New owner - needs some advice
05-15-05, 02:09 AM
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New owner - needs some advice
I have a 44000 mile Gen1 with a 12A engine. Runs great and i really like it.
Old couple had it from new .
First rotary . Pleaseadvise if you can soI can set it up wityh a service.
1. What type of oil to use
2. What type spark plugs andwhat gaps to set at.
3. Needs new exhaust I think. What is best place for standard , stainless or aftermarket to make a little deeper resonating noise.
4. What do I set timing at?
Many thanks for any help you can give
Old couple had it from new .
First rotary . Pleaseadvise if you can soI can set it up wityh a service.
1. What type of oil to use
2. What type spark plugs andwhat gaps to set at.
3. Needs new exhaust I think. What is best place for standard , stainless or aftermarket to make a little deeper resonating noise.
4. What do I set timing at?
Many thanks for any help you can give
05-15-05, 09:06 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Montgomery, TX
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Welcome aboard Tom. First thing you should do is get a decent service manual, in abscence of anything better the Haynes will do.
As for your questions I'll offer my opinion, it's a pretty good one.
1. Oil, the rotary depends highly on it for engine cooling so you need a heavy wieght oil to handle the heat loads. 20W-50 is the usual choice, especially in summer. I'm not sure where West Sussex is but it sounds cold LOL. You might consult the owners manual or underhood sticker for cold weather use, but it's always heavier than a piston engine for the same ambient temperatures. A high quality mineral oil is good, synthetic is better. In any case you need an oil that burns off completely clean. The rotary engine is designed to constantly pump a small amount of oil into the intake with the air and fuel so that the combustion seals (apex seals) are lubricated. They cover a lot of area and without any lube they would wear out quickly. So you should check your oil often when in use to prevent running out, and don't worry it does use oil. If you see no leaks then just keep adding when needed. It's not that much.
2. Plugs - use the factory type Nippon Denso's or NGK brand plugs. Stick to the standard heat range for a stock engine. They use 4 separate side ground electrodes, like the new Bosch Plus 4's. So there is no gap setting, you check the side gaps for evenness at install and will need to replace them if the gaps errode past specs. But Rotarys are constantly on a firing stroke and each rotor uses the same plugs for all combustion, what this means is that you should replace the plugs regularly to keep the engine performing well. Long before the gaps are worn away.
3. Exhaust, the best place? Very opinionistic but I've seen nothing but good said about Racing Beat's exhaust systems. They are the Grand Dad of Rotary performance and always one of the best. Sound and flow are excellent. You get what you pay for.
4. Timing - The Rotary engine has a large rectangular shaped combustion chamber that kinda rolls in on one side and squishes across to the other. In order to ensure a complete burn there is a plug on each side of this travel. These are Leading and Trailing. The bottom plug is leading and fires first, as the rotor swivels towards the top plug it is fired, trailing. There are two grooves on your crankshaft front pulley. They should be painted with a dot of paint. Yellow is first and it's for Leading spark, then Red for trailing. Just above the pulley on the LH side is a timing pin coming out of the front cover, this along with the yellow and red marks is what you use for timing. You use a conventional timing light installed on the front rotor leading and trailing plug wires to set the timing.
When setting timing both of the vacuum lines connected to the distributor should be disconnected and plugged. Set the leading first as it require moving the distributor and effects both settings (leading and trailing). With the light connected to the front rotor bottom plug wire (leading) rotate the distributor until the timing pin and the yellow mark are lined up then tighten the distributor in place. Now connect the light to the front upper (trailing) plug wire. Notice on one of the distributor vacuum canisters (where the vacuum lines attached) there are two small screws holding it down. That vacuum canister bracket has grooves so that it can slide in and out of the distributor if the screws are loosened. This is how Trailing timing is adjusted. With the two little slide adjuster screws slightly loose move the canister in or out until the timing light indicates the timing pin and the Red mark on the crank pulley line up and then tighten them in place. Disconnect the light and reconnect the vacuum advance hoses to the canisters and you're done.
