84RX_Se7en

Pay close attention to the quotations. They are a very operative part of this thread.

So, my GSL-SE, it runs great sounds pretty good and looks pretty good. Mild surface rust underneath with no wheel well rot or other issues. Has all panels and interior pieces. Has all exterior panels and lights/covers.(Replaced two so far and a piece of trim)

Problems:
-After running for 15 to 20 minutes it will not start up. Have to wait about an hour and a half or two before it will start again.

-At about 6 grand it runs a little bit rough. Accelerates fine and and smooth but you can feel a slight grind or bump in the accelerator peddle then and the front begins to shake at 7k.

-The cooling system builds air pressure even though I fill it up completely with fluids and after certain points it will dump it out of the overflow at a most rediculous amount... basically the entirety of everything in the radiator.

-Brakes are simple and I can take care of no problem.

-Suspension is a little rough on bumps and the back vibrates a bit on hard acceleration. I'll get to that when I have the $400 I am going to spend on a whole new setup(Shocks, struts, springs, bushings, sway bars, . In a few weeks I'll add that to this thread.

-Exhaust is actually pretty good. Just the end pipe after the cat is rusted off above the rear diff. I'm going to get an RB header and a Monza a muffler. That or order a whole Monza system with header from Blackdragon.

-I'm gonna replace the windshield wiper rack and motor since this one is pretty much siezed up. Also the rear wiper motor is dead. All rusted up. Gonna order a replacement from Blackdragon.

Now other than that I think everything is pretty well set and good to go.

Any thoughts?

1BADSP

iTrader: (4)

from what your describing,the bearings are bad inside the motor,that's why it won't start when it's warm.the bearing tolerances tighten up as the engine heats up,i've had it happen to me,that is what your feeling in the gas pedal,is far as the coolant issue,at one time the engine was overheated,and it lost a water seal,sounds like your gonna need a completely new engine,i would bet that when you tear down the motor,there will only be a couple of usable parts.

1BADSP

iTrader: (4)

by the way,i have an engine for sale as i am doing a turbo swap,$500 complete.

84RX_Se7en

13b?

84RX_Se7en

Also point to note is that if I remove the fuel pump connection from the ignition coil and crank it once it starts firing if I have someone plug it in at that time it will start.
It doesn't have any issue with it overheating. It will just dump the coolant in the overflow if I try to start it multiple times when it won't start.

dj55b

iTrader: (2)

about the car turning on and then off then being able to turn it on again .. that sounds like a fuel pump problem , is it a stock one? Might need replacement, or if its aftermarket mey not be mounted properly and might be overheating and then vapor locking.

Not being able to rev it up to 7k now it sounds like it might also be a fuel filter. When was the last time it was changed? it only a few bucks so something to look at first I guess.

Have you looked for leaks in the cooling system? there's usually a small little hope in one of the hoses that would cause this to happen. When was the last time you had your radiator cleaned out too? Also is the cap on there an OEM one? some aftermarket ones are rated for lower pressure which would cause the spring to push in sooner than it needs to be and filling up the overflow tank.

we highly DON'T reccomment monza on this forum. A full racing beat is the way to go, or another favored one is racing beat headers, 2.5" custom piping and 1 magnaflow where the old catalytics used to sit, and another magnaflow at the end. (Magnaflows are Steel Wool packed unlike most other companies, and because our engines' exhaust gases are that much hotter than piston engines, they tend to melt the fiberglass fairly quickly. better buy one now then spend money on 3 "cheap" ones )

As for the rear wiper motor and front ones, it would be ALOT cheaper to buy it from a used car. and will function just as good. (provided that you buy a good one obviously )

As for the suspension, one of the favored setups seems to be Tokico Struts, and racing beat springs. If you want to spend a few bucks more, a tri link is always good for that little extra handling. As for sway bars, the rear stock one is said to be more than adequate for the job, and the front one can be quite a pain to install bigger ones. But if you're just going for stock replacement thats fine.

84RX_Se7en

7k is not fuel cut due to filter. The motor keeps reving, you can just feel it grind, Not cut.
I'm going to check the fuel pump today.
The motor still doesn't "feel" good and vibrates in higher RPMs with a similar grinding sensation as the rotors spin if you will.
I'm still swapping the motor out in three weeks.

rotariesrule

check your cats they may be clogged which would cause the car not to rev. open your radiator before you start the car for the day and stick your nose in it, if you smell exhaust in your radiator your engine is screwed.

your fuel injectors are leaking that is why the car is hard to start after running.

DON'T BUY ANYTHING BUT A RACING BEAT HEADER AND EXHAUST.

84RX_Se7en

Well the motor including the entire EFI system is coming out and another is going in. We'll see if that solves the issues.

I'm gonna gut the cats today as well as checking the fuel pump.

And yes, the radiator fluid that comes out smells a bit of a mixture of gasoline and oil as well as rediator fluid so I'm pretty sure the motor is gone.

84RX_Se7en

Okay here is a run down of the possible issues and my solution:

It not restarting could be leaking injectors, bad or warped bearings, vapor lock in the fuel pump, and so on.

