ago I killed my Cosmo by trying to conserve fuel with low RPM driving. At that time there was very little support and no forum so as a result I had no clue how easy it was to fix so I ended up rebuilding the engine. Oh well... Needless to say, I'm now in the redline a day keeps the carbon away camp. BTW, forget about doing an MMO treatment, get ahold of some Amsoil PowerFoam instead. Oh... and the water treament is something to look into. The water treament is easier on an SE and the PowerFoam treament is easier if you have a 12a.


PS, you won't conserve much fuel by dog'n it. So forgettaboutit.

LongDuck

When I wasn't driving my SE much after I first got it (carpooling with wife, and not much time for working on 2 RX-7's), I finally got back into it and had to tune up a bunch of stuff. The car just did not seem to want to run very well at all. Prior to this, I drove it about 2-3 times a month, with about a week or two between outings. When I did take it out, I was always careful with it because I knew it hadn't been driven very much.

Lo and behold, the performance was really crappy when I got some free time to get back into driving it daily. After about a week of getting back into fast driving and revving it higher than about 3k-4k, the performance dropped off dramatically. Trip to the dealer for a compression test and they stated I needed a new motor.

I'm not an idiot, so I went about taking care of the things that built up over time - first step was the ATF Trick, and it really worked wonders. I think I had a stuck apex seal or side seal that finally came unglued with the ATF trick overnight, and now I shift at over 5k just about every time unless I'm in bumper to bumper traffic.

Reving your engine high won't hurt it- and I now believe it's a requirement to ensure that all the seals are free to move and unbound. If you get one stuck, you'll know it - the rotary engine requires both rotors developing power to make any kind of performance at all.

ATF, MMO, or powerfoam - either way, it couldn't hurt, and will likely help. Think of it like a muscle that gets atrophied if you don't exercise it from time to time. Redlining is a bit much if you do that all the time, however. HTH,

Lotus00

Ill do a search for water treatment, but I will probably just end up using MMO or PowerFoam because I have a 12a and you say it is easier.

inittab

Check out this thread: Water instead of ATF for decarboning

bizarro

iTrader: (1)

Hey Longduck,

How do you PowerFoam a 13b???

LongDuck

I have no idea, I used ATF. MMO would be done the same way, i.e, with the upper and lower intake runners removed and then pouring it with silicone tubing and a funnel into the primary intake paths, also, the spark plug holes.

I've never seen powerfoam around here.

DriveFast7

iTrader: (1)

i water treated my REPU and it did help. I had to spray LOTS of water in there using a spray bottle for it to make a noticeable difference. mabye 6 ounces per rotor. but it did idle better and throttle response increased.

Wankelguy

Nice flame thread link there, Bob.

That was truly helpful

My .02:
Power Foam not ATF!

Lotus00

Yeah, I am going to use MMO because it seems least likely to do damage to my engine.

If I just run the MMO as premix instead of dumping it down the engine will it have the same effect? The engine runs pretty good now, I don’t want to dump any crap down there unless I absolutely have to.

bizarro

iTrader: (1)

Email sent to Amsoil Support about Power Foam and 13b engines:

I'd like to use PowerFoam on my fuel injected 1984 RX-7 GSL- SE. I've read instructions on how to use it on a carborated RX-7 but not a fuel injected. Can you clarify this for me? Thank you

Reply from Amsoil Support:

In response to your inquiry, on fuel injected engines, the AMSOIL Power Foam is sprayed into the throttle body the same as if it were carbureted.

luiml73

iTrader: (1)

Atkins rotary sold m a treatment to remove carbon build up, but I dont remember the name. I know that u use it twice a year. Give kathy a call!!! www.atkinsrotary.com

inittab

hehe ... I'm just try'n to shake things up.