1st Generation Specific (1979-1985) 1979-1985 Discussion including performance modifications and technical support sections

Started after sitting for 2 years, problems!!

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Old Apr 23, 2003 | 06:42 PM
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Started after sitting for 2 years, problems!!

Today me and my friend started up his '84 GSL 13b. Well eventually it got started and there was a lot of bluish smoke, also if you slowly press the gas then the revs will build but if you punch the gas it bogs the engine. I was thinking that the problem was the sparkplugs and it was just burning off the crap that was sitting there for 2 years. I'm also wondering if it's a good idea to add some 2-stroke oil to the gas? What oil is good to be used (viscosity, synth or regular). This car is going to be used strictly for racing.
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Old Apr 23, 2003 | 06:56 PM
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From: Pensacola FLA
you might want to replace o rings that helped me with the smoke
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Old Apr 23, 2003 | 07:16 PM
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What o-rings are you talking about, what's involved in changing them? When I think rotary, I think apex seals, not o-rings. If they are bed we're not going to rebuild the motor, we just want to take it to the track costing as little money as possible.
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Old Apr 23, 2003 | 07:59 PM
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From: Pensacola FLA
ok the o rings when you take off the intake manifold!
they need to be changed and make sure you get the intake manifold gasket! they keep the coolant lines sealed from intake mani to block!
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Old Apr 23, 2003 | 08:00 PM
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From: Pensacola FLA
go to www.britishvictoria.com pm me ill get you part numbers!
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Old Apr 23, 2003 | 08:03 PM
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From: 3OH5
Originally posted by claytonjh1223
ok the o rings when you take off the intake manifold!
they need to be changed and make sure you get the intake manifold gasket! they keep the coolant lines sealed from intake mani to block!
Please don't take this advice.

Just do the natural changes:
Oil change
Radiator fluid change
Spark Plugs - NGK BR9EQ14
New Cap and Rotor
New Fuel Filter

It sounds like you need to spray some carb cleaner down the carb too, to loosen anything that stuck while sitting.
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Old Apr 23, 2003 | 08:46 PM
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Originally posted by Directfreak
It sounds like you need to spray some carb cleaner down the carb too, to loosen anything that stuck while sitting.
You mean the carb on his 13B?
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Old Apr 23, 2003 | 09:03 PM
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From: 3OH5
Originally posted by thecause17
You mean the carb on his 13B?
Yes. What, do you think a 13B is only EFI?
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Old Apr 23, 2003 | 09:18 PM
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Thanks for the replies, I think I'm going to take your advice and try out all the easy/cheap things first like sparkplugs, fliters carb cleaner etc. About the oil what do you recommend 15W30?? Synthetic or regular??
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Old Apr 23, 2003 | 09:27 PM
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also try some MMO in the gas, helped mine tons.
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Old Apr 23, 2003 | 09:28 PM
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Originally posted by gscully
Thanks for the replies, I think I'm going to take your advice and try out all the easy/cheap things first like sparkplugs, fliters carb cleaner etc. About the oil what do you recommend 15W30?? Synthetic or regular??
Use of synthetic oils is not reccomended on High milage or old engines, as it flows well, it'll aggrivate leaks.

Use of synthestic oils is nto reccomended on Rotary engines, as it doesn't burn cleanly, and the rotary injects just a slight ammount of oil into the combustion chamber to lubricate the seals.

That being said, the use of synthetic oils is strongly not reccomended in a high milage rotary engine.

You wanna go for the cheap (bonus) dino stuff... Lotta people use the Castrol GTX...

Also, you wnna go for a nice thick grade for bearing protection... Lot of people reccomend 20w50... I'd go with that for summer, since you're in Canada, I'd drop back to 10w30 for winter.

Choose a decent oil filter, Wix (CarQuest, Napa, and others.) or Purolator is good.

