alright so i decided to pull out my motor and rebuild it in school today...everything was fine and i was happy how everything was going till i go to drain the oil and its a light brown color (like a watery mud). my question is, is that a coolent seal or something more serious?

 

Could be a couple of things, but water in the oil is never a good thing. If it is just sludge, you may have been using the wrong oil or a poor quality oil.

If you have not pulled it apart yes, a compression check would be in order as well as I would check for a blown coolant seal.

And your bump has been deleted; bumps are not allowed here in the 2nd gen technical section and a bump after only 20 minutes shows some immaturity on your part.

 

What are you worried about if you're going to rebuild the engine anyway? You are going to be replacing all the seals and checking the housings for problems during the rebuild process. So you've got dirty, discolored, used oil.

 

oh, no i wasnt worried. this is just my first time rebuilding a rotary. i was just basically asking what to look for.

 

When i was your age, I drained 14 qts. of that crud out of a 57 Chevy 283. Did I know the motor was blown, of course, did i know why, not until I tore it down farther and found 2 cracks in the block that went nearly front to back, under the intake manifold.

Get busy and look. Since you probably have coolant in your oil, pay close attention to the coolant o-ring grooves, checking for cracks, and corrosion that has eaten through the housings. Also mic the housings and check the irons for flatness. Follow the FSM, you should be fine. A successful rebuild is paying attention to all of the little details.