alritzer

Something happened to the engine that we just rebuilt about 100 miles ago.

Can we re-use the oil seals? They look like new.

We did not find anything that jumped out at us.

But, one of the water seals did look like it partially feel apart and one of the oil control rings wasn't pressed into the rotor.
Wouldn't the oil control ring be pressed into place by tightening down the tension bolts?

thanks guys
ash

alritzer

No suggestions. I'd like to order some parts and try to get this thing out of the garage.

drifting in drifting

iTrader: (11)

First off what happened that made you take it out?

alritzer

It overheated. I just went for a short ride, maybe 30 minutes. I remember checking the temp gauge and it looked OK but shortly afterwards I noticed steam coming from under the hood. I drove it a few more minutes until I found a church parking lot to pull into. When I opened the hood steam was coming from around the radiator cap. A couple of guys pulled in and helped me put get some water from the church.
After that, smoke would come from the tail pipe for about 10-15 minutes after first starting it. My dad drained the oil and found water in the oil.

rx7_FREAKKK

iTrader: (1)

On a new engine always check hoses make sure they are tight. and do a shake down test in the driveway Intill warm. and make sure all systems are running right. Because i forgot to tighten a few things down myself. so i always make sure things are good to go. Because you never know. Maybe a heater hose came loose. and the water came out? The water came out fast where ever it came out at. So something gave way.

I dont know what parts can or cant be used after it overheats like that. because now they could be warped. and not be usable. You would have to have them all checked with a micrometer or something to that effect. But On a new Engine i would not let anyone drive it Untill I did a shake down test.

I overly look at my gauges. I mean My eyes are on my gauges when not on the road. because these cars get old. and they just need more attention. Depending how much use it has got. Just hope all those parts are old parts and not brand new housings and irons, That could get spendy. If they were used housings and irons. Then at least the cost should not be to high. I rebuilt my engine for around 550. Oil in water means Bad **** has gone on in that engine, They are not like piston engines. When a rotary overheats its all over. They just cant overheat

alritzer

This was not the first time it had run. It sat in the garage for a couple of hours without any leaks. Evidently, setting in garage didn't allow the engine to get hot enough to