Check the Oil metering pump, on the lower part of the engine, towards the front, on the side opposite the saprk plugs... Be sure that the linkage moves in relation to the throttle. That may be what's causing your blue smoke. That it may be stuck full open.

Spark plugs, Use ONLY NGK brand plugs... While you're at it, ask the parts clerk to gap them for you. You wanna use BR8EQ-14 type for the time being... That's the stock part number.

You also wanna ditch that old crud in the gas tank... There's a drainage plug on the bottom to help you. Refill it, run it through a tank, then change the filter...

Last edited by Pele; Apr 23, 2003 at 09:31 PM.
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Old Apr 23, 2003 | 09:36 PM
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From: Pensacola FLA
well my way is cheap too less than a 15 dollar fix and if its the prob youll be done! but i mean go ahead and change oil and all too but id go with the o rings mine were rotted through from sitting for a long time like 1 to 2 years!
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Old Apr 23, 2003 | 10:01 PM
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From: Behind a workbench, repairing FC Electronics.
I just reread the first post... GSL with a 13B???



Double check that man, Right next to the distributor, on the same side with the spark plugs... Check in there... 12A or 13B?
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Old Apr 23, 2003 | 11:33 PM
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Careful, on my tank, I went looking for the drain plug.. My Mazda manual said there was one, my Heynes said there wasn't...

It turns out they're both right.. There is what appears to be a small bolt at the lowest point of the tank... but it's welded into place. So I'm going to have to drain the gas through the pump, putting abucket under and detaching just before it hits the fuel filter.

As for the rest, go with the guys who are saying the standard things first. Oil, Air, Fuel filters, plugs, plug wires, rotor, drain gas and oil change.

Then you might wanna check the o-rings, but if it *is* carb'd, it's a bitch to get the carb off (even the Heynes says "the rear bolt on the left will take a certian degree of patience".. what an understatement). My mechanic friend even broke the OMP arm when we took mine out.

Best of luck. If you wanna swap info/stories on restoring an old rex, go ahead and e-mail me
vipernicus42@hotmail.com

Only one sports compact in the world demands:
1. Cheap gas (read low octane, high quality)
2. and Cheap oil

to get it's best performance. All hail the rotary!
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Old Apr 24, 2003 | 12:16 AM
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It's actually a GSL-SE basically the one that came with the 13b. I don't have to worry about a draining the gas tanki we're running a fuel cell. IT's also definatly carbed we got a holly carb in there and I was playing with the choke today which finally helped it to start. I don't think I'm going to try to take the carb off unless I really have to. Viper how's your restoration going so far?
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Old Apr 24, 2003 | 01:18 AM
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are you using the 2 year old gas? that stuff is so stail now it aint even funny.
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Old Apr 24, 2003 | 07:03 AM
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Originally posted by Directfreak
Yes. What, do you think a 13B is only EFI?
In an '84-'85 SE it is....lat time I looked under the hood of mine, I saw no carb. Sure, there were carbed 13B's, not in a GSL-SE though...

I see he said GSL 13B, so did he swap or what?
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Old Apr 24, 2003 | 08:33 AM
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From: 3OH5
Originally posted by thecause17
In an '84-'85 SE it is....lat time I looked under the hood of mine, I saw no carb. Sure, there were carbed 13B's, not in a GSL-SE though...

I see he said GSL 13B, so did he swap or what?
According to him, it's an 85 GSL. However, they swapped a 6-port SE engine into it. To keep it a simple swap, he carbed it.

Again, 13B's can live without EFI, and SE's can be converted to carbs.
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Old Apr 24, 2003 | 09:43 AM
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before you bother doing any of this, check the compression, don't bother wasting your money on a car thats not going to help you anyways. I'd be leary of an engine that sat in the open for 2+ years.... gahhhh
I'm suprised that it runs at all
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Old Apr 24, 2003 | 11:22 AM
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I've just been dealing with the same thing: an 83 GSL that sat for two years out in the open. I'm still a rookie to rotaries buy I did a lot of reading in the last month:

1) ATF treatment. Squirt some ATF into the spark plug holes and crank it by hand to clean it up and lubricate the Apex seals.

