Just what the title says. I'm getting very irritated at my rebuild because it is just running very crapy like no power. The sound is kind of like a low grogaling noise, when I get up into the rpms like 3k or 3.5k I start getting this wierd slight and rappid hessitation (not at secondary cut on) that makes my boost needle gitter. Up until this point my boost gauge needle has always been very steady and just showed me what my vacuum and boost was however now it starts this wierd gitter really fast when I get this hissitation. Anyways also my freakin' secondaries aren't cutting on either again! I have such bad luck with these damn rotaries. Anyways if you experianced rebuilders could let me know how a normal rebuild runs with only like 40 or 50 miles on it feels when driving please let me know because maybe I'm just freakin' for nothing.

 

so your vacume needle is bouncing back and forth really fast??? this sounds like it could be a compression issue.... doesnt sound good! compression test it! i fear it sounds like a seal might of not been installed properly.....

at least a compression test would help rule out if its the motor or not!

 

did you make sure that you're timing was dead on? it may not have anything to do with your issue but you never know...

 

I second Kompressorlogic, the 'low gurgling' noise (or however you describe it) would cause me to have doubts... The sound of a motor can tell you a lot.

The initial weakness of a fresh rebuild will typically go away after the first (long) idle session. It should be drivable, with significant advances in smoothness and power as you near/eclipse 50 miles... Actually, at that point there really shouldn't be many issues (aside from hot-starts on used housings).

What do you have the idle set at?

What 'vac' pressure are you seeing at 'this' idle?

How steady is the idle?

Just grit your teeth and give the motor a compression test... Anything in the 70psi range (all around), or significant differences in the #'s would lead me to the conclusion of a 'rebuild error' or something of the sort.

 

i would run a compression test for reference though i would start by double checking the timing and also be sure it is advancing. be sure the MAF is also plugged in. (sorry Rich ) Been there done that.

what kind of apex seals were used?


my rebuilds seem to run fairly well after initial 30 minute idle, only lacking a tiny bit of power and a slightly lumpy idle. (if the car did not originally have electrical issues prior)

 

Sounds like you have it out of time or some other control system/instllation issue. An engine block is just a big air pump, it compresses air, and holds oil and coolant. As long as it is doing those 3 things then it is doing what it should. The characteristics of HOW it runs are almost entirely dependent on the stuff you bolt onto the outside of it.

The only time I really notice a weakness of a fresh rebuild is when I go to pull out from a deal stop...it will tend to bog ever so slightly, more than it normally would. Whereas a healthy, strong compression engine might pull a hill in 1st gear at 1200rpm, a fresh rebuild being driven for the first time might require more clutch slippage and throttle to hold 1600rpm going up that same hill. ON a flat stretch there should be no noticeable difference. Of course startup and idle suffer a fair amount until breakin at least partially done.

 

thanks for the reply's guys. I'll do the compression check tomorrow to see how the compression is. Maybe I did put a seal in wrong but really I watched the atkins rebuild video over and over and over and over again and after I watched it I watched it again and again, lol if that tells you anything. Basically I did it exactly as they said but that doesn't mean anything I guess. I have the car ideling at 1500 right now but I've had it idle as low as 1000rpm and it was fine however this was when it was totaly warmed up. Also if I had very bad compression wouldn't it be almost impossible to start? Anyways I get that same exact thing your talking about kevin with the car going up hills (bridges) losing power so I will have to down shift and also when I take off I have to do a bit more clutch / gas pedle work to get it going.

 

well I just went outside and did the poor mans test and man I've never heard my engine sound so good when I did that. Very loud and distinct ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch like compression on a new motor should sound. They all sounded exactly the same as well. Anyone have any guesses to what my problem could be? The spark plugs I have are from before the rebuild and had about 50-100 miles on them. should I get new plugs?

 

poor man's only tells you if you have seals missing...we already knew you didn't. To get an idea of the health of the engine and status of breakin we need accurate numbers.

 

Like Kevin said, a motor can produce 'healthy' sounding puffs with as little as 30psi. Which as we all know, sucks.

 

thanks kevin and evil, damnit ya'll are right, I need a compression tester. I'll get back to yall. Right now I'm looking at the coils and my trailing coils, if your looking directly at them, have t1 in the back and t2 in the front. Is this correct?

 

uh...dude...they're marked. 1 is front rotor 2 is rear. The coil is marked t2 and t1. Reversed trailings will cause hard starting, poor idle and poor response because the engine is working against itself.

 

the plastic covers that said t1 and t2 where on backwards so I put them on the way the plastic said but they where backwards, lol. I'm going in a few seconds to try to start it and run it.

 

I still want to know how they ended up backwards....

(Or is that one of those special island mods that only they know about and gives you 50+hp?)

 

haha yep just like the port job they do that makes it sound like a bridge port but it really sucks *****. puerto rican ricers, gotta love em'

 

That was funny Ben when you forgot the MAF. It sounded like it had a big cam in it (if it had one).

 

on the trailing coil, standing at the drivers wheel, the left terminal is t2 and the right terminal is t2.

 

they have two t2's??? mine only has one, damn my car must be fucked up

 

lol, that didn't make Landers look to good!

 

oh yeah tip to everyone, don't put your spark plug wires on backwards it drives 100% better besides the secondaries not comming online.

 

how could you put the spark plugs in backwards... theres only one way you could put it in ;-) or do you mean not to mix up the trailing and leading

 

No, he meant the spark plug wires, and he mixed up the T1 & T2, so you're wrong again!

 

what are yall talking about I never said that

 

well, ****...bad time to make a typo.

standing by the drivers wheel, the front terminal is t*1* and the rear terminal is t*2*. Same for rotorhousings...front is 1, rear is 2.

 

lol, don't worry man I knew exactly what you where talkin' about. Thanks for the input! I just drove it an man is it a night and day differance. So how bad was that for my engine in the long run or short run?