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1300 miles - one rotor - thoughts?

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Old Dec 28, 2005 | 08:34 PM
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Talking 1300 miles - one rotor - thoughts?

So, I have this 86 base model with 185,000 miles on it. The rear rotor took a major dump (two apex seals gone).

It drives fine...aside from the massive power loss. Smokes like a train above 4000rpm. Wont hold idle but if you hold it at 1500 rpm she purrs.

The car is in central VA and I want to get her to Dallas. Anybody driven this far on one rotor? I would think doing the drive at night would be a good idea considering the smoke.

My other question is...can I just disconnect the rear injectors. Would the ECU not like the lack of resistance? Could I just wire a resistor across the wires to make it happy?

I understand this is going to tear up the rear rotor, housing, and iron. But at 185k I don't expect to find anything servicable in there.

James
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Old Dec 28, 2005 | 08:45 PM
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there are serveral threads from the past that cover this
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Old Dec 28, 2005 | 09:50 PM
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Wtf....where?

Last edited by Wankel7; Dec 28, 2005 at 09:53 PM.
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Old Dec 28, 2005 | 11:31 PM
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The ECU wont care if the injectors are disconnected.
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Old Dec 28, 2005 | 11:37 PM
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I have done it.

All of the damage to the engine is done right when the engine blows. I put about 1100mi on my last engine after it blew. That includes a 450mi road trip. No problems. When I opened the engine up, there was no more damage than a normal blown engine.

I got it up to 107mph on 1 rotor.

Last edited by White87FC; Dec 28, 2005 at 11:41 PM.
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 12:04 AM
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Excellent, that is what I want to here...

J-Rat - Thanks for the info... I'm prob gonna snip the rear injectors at teh ECU.

James
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 12:20 AM
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you can get a rotary to idle perfect at 1200 rpm on one rotor. I had to do it when mine blew. I only drove 1 hour to my house but it seemed to take for ever.

Adjust the timing, idle screw and the thermowax (cold start). OR adjust the secondary plates. It will idle nice and smooth at 1200rpm. I would suggest disconnecting the primary and secondary injectors. That way you dont flood your oil.
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 12:40 AM
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i just have to say this thread is awesome

my friend had a t2 with a blown motor... we drove around for.... i think around a month with it...

it was very hard to start though... we always kept it running when we got gas ahhhhh i loved getting weird looks when filling up with the car on

good luck with the roadtrip

-Dan.
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 12:53 AM
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Don't snip wires, unplug them from the injectors if you don't mind digging into it. I'll give the second "opinion," the computer doesn't give a damn if injectors are unplugged.

Driving on one rotor is fine, as long as you trust it to hold up to the trip. If it takes a dump, you're screwed. I personally would not go over a hundred miles on a single rotor, and that's in an emergency (i.e., I blew one rotor on the way home)
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 02:11 AM
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How hard to you have to step on the gas just to accelerate on that?
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 02:17 AM
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Alot...you also have to downshift to 4th for slight hills on the interstate.
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 06:25 AM
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haha i had to stay in 4th to maintain freeway speed lol... i could hit 100 though but 5th was just dead....

had to drive 50 miles on two seperate cars, actually blew two motors in near the same area....

good luck
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 09:49 AM
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Originally Posted by White87FC
I have done it.

All of the damage to the engine is done right when the engine blows. I put about 1100mi on my last engine after it blew. That includes a 450mi road trip. No problems. When I opened the engine up, there was no more damage than a normal blown engine.

I got it up to 107mph on 1 rotor.
thats impressive! i only got up to 65 on one rotor, but i did not want to push my luck.... just wanted to get home.
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 10:14 AM
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I wanna snip it at the ECU because I don't want to take the UIM off....its never been off and I don't want to mess with perfection...

I sort of have a back up plan if it takes a major dump. I have AAA plus (100 mile tow). I figure if it dumps on an insterstate AAA can take me to the nearest airport with airline service. I can fly for free on most airlines. So, I will just fly out and come back and fetch the car sometime with a truck.

How do you get a dead car on a tow dolly?

James
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 10:23 AM
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Originally Posted by Wankel7
I wanna snip it at the ECU because I don't want to take the UIM off....its never been off and I don't want to mess with perfection...

I sort of have a back up plan if it takes a major dump. I have AAA plus (100 mile tow). I figure if it dumps on an insterstate AAA can take me to the nearest airport with airline service. I can fly for free on most airlines. So, I will just fly out and come back and fetch the car sometime with a truck.

How do you get a dead car on a tow dolly?

James
human power
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 12:21 PM
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I drove with the windows up (for less drag) and the heater on (to help keep the one good rotor happy), I would also get the phone numbers of some towing companies along the route - just in case.
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 12:29 PM
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Originally Posted by projectredsuns
human power

In other words he's fucked if it completely blows up.
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 12:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Wankel7

How do you get a dead car on a tow dolly?

James

I use a ratcheting cargo strap. One side connected to the truck that is towing the dolly, and the other to the dead car. Works everytime.

Rat
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 01:18 PM
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Woot, good advice man! Thanks

Still not sure on doing this... I want to do a compression check on the front rotor first.

i figure if this thing will make it all the way to dallas it would save allot of hassle on towing it from VA.

James
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 01:41 PM
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fascinating !
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 01:47 PM
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it will be cheaper to tow it.

I've driven cars on 1 rotor, I drove my 10ae about 300km on one rotor once.

there is no real danger of i not working anymore, it should work just fine. I wouldn't bother with the ecu issue, it doesn't work anyways for reasons I won't get into here because I'm not totally sure myself - but I've disconnected the injectors at the injector and it was still horrible and spat fire every time I shifted.

Anways - it'll still only get 9-10mpg TOPS on the highway. It should work fine otherwise - if it has cats though they might start to melt and will be ruined by the end of the trip - even if you just run a car on 1 rotor with no load for 3-4 minutes look under the car and they'll be glowing white hot.

it really depends on how badly its blown though - my current motor in my 10ae is "blown" = makes funny noises, has 0 compression on the rear rotor and only 30psi on front - but it'll still go 150mph I'd bet. There's no power loss at all - just a funky exhaust note and strange whirring noise.

I'd probably cruise in 4th if I was you and I made the trip - and make sure it starts easily.
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 01:48 PM
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ill bet you get some good gas mileage on 2 injectors
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 01:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Wankel7
Woot, good advice man! Thanks

Still not sure on doing this... I want to do a compression check on the front rotor first.

i figure if this thing will make it all the way to dallas it would save allot of hassle on towing it from VA.

James
'
You will get twice the gas milage!
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 02:13 PM
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Originally Posted by Eriks85Rx7
'
You will get twice the gas milage!
ermm... no. You'll be at high RPMs (ie: using both injectors at nearly all times) just to keep moving/accellerating. There will be LOTS of additional drag on the engine, meaning (this is purely a guess) 35% power loss at the engine, that's before the 20ish % thats lost to the drivetrain (tranny/diff/tires/etc). So, basically, you're going to be forcing your one rotor to be running at full capacity all the time. You're going to get about 10-12 miles per gallon most likely.

That said, looks like you have a plan! It won't exactly be the fastest trip ever, or the most fun, but I'll bet she gets you there.

Last edited by WonkoTheSane; Dec 29, 2005 at 02:15 PM.
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Old Dec 29, 2005 | 02:15 PM
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oh well that sucks.
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