2) New plugs, wires, cap, and rotor; but definitely the plugs (after the ATF treatment).

3) Make sure you have spark at all four plug wires and the two coil wires with a timing gun. Reset the timing.

4) COOLANT FLUSH IS A MUST!

5)OIL CHANGE and filter IS A MUST! non-synthetic only

6)Don't forget brake fluid, MTX fluid, diff. fluid and check the brake pads and rebalance the tires once it's running.

7)New gas plus add something the clean it up in thar.

8)The o rings probably aren't a bad idea. I haven't done mine yet, either, but I will soon.

Good luck!
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Old Apr 24, 2003 | 12:19 PM
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My car sat for TEN years out in the desert, and it runs fine, even with 160K on it. I had a LOT of fuel issues to deal with, eventually I had to replace the tank, and rebuild the carb. I also installed an RX4 fuel pump. I'd run some Amsoil "power foam" through the motor, and do a regular tune-up after replacing any stale fuel. I'm glad to hear that someone shares my views on carbing 6-port 13Bs. Remember that the Dell'orto and Holley kits were touted by Racing Bleat as a performance UPGRADE over the stock EFI setup, not to mention the utter simplicity once you get rid of all the electronic nonsense. Also, RB has recommended the use of synthetic oil for years, Amsoil in particular. Don't make me quote my 1985 RB catalog (again). -WG

edit: Again with the ATF? Where do you suppose the ATF ends up after being puked into the exhaust system? The stuff ain't MADE to burn, you know. If you've already started the motor, there should be no need to pre-lubricate the apex seals anyway.

Last edited by Wankelguy; Apr 24, 2003 at 12:23 PM.
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Old Apr 24, 2003 | 01:10 PM
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Originally posted by Directfreak
According to him, it's an 85 GSL. However, they swapped a 6-port SE engine into it. To keep it a simple swap, he carbed it.

Again, 13B's can live without EFI, and SE's can be converted to carbs.
Information like that is good to know.
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Old Apr 24, 2003 | 03:10 PM
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From: Pensacola FLA
well you dont even need to pull the carb to replace o-rings just remove all intake manifold bolts and pull off thats how i did mine it wasnt hard just had to hold it tight so the gasket sealant held good! go ahead and dain fuel and oil and change put in gas treatment in with gas mmo in the oil and the gas then change spark plugs wires and dist. cap! if it runs good and all then fine but if you have any more trouble go with the o-rings and carb rebuild!
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Old Apr 24, 2003 | 04:17 PM
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Man my first FB was an '85 GSL sat in a bean feild just out side of Windsor, Ontario, Canada for 2+ years, the bigest problem I had was mice!!

My mechanic was working on it to do the safty and fix the cluch. The thing would NOT start, turned out that the owner had drained the gas tank befor they parked it!! Put in enough gas and she started right Up!!!

F&$%n' mice made a nice mess, but that car is gone now sold it back to the origanal owner (different then the one I bought it from). But this was after my bought a mint conditon 1984 GSL. So don't let all this talk fo check this and that bring you down get it running and repair things in stride. I spent less then $100 CDN on the engin in 2 years
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Old Apr 29, 2003 | 07:24 PM
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Originally posted by thecause17
In an '84-'85 SE it is....lat time I looked under the hood of mine, I saw no carb. Sure, there were carbed 13B's, not in a GSL-SE though...

I see he said GSL 13B, so did he swap or what?
All I know is that it's a gsl-se with a 13b and that there is a webber carb which I dodn't take a pic of. Well we found a new problem, there's a crack where the hose screws into the oil cooler. We pulled an oil cooler of a 2nd gen but when we got it out we realized that the hoses connect differently to the oil cooler, so we're going to try to fix the current one.

Last edited by gscully; Apr 29, 2003 at 07:39 PM.
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