First off im not a noob building engines have built over 20 engines but never had this problem. I just got done building a turbo II block for my first gen and after i started it and started pouring coolant it turned off and wouldnt turn over. After taking the spark plugs out the rear rotor shot out coolant when i turned it over. i took it apart and checked everything and it still did the same thing. when i was putting it back together i did notice that the inner jacket seal on the back looked like it was almost flush with the iron. What my question is is there anyway that the water jacket seals could have been too small, the only area that seemed almost flush was close to the intake runner

 

Post a picture.

 

did you check for failure or fatigue in the irons around the o-ring grooves? its common to see them failed on s4 irons.

 

Engine is in the car right now im going to take it out this week.

 

I did the irons seemed fine the groves werent broken or thin when i took it apart after it locked up, has anybody had problems with seals being too small

 

you have a bad plate

 

Sounds like a warped iron. Check them out with a straight edge and feeler as per FSM.

 

Did you inspect the irons and housings before assembly?Follow the FSM.. Also need to make sure the water seal grooves are not damaged. Another possibility is a water seal pinched during assembly. For sure it sounds like it isnt holding water pressure, if you want to double check you can borrow a coolant pressure tester at autozone..

 

tape one side of the rotor housings and fill the other with water around the spark plugs and exhaust port to check and see if you have electrolysis mice eating away at your engine.

 

I installed the seals right they just seemed to be thinner on the intake area warped irons would have nothing to do with the depth of the groves i think it might be bad seals