The coolant issue could be bad seals allowing air in from inside the housings.

Solution:

Replacing this motor with a motor that came out of another SE at under 100k. This motor includes entire injection system and just about everything else.

During this process I am gutting the engine bay of air conditioning and cleaning up how things are routed around the bay.

Cleaning up new motor going in completely and replacing all intake and exhaust gaskets.

A good coating of engine paint to make it pretty.

New cooling hoses all around.

New plugs, wires, rotor buttin, dist cap, and Optima Red Top Battery.

Going Amsoil synthetic all around.

New transmission and rear diff fluids.

New brakes all around.

New belts.

Electric fan conversion.

Double alternator pulley.

Having oil cooler lines remade by hydraulic shop. New crush washers.

Removing stock oil pressure gauge and running aftermarket gauge.(Will be easy with motor out of car)

Removing air pump and plating it off. (Again easier with motor out of car.)


I CAN'T WAIT! Three weeks and I am spending the whole weekend reworking the car.

If this doesn't solve it I will then pull all of the injectors I have, take them to a shop to be tested and cleaned and then put the good ones in. I will also change the fuel pump.

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Hard start/no start when warm is usually a sign of leaking injectors and/or low compression. As far as the cooling system goes, remove the radiator cap, start the engine and look for 'champange' bubbles inside the filler neck. If you have them, you blew a coolant seal.

As far as the bearing tolerances, Don't buy that line a bit. How many mile on the engine? When you pull it, check the oil for brass colored flakes.

sgieldon

Show Us Pictures of your Engine Bay???
steve

84RX_Se7en

107k when the speedo stopped working I don't know how long ago. Replaced the speedo cable and have put about 400 miles on it since.

When I initially changed the oil it was watery and had a metalic brown glint to it.

I get bubbles. I know that's an issue. The coolant coming out smells of gas and oil.

I suspected the motor of lower compression. It has always run and sounded kind of rough from the get go.

The injectors I'm going to pull like I said and check them out.
When I swap the motors I'm going to leave that motors injectors in to see how they work out from the get go. If I run into the same issue I know that the restart problem was attributed to the fuel system and I can work from there which will be pretty easy. Injectors and pump.

84RX_Se7en

This is a bad pic of my engine bay. I'll see if I have any others.

rotariesrule

put your fan shroud back on.

you should have your old injectors cleaned now and use them when you put the other engine in.

you should also get a new fuel pulsation dampener, old ones can cause fires.

clbsinvaders

Is the pulsation damper as big of a problem on the FB as it is on the FC?

RacerX7fb

It is the same part, so it has the potential to have the same problem.
I replaced mine with an S4 banjo bolt. New PD = $130 vs. Banjo bolt = free from junkyard + 2 new crushwashers.

84RX_Se7en

Well here's what mine sounds like when I try to start it. Lots of crunching....

http://3dweller.com/media/VORC002.WAV

84RX_Se7en

The initial grind was the starter. It didn't engage for some reason. Now otherwise the motor is make a whole lot of crunching like it's going to fire but it's grindy and crunchy. I think it's blown.

84RX_Se7en

Well... idles kinda funny from the get go but after a few revs I'm supposing it builds compression and will get going. It's smooth sailing after that with no noise. WTF guys... This thing is baffling the hell out of me and I can't run a compression test. Don't have the stuff to do it. I'm almost certain the motor is on its last legs though. Probably another month if I were to put any kind of strain on it. 'Tis why it's going up on stands to be prepped for the other motor next weekend.

jpre

Are you pushing the throttle all the way to the floor once before you turn the key?

84RX_Se7en

Nope.

84RX_Se7en

I am creating a site www.rotarypowered.info to note everything I'm doing and the issues I run into. Here is the design I have for it so far.


Waiting for the domain to propagate the DNS servers. The image will appear in a little bit.

Till then think about this... I'm writing a script to allow for people to sign up at my site to have their own project blogs Kinda like blogspot or cardomain but purely rotary. Maybe to avoid YET ANOTHER ROTARY FORUM... the people here will let me get a subforum or forum in the list. I mean, I could create a whole nother forum but what could I provide there that y'all couldn't have here?

jpre

Perhaps you could try it and tell us how it acts then.

bliffle

I was doing this with the SE for about 3 months, in the belief that the initial stroke reset some boundary condition in the EGI, but then it flooded anyway about a month ago. So I quit doing the initial stroke and it was OK for a month before flooding again.

Now, my new theory is that the injectors are sufficiently worn at 160k to be sensitive to a very slight internal positioning issue at shutdown (perhaps a needle valve seating) or maybe a minute piece of dirt, so that it allows fuel to flood the engine while sitting overnnight. So, until I can get the injectors rebuilt I'm adding a bottle of STP Injector Cleaner to every fillup in hopes of getting rid of any varnish or dirt that may be adding to the problem.

Also, next time it floods I'll try pulling the fuelpump fuse in the underdash fusebox and crank it a few times to clear the flooding. I think that the correct fuse is the one closest to the driver in the lefthand row of fuses.