The seals on my rotors don't have many miles, so I'm wondering if I can reuse them. All of them fall within specs according to the Haynes manual. Specifically, the apex seal hieght average is 0.291 inches and the width average is 0.071. The width is .001 under the specs in the Haynes manuel, but they are fiarly tight is the apex seal grooves (0.003 max feeler gauge). What do you think? Are they worth 50k miles or so? I know a lot of you will say to replace them no matter what, I'm just trying to figure whether the rest of the engine is in good enough shape to consider buying all new seals.

 

.291" is about 7.39mm, so that would be more than 1/2 life remaining in 'em, it's your call, just inspect them very carefully with a magnifier first...

 

hell, you're lucky to get 50k miles from a turbo rotary on new seals. but i'd say go for it.

 

if they are two piece I would use them, stock 3 piece - NOPE.

 

yeah, two piece

 

Why wouldn't you use them, Mr Gadget?

I hate the three piece seals too, but still, the wear rate on my n/a OEM seals was .0091mm per 1000 miles...I still had .3 mil to go on 'em when I rebuilt at 185,740; or, another 32,967 miles to go until FSM limits were reached, for a total of almost 220,000 miles...

At 7.39mm, that's another 1.39 mil of wear, or another 152,000 miles of life left on 'em (assuming hardness comparable to OEM)...

Yep, I was psycho enough to figure all of this out during the rebuild...

 

Wayne we read a bunch of eachothers stuff. I know by what i read, you properly maintain your ride. When giving advise I err on the side of caution as others just dont do so.. I have redone a fair amount of motors that others took short cuts on, namely reusing 3 piece seals with 1/2 life left.

they roll out a bit sooner than 2 piece and dont take as kind to a beating. Personally I dont believe in using 3 piece let alone reusing 50% ers when given better options. Of the last 50 motors I have done over half were NA's with 3 piece seals that have rolled out.

I have a rotor soaking right now that has blown due to detonation. As I review how the seal came out I can only speculate that a 2 piece would have survived. this particular one took out a rotor, housing and put one hell of a gouge in the intermediate. Its FUBAR!

 

I feel you, but he said two-piece...

Actually, I was getting worried about mine at about the 175K mark, that's why I rebuilt her before she even got close to "rolling" them out (I like that terminology!)

 

Well, my housings and intermediates aren't in the best of shape either, but they are within specs. I guess I can look at it two ways: Either put in all new seals and get the most I possibly can out of the housings, or just throw the matching seals in and see how far I can go. I do have a daily driver, so I wouldn't be driving the 7 all the time. Maybe it would last 3 or 4 years. I have to figure what is economically feasible in an already beat car.

 

is the 200.00 for a new set an unsurmountable amount. If I were you i would put new ones in, hell it already apart. you should then be golden for a long long time.

 

200? Wow, where do you get your seals? Cheapest price I found so far for six was 350 (plus corner and side seals).

 

http://rotaryaviation.com/2_mm_apex_seals.htm

 

I know where Mr Gadget is coming from, he's obviously in the business of building engines that last, and doing whatever is necessary to make them the best they can be...And like he said, likes to err on the side of caution...

That being said, I'm going to say again what I said above- It's your call...You've been given all the information you need to proceed with YOUR decision, we can't make it for you...Unless the housings are shot, if you're giving us good measurement info on your seals, they should last a while yet...How long? Who knows...Not as long as new seals would last, obviously...I know the vast majority of 2nd gen rx owners aren't walking around with $200 (or $350) to spend, and I've taken that into consideration with my answers and suggestions. It's up to you to take the knowledge given here and put it to use...

 

well said!

 

damn, I didn't know about those after market seals! I will definitely buy those seals. Most of the after market seals I saw were still pretty expensive, but those are really down there. They sound pretty durable, according to the website any way. I thank both of you for your help.