T2monster

Ok guys, check this out; i know i need a lower airpan, can't find one around here anywhere. I was riding down the onramp onto the local freeway and it was dark, moonless, and wet (just rained). I never saw the 18-wheeler retread chunk lying in the road, but i sure felt it as it scraped my front fascia, hit my oil cooler, and sliced my lower oil cooler line in half. I felt the sputter as all the oilpan contents emptied themselves into my engine compartment area. When this happened, i was under slight (1-2psi) boost and running 80 in 5th; i did a quick check of all my guages and found my oil press. guage pegged on 0 (!!!), so i popped the trans in neutral and begin to brake so hard for the side of the road that i started fishtailing. When i got the car on the dirt safely, i reached and shut the ignition off and coasted to a stop. I hopped out and confirmed my fear; the retread cut an oil cooler hose. Well, i got it towed home and checked the dipstick; nothing on it. I added a qt. of oil and set a/b having a local hyrdaulic shop build me some more, stronger lines. 3 days later, I replaced the lines (Sat morning) and went to crank the car. Well, it sort of cranked up after much spinning (i have a known BAC misadjust problem), and ran normally for 2-3sec, then fell off sharply even under throttle until it shut off. When i attempted to crank it back up, it acted flooded, so i did the unflood. I noticed some violent shaking from the motor while cranking (i now know it was from the 1 rotor trying its little heart out.) I stopped and removed the Lead plugs and cranked it over; 3 good pulses on the frt rotor and NO PULSES on the rear rotor. Could running out of oil and then idling for maybe 10-20sec possibly DO ALL THAT damage? I was just wondering guys and looking for feedback; i CAN order a j-spec engine, but i wanted to make sure i needed. Thanks guys

T2monster

Come on guys, i need to know if any similar oil pressure experiences have occured to anyone else. I'm pretty sure it's toast, probably b/c it lost all lubrication, but it seems to me if that were the case then both rotors would have died.

HAILERS

I had a oil line let go on a 82 a long time ago. About three blocks from the house. Just replaced the hose and all was well. I wouldn't have thought that the apex seals would have let go because of what happen to you. Seems to me the bearings would have gone south before that happen. But then again, if there is no compression on that rotor and you did not make some kind of mistake checking it for compression, then I'd say you need a new engine rebuild. Seems straight forward to me.

Six Rotors

iTrader: (17)

I lost the oil feed line to the oil cooler 3 years ago--first indication was screaming low oil level alarm,second indication was a 360 degree turn as I turned into my street.I went another 100yds to my house.After the oil line fix the car was fine and still is.Follow Hailer's advice.

Terrh

iTrader: (7)

I woulda killed the ignition instantly... you can still steer and brake without themotor running, it's just harder.
just make sure you don't turn the key too far, to the lock position, or you lose steering and are SCREWED!

HAILERS

The posts above make those steel braided big buck oil lines seem real cheap. What if the above happen 300 miles from home, like b/t SanAntonio and Corpus Christi. Or Corpus Christi and South Padre Island. Now that would be a real sad story. Share your woes with a prarie(sp) dog time.

Henrik

I blew an oil cooler hose, I was also at about 80mph but it was the top of 3rd on full boost. I noticed a HUGE smoke cloud behind me as I reached for 4th and before I could comprehend what it was the buzzer went off - shut down immediately and coast to the side of the road. Popped the hood - big mistake as it almost went up in flames. Luckily I was only a few miles from home so I had it towed home. Replaced the lines with MazdaTrix SS lines. I was worried about the motor and particularly turbo since it was at full boost, but both seem ok. Made a *#!&$ of a mess in the entire engine bay and the underside of the car from frame rail to rail, front to back - it took almost a week of driving before I didn't smell burning oil anymore. My oil consumption did go from 1qt every 2kmile to about 1qt every 1.5k mile tho so I'm sure there was some damage. Compression didn't change.

Lessons:
- don't run without the plastic underpan. It'll keep most road crap out of the engine bay
- if your lines look like they're leaking, change them. Mine always had a little bit of oil on them (never dripped tho) but the blowout put a 0.25" hole in the hose right through the braid.
- if your lines blow, shut down immediately and coast to a stop
- don't pop the hood. You run the risk of it going up in flames as the engine has 4qts of oil all over it and its just waiting for some fresh air to ignite. I now carry a fire extinguisher as well.

Henrik
87TII

RETed

You don't mention an estimate on how long it took you to pull over and kill the engine after you ran over the debris.&nbsp You were going at a pretty serious speed (80) when you encountered the debris, and it takes all of 2 seconds to dump all that oil out (60-70psi of pressure).&nbsp Anything longer than 10 second with the engine still running would've probably smoked the oil control o-rings.&nbsp Now, this is a "best" case scenario for a 0 compression rotor 0 - if there is such a thing.&nbsp The hard seals should be intact; I bet the oil control o-rings are all gone...



-Ted

T2monster

time b/w being popped into neutral and shut down was approx. 20 seconds, BUT sounded Perfectly healthy right before i shut her down. Now, i filled both rotors w/ trans fluid via leading plug holes; after this, i got 3pops out of the front (as before) and 1 pop out of the rear. !?!?!?! Compression regained from ATF trick (i know this is normal, but if apex seals,side seals, or oil control rings are bad, then normally this won't last long enough to crank up). I got it cranked and it idled at a VERY rough 750rpm, but maintained it by itself, and even revved smoothly (ALMOST as normal). This is extremely confusing to me, but i'm trying to determine what rebuild parts i will need (basic or housings/rotors); the J-spec will be ordered next week, but i'd like to rebuild this motor as backup. Thanx 4 the input.


'87 TII
on life support
awaiting heart transplant
will be back to kick
Honda A$$ soon

peejay

It's not unusual for a blown oil cooler line to cause rapid death of the rotor and E_shaft bearings.

Best of luck to you! If anything's fried the seals are probably OK but you'd need a new E-shaft and all new bearings. Assuming the rotor bearings didn't spin in the rotors, which would mean you'd need new rotors and therefore new rotor seals too...