I like your attitude, sir. Welcome to the forum!

 

i checked the leading plugs before i had it towed. (i couldn't get the bottom ones out with the weird *** spark plug socket i have) they looked brown gray. the spark plug on the back rotor had oil on the back half threads.

it was white. the smoke came out of the driver side part of the engine bay right near the back of the engine. i think the hose from the engine to heater core got lose or ruptured, not really sure what. it was still hooked up. ive read those tend to fail.

 

coolant line to the oil cooler is leaking....how that happened was when the prior owner or mechanic was changing the oil filter, he let the oil drain out of filter, down the oil cooer outside, on onto the rubber hose. Mine blew in '96, and its replacement is still going strong after 19 years.

I say try new plugs and wires. Do not use autolites! Insist on NGK. And be careful not to over tighten and strip the plugs when tightening, I use a stubby ratchet and anti-seize . And match the new spark plugs to the originals. Mazda dealers love to sell you the WRONG plugs. One dealer gave me the wrong plugs even after a neighbor took them to small claims court for selling him the wrong plugs, causing destruction of the rotors. The neighbor lost the case, so it was a big F'N joke to the dealer. It must be how American Dealers of Japanese Cars get their kicks.

 

[QUOTE=One dealer gave me the wrong plugs even after a neighbor took them to small claims court for selling him the wrong plugs, causing destruction of the rotors. The neighbor lost the case, so it was a big F'N joke to the dealer. It must be how American Dealers of Japanese Cars get their kicks.[/QUOTE]

wow thats seriously f'd up. i dont plan on going to a dealership for anything. the websites that sell rotary parts are pretty amazing, and i assume vastly cheaper. i bought some ngk's plugs, wires, and the new hose from atkinsrotary. the parts are piling up

 

so after reading all yalls input, talking to my instructors, and noodling about what had actually happened i seriously doubt that the engine is hurt. i was defiantly thinking of only the worse.

i know that overheating and detonation is really bad and damaging.
what else is really bad for a rotary?
what are some other things i should be looking for?

 

generally, you shouldn't have to worry about detonation on any N/A rotary unless you do something really dumb with the timing.

really, heat and lack of lubrication are what you are left with in terms of the BIG no-nos. despite what you hear, the engines themselves are actually very strong and they can withstand a lot. that said, another myth outside the fold is that they will rev forever. it is true that they rev high and that they kind of need to (and i'm not talking about that redline-a-day adage), but you probably shouldn't be thinking you can get 10,000 out of your factory 12A and Nikki. if you actually could do it, it would likely mess up your day and you'd bloody well deserve it. there are limits is what i'm saying.