I just finished my first rebuild from the ground up. Some interesting notes:

I wanted to establish oil pressure before starting it so I gave it some cranks with the ecu (fuel) fuse pulled. I cranked 4 different times for about 6 seconds each, and my oil pressure guage didn't move. Confident in my work but slightly nervous, I checked my sending unit to see if it was faulty. It checked out so I just gave it another crank for the heck of it. Oil pressure rose along with my spirits.
Seems strange that it took so long to register pressure, I wonder if this is common in rotaries?

I finally decided it was time to throw the dice and see if she would start. I know rebuilt rotaries (especially with used housings) are notoriously hard to start. I planned on having a truck pull start me if it came to it. I grabbed the keys (with my rotary keychain for luck) and gave it a turn. It cranked for 3 rotor faces and then roared to life. I couldn't believe it. I started like it had been ran for years. The timing was a little off but there are no leaks and the idle was steady at first. After warming up, it bounced a bit at 700 rpm. Any ideas? I also swapped it from an auto to manual and I have read that not hooking up a neutral saftey switch can cause a bouncy idle.

Just wanted to share my good fortune and thanks for all the help over the last 8 months.

Brian

 

Not one to give advice, but one to give congrats.

Congratulations!

(^_^)2

 

sweet dude! my rebuild that i finished a few weeks ago needed a lot of priming before i got oil pressure. you have to remember the engine was completely dry. i kept my turbo oil feed line off until i saw oil coming through the line so my turbo wouldn't be started dry. i wish my engine fired as easily as yours, my engine took about 20-30 minutes of cranking and drying off the plugs until it fired. i have 325 miles now and it runs like a charm. good luck breaking it in,