Hopefully now that someone has painstakingly answered your questions over several minutes of time we won't see several one line "No it isn't!" type posts confusing you with their opposing views. Many are afraid of Synthetic oil for instance, though they have no reason to be. I'm a professional mechanic and ASE certified in many areas. I've been building race cars for 20 years. I've been a Rotary owner for several years now and do my own work. I read these boards regularly and learn from others before me. Everything I told you will lead you right.
Vernon
As for your questions I'll offer my opinion, it's a pretty good one.
1. Oil, the rotary depends highly on it for engine cooling so you need a heavy wieght oil to handle the heat loads. 20W-50 is the usual choice, especially in summer. I'm not sure where West Sussex is but it sounds cold LOL. You might consult the owners manual or underhood sticker for cold weather use, but it's always heavier than a piston engine for the same ambient temperatures. A high quality mineral oil is good, synthetic is better. In any case you need an oil that burns off completely clean. The rotary engine is designed to constantly pump a small amount of oil into the intake with the air and fuel so that the combustion seals (apex seals) are lubricated. They cover a lot of area and without any lube they would wear out quickly. So you should check your oil often when in use to prevent running out, and don't worry it does use oil. If you see no leaks then just keep adding when needed. It's not that much.
2. Plugs - use the factory type Nippon Denso's or NGK brand plugs. Stick to the standard heat range for a stock engine. They use 4 separate side ground electrodes, like the new Bosch Plus 4's. So there is no gap setting, you check the side gaps for evenness at install and will need to replace them if the gaps errode past specs. But Rotarys are constantly on a firing stroke and each rotor uses the same plugs for all combustion, what this means is that you should replace the plugs regularly to keep the engine performing well. Long before the gaps are worn away.
3. Exhaust, the best place? Very opinionistic but I've seen nothing but good said about Racing Beat's exhaust systems. They are the Grand Dad of Rotary performance and always one of the best. Sound and flow are excellent. You get what you pay for.
4. Timing - The Rotary engine has a large rectangular shaped combustion chamber that kinda rolls in on one side and squishes across to the other. In order to ensure a complete burn there is a plug on each side of this travel. These are Leading and Trailing. The bottom plug is leading and fires first, as the rotor swivels towards the top plug it is fired, trailing. There are two grooves on your crankshaft front pulley. They should be painted with a dot of paint. Yellow is first and it's for Leading spark, then Red for trailing. Just above the pulley on the LH side is a timing pin coming out of the front cover, this along with the yellow and red marks is what you use for timing. You use a conventional timing light installed on the front rotor leading and trailing plug wires to set the timing.
When setting timing both of the vacuum lines connected to the distributor should be disconnected and plugged. Set the leading first as it require moving the distributor and effects both settings (leading and trailing). With the light connected to the front rotor bottom plug wire (leading) rotate the distributor until the timing pin and the yellow mark are lined up then tighten the distributor in place. Now connect the light to the front upper (trailing) plug wire. Notice on one of the distributor vacuum canisters (where the vacuum lines attached) there are two small screws holding it down. That vacuum canister bracket has grooves so that it can slide in and out of the distributor if the screws are loosened. This is how Trailing timing is adjusted. With the two little slide adjuster screws slightly loose move the canister in or out until the timing light indicates the timing pin and the Red mark on the crank pulley line up and then tighten them in place. Disconnect the light and reconnect the vacuum advance hoses to the canisters and you're done.
Hopefully now that someone has painstakingly answered your questions over several minutes of time we won't see several one line "No it isn't!" type posts confusing you with their opposing views. Many are afraid of Synthetic oil for instance, though they have no reason to be. I'm a professional mechanic and ASE certified in many areas. I've been building race cars for 20 years. I've been a Rotary owner for several years now and do my own work. I read these boards regularly and learn from others before me. Everything I told you will lead you right.
Vernon
Last edited by NewRXr; 05-15-05 at 09:09 AM. Reason: Double signature
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