Schmitty

iTrader: (11)

Picked up my first Rx-7 yesterday with a blown engine... When I was cranking over by hand I only heard one puff of air come out through the spark plug holes per revolution... had nothing to lose so I tried the ATF trick ('cept I used MMO) and she started up after about 30 sec of cranking... and now she starts after about 2-3 sec of cranking... I haven't checked the compression yet, because we have an old one where I can't take the valve off to see all the blips from the rotary... When doing the MMO trick I only left it in the engine for about 20 min(I'm impatient.. what can I say?) so I will probably have to run water through it later to clean some more carbon out... If the engine lasts that long. I put alot of MMO in so I got alot of smoke comming out... probably smoked for 1/2 hour (I couldn't drive it, Barn hasn't been plowed out yet and its not registered(but that wasnt the thing stopping me) So I idled it for probably an 1 - 2 hours (since it hadn't been run in 9 months) took it up to near redline 2x (I was concerned that I was going to blow it up). So now I have a few questions...

1) How long do engines revived with ATF/MMO tend to last before a rebuild is required?

2) Will and engine with a blown apex seal run? How will it sound/ idle?

3) What should a properly running engine sound like? (My grandfather, my uncle, and I had never heard a rotary up-close and personal before I started mine... so we have nothing to base weather or not my engine is ok.)

4) What happens If I mix up the plug wires between the 2 rotors? I dont think I mixed them up... but my uncle asked me that question.

5) Whats the deal with the wipers only working on one speed... Never mind I'll just search...

Thanks (To the forum/ppl) for all the info on the ATF trick... You guys(and girls) on this forum may have bought me some time on my rebuild so that I can make my FC look good again...

-Rob

Skiles2070

I have heard of the people that used the ATF trick and some times they can go a while without a rebuild, but then I have heard that some that couldn't even drive it until they got it done. it just depends I guess on the stability of your engien. a normal rotory engien sounds about the same as any other, its supposed to be the smoothest turning engien. and bad relays are your wiper problem... as for the apex seal, i have no idea... I am kinda new to this type of motor as well

good luck with you future rebuild

Schmitty

iTrader: (11)

Mine seems to shake alot, but then the idle isn't stable either... its somewhere between 750 and 500 and going up and down... I've read that changing the oil can stabilize the idle, I just didn't get time to do that today... Maybe a broken motor/tranny mount?... It really doesnt matter if the engine is broken but running becasue I was planning on a rebuild anyway... so the fact that it runs now is a bonus.

Edit: What can anyone tell me about the body differences between the s4 and s5? I know there is a trim difference and the front bumper and taillights are different... but what about the rocker panels? Can s4 fenders go on an s5 if I swap the trim?

Icemark

1. ATF or MMO treatment should only be used as a last ditch effort to free a stuck seal. It is not some trick to magically repair a motor. In many many cases it accellerates the failure of a rotary engine. The motor was probably flooded if doing that solved the problem of not starting.
2. it will run very very rough and be low on power
3. simular to many high performace v6 engines- minus any valve taping
4. leading plug wires don't matter. Trailing could blow a seal.
5. Bad wiper switch relay. Needs to be replaced. I do that, or sell you an already rebuilt one, or can sell you the parts if you want to try it yourself and you have soldering/unsodlering skills. Check out my website for info.

Schmitty

iTrader: (11)

Are you talking it will run rough at idle or run rough all the way through the rpms? Right now it idles rough but once you give it gas and bring it above 1000rpm it smooths out... I'm not sure how it is on power because I havent driven it farther than 300ft.

Schmitty

iTrader: (11)

Instead of starting a new thread I have a few other newbie/dumb questions... How can I tell a GTU from a GLX?... its says GLX on one fender... but how can I be sure? and then I'm still wondering about the running rough deal in the last post... Haven't had the tools or the time to check the compression yet, but when I get them, does it matter which set of plugs I use...leading or trailing?