I purchased a 79 in July and have been slowly restoring it since. WIth a little work, the engine finally got running. However, verytime you start it, it smokes A TON. The longer it goes without running, the more it smokes. Is it time for a rebuild, and what parts do I need to do it? I saw a complete rebuild kit at atkins rotary, one at racing beat, and one in the victoria british magazine. Whats the difference and which ones do you reccomend (if any)? Thanks

 

I was wondering the same thing. I did find something interesting while "searching". Someone claims that a rotary that smokes like that (assuming its burning oil) is a good engine to rebuild. The logic was the oil seals are bad, letting oil seep into the combustion chamber when sitting, hence the amount of smoke at startup, but keeps all the other seals and friction points from wearing out in the process due to all the oil. I think the trade off would be all the carbon to clean off.

 

Does the engine stop smoking after it warms up? If so, this is relatively normal for these engines in cold weather (and sometimes even in hot). If it goes away, I wouldn't worry about it too much. If it doesn't, it might be time to start thinking about a rebuild. Hope that helps.

 

Well it depends. What kind of smoke, how long does it smoke?
White= coolant, thats bad
Blue= oil, usually not too bad
Black= fuel, over rich mixture, not an internal engine problem

 

Pull your spark plugs and inspect them. Are they all oil-fouled? Are the ones in one rotor but not the other oil fouled? If either, it's time for a rebuild.

These engines do produce a whitish-grey smoke for the first minute or so after start-up, especially on cold or damp days.

But if it's a classic blue haze that hangs in the air and doesn't go away after 5 minutes your oil seals are toast and require a teardown to replace. If it's a huge white cloud that doesn't go away, and you notice a sweet smell and coolant that has to be topped up often your coolant seals are leaking coolant into the combustion chambers. This also means a rebuild is necessary.

 

Its a white smoke, and yes, it does go away after a few minutes. But its not just a puff, its continuous smoke for about three minutes. Is there any way to fix it other than a rebuild because other than that, it runs just about perfect.

 

by the way, it looks like the smoke coming from rx7 on my avatar (except its coming from the engine, not the tires)

 

If it goes away completely, your coolent levels don't drop and your spark plugs haven't been polished inside to a high white shine by burning coolant (the business end of the plugs is supposed to be tan or grey) you're engine is ok.

Just for the peace of mind I'd pull the spark plugs and confirm that they're dry and tan in color, or even a medium grey color is ok.

 

The best time to re-build is hopefully before it blows an apex seal. No joke though if in doubt and you have the cash, go ahead and do it. The motor is 20 years old. Wish I would have done mine last year when I had the extra cash. Now I just have to wait.

 

what about the rebuld kits? Are there any good ones that any of you recomend?