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is this a blown apex seal?

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Old 08-16-02, 08:19 PM
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is this a blown apex seal?

Hey guys... I never paid too much attention to *have I blown my engine* threads, but I wish I would have. I'm not too sure if I have blown an apex or not..


A couple nights ago I was racing my bud's Firebird Formula 350, and as soon as I had caught up to him (took me 4th gear) and passed him, I got to less than 120 and my tach just SAT at 6K. I look over at my boost gauge, and my needle is.. hm... fluttering? It looked like someone was shaking the gauge. It is an Apex'i boost gauge, high quality... Well, I let off because I figured, ****! Whats going on? He passed me, and that was that.

Everything was smooth after that, just like normal.

Today I was driving home on a 3 hour trip, and I had to slow down because someone was braking in front of me and turning, and as I started to accelerate, the car started running really shitty, and my boost gauge needle was shaking ALL over. Like in boost, it would jump around a difference of 2 psi back and forth regardless of how much throttle I got.

My idle is extremely lumpy; it sounds like a diesel now. I have a crappy compression tester, and I got 1 big jump and 2 small ones on the front rotor... I don't have anything to tighten it too much. When I pulled the plug, and had someone crank, I had one big whoosh and 2 smaller ones. The 2 smaller ones don't seem as bad as my friend's NA that blew... if I remember correctly.

So what do you guys think?

Thanks..
Old 08-16-02, 08:27 PM
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Sounds like a seal to me. 1 chamber good, 2 chambers bad with cracked seal between.
Old 08-16-02, 08:28 PM
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It sounds to me like an apex seal broke. If yor car has about half its power, thats it for it. Did you BPU? what mods do you have?
Old 08-16-02, 08:29 PM
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I'm just wondering though, if it is directly related to the pressure spazzing, why would it go away for a little while, then come back (bigtime)?
Old 08-16-02, 08:38 PM
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my mods are in the sig.

Wellllllll........ it doesn't seem like HALF power, but its lower. What do you mean by BPU?

Now I never put an FCD on because I didn't want to lean out, but I've been hitting fuel cut. Too much. I think that the seal probably weakened from that... I tried not to hit it, but too much boost. I was about to send my puter in to get reprogrammed.

I am wondering if my injectors are not up to par. When the engine comes out I'm going to send them in.

Yuck..
Old 08-16-02, 09:10 PM
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We still dont know your mods ( your sig isnt anywhere ij this thread ).
Old 08-16-02, 09:25 PM
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here, sorry, forgot to check the box :|
Old 08-16-02, 11:13 PM
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That'll do it. Sorry to hear about your engine.
Old 08-17-02, 03:02 AM
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If the engine idles fine you probably cracked an apex seal. Happened to me. Hit 15 psi merging on a parkway and then lost power. Boost guage was fluttering. I was lucky I just cracked it cause I got power back but if I pushed it I would experience the hesitation and the fluttering guage. When you blow your engine you'll know. Mine idles around 400 rpms. The needle bounces between 5 and 8 of vacuum. Its a horrible feeling when engine goes.
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