Mindspin311

As you may or may not know, I somehow switched a coolant and vac line while installing new secodarys, therefore sucking coolant into the engine. I got the coolant pushed out within a few hours of it happening. I basically did the unflooding procedure but it wouldnt start due to bad plugs. So I put some oil in the housings and cranked it over to get everything coated so nothing would rust overnight.

I finally got it started yesterday, with a lot so smoke and what not. The video can be seen in a separate thread.

Here are my concerns. First is idle, right now when the car is first started it more than likely dies right after it starts but once it is re started it holds a decent idle. As the car is driven more, the better the idle gets towards the 750rpm ideal idle. Vacuum seems good, at idle it is between 15 and 20 psi. Second, the car still smokes, as of now I cant tell due to the wind and bad weather but Im sure it is oil. Is there a possibility that something within the housings could have been damaged which would lead to burning oil? The car did burn some when I first got it but we believe that is due to the turbo receving too much oil pressure.

I really need some help with this guys, the engine is nearly new with only about 20k miles on a reman from Mazda. Any insight to my problems would be greatly appreciated. Please help the new guy out.


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BLKTOPTRVL

I would worry that the bearings are now not getting good lube.

Mindspin311

Would you like to go into some more detail please?

WAYNE88N/A

You either injected a bit too much oil into the rotor housings, and "pushed" a quantity of it past the side seals (where it might take a while to burn it all out if the rotor oil seals are good)...

-or-

Somehow the "coolant injection" you did has damaged the oil rings and/or seals.

If she seems to be getting better, keep running her, treat the next week as a "break-in " period, and take it from there...

If the exhaust gets worse, then you can start worrying

Mindspin311

So it will take more than a few hours of driving to work everything out of the vac lines and engine?

WAYNE88N/A

Depends on how much you drowned everything. If after a fairly long drive (10 miles) she seems to be getting better, then you're probably good...If she still smokes after that, and it's just as much or more than it was, you may have problems. But you already knew that

Be sure to check the oil dipstick for any signs of water...

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Antifreeze is sticky, it may take a bit of driving to pull all of it out. I would also be changing the oil and filter, just in case some of the antifreeze got past the oil rings.

Mindspin311

Damn, I just got the oil changed Friday too.

So what is the likelyhood that something major has happened???

Would putting some sea foam through the vac lines help at all???

ilike2eatricers

I dont think you should put anything else through the vac lines. Why dont you just change the oil and do a coolant flush with some prestone super flush and the prestone coolant flush kit. Easy to do and you should do it anyways since your coolant and oil are probably contaminated right now most likely.

Mindspin311

I probably will, but will that clear up any of my problems that I have. My main concern is damage to seals and rings. The coolant was only in the engine for at most 3 hours before I pulled the plugs to shoot it all out.

ilike2eatricers

Well there is a chance than seals have been damaged. Water does not compress very well. I'm not saying something definately happened to any of the seals but dont discount it.

Mindspin311

How can I tell if there is damage?

ilike2eatricers

I'm no expert at engine building so I dont know. I suppose you could try the coolant seal geyser test and there is a test to check the oils seal by revving to 6k for a few seconds and then letting off to see if blue smoke comes out. I dont think the oil seal test can be used since your car is still smoking like crazy. These tests are not totally definitive in diagnosing problems.

Mindspin311

Ok

It is smoking, but not nearly as much as when it first started up again. Ill just have to take it out on a few good drives to see if it clears out. I gotta get these emissions plates on to remove half of these damn vac lines.

BLKTOPTRVL

A lot of years ago, I read that the antifreeze will wipe the oil from the bearings, and that it may leave a coating that helps prevent oil from doing it's job in the future.

I myself, I am not an engineer and don't have any real builing experience, so I cannot say if this is a fact or not... I would just reserch it before going to far.

I did a little checking around...

http://groups.msn.com/ChevroletNova/...07131900831478

A good set of bearings can be wiped out if antifreeze finds its way into the crankcase. Coolant is a lousy bearing lubricant, and it doesn’t take much contamination to cause problems. If the oil shows signs of coolant contamination, pressure test the cooling system for internal leaks. A leaky head gasket, cracked block or head may be allowing coolant to mix with the oil.

and

http://remanufactured.com/Engine_Noi...gnosis_101.htm

Old Wives Tale number 53.
The engine has a problem so the head is replaced to correct the problem.

Immediately afterward the engine starts knocking or ticking.

The misdiagnosis is that the valve job gave the engine too much power making the weak bottom end fail.

What probably really happened is that mechanics all around the world burp the heads and timing covers off without draining the coolant from the engine first. The coolant spills into the bottom end of the engine. Even one oil change may not get all of the spilled glycol antifreeze out.

When you mix the smallest amount of antifreeze and water with motor oil you end up with a low grade acid that attacks the bearings. When you autopsy the engine you will find that the bearings are darkened and with time the bearing surface becomes rough.

That's why it developed a bearing knock immediately after the heads were done...

1SxyRXy

do a compression check

Mr rx-7 tt

iTrader: (5)

Change the oil and change the plugs, then drive the car it should be fine. Many cars, especially the 3rd gens after many miles leak coolant into the combustion chamber (engine water seals fail causing leak). Sometimes the cars are driven for a LONG time before the engine is rebuilt.

1SxyRXy

do a compression check

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (8)

Man, you guys are paranoid. A little antifreeze in the engine isn't going to tear it all to hell, provided it wasn't run or pushed hard that way. Even if enough was present to get into the oil system, which is very possible, it'd take quite a bit of antifreeze to dilute the oil down to the point that it stops protecting and lubing. I say change the oil and filter now, change the plugs, and go from there. Perhaps you have a vacuum leak somewhere that's causing your idle issues.

The smoke could be from the (potentially) thinned out oil now being burned off. Also when contaminants get into and inside the exhaust tract, it takes a while to burn out, especially if you have cats in place.

Mindspin311

How confident are you about this? I dont plan on driving the car for the rest of the week until the weather gets better. So when it does I will go change the oil and filter.

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Well, Kevin isn't working on the car, he's just projecting his thoughts from the many years of experience. I say as everyone else, change the oil/filter, and drive the car. You'll find out whether the problem exists after a period of time. The reason they say, and I stated on an earlier thread, as to getting a compression test, is to find the actual condition of the motor, as you seem to have had many problems with the smoke before this fiasco. At least you'll know the general condition and start from there.
Actually this should have been done before you purchased the car to give you a starting point.
Just my thoughts.

Mindspin311

Alright I guess Ill get the oil changed and go from there. I am waiting on a new oil line from BNR which we think is the cause of the smoking before all of this happened.

RotaryResurrection

iTrader: (8)

Yeah, I'd do the oilchange now. After that it's out of your hands anyway.

xtremeskier97

What do you mean "get the oil changed"?? You dont change it yourself?!!?

Mindspin311

I didnt mean it like that, yes I can change my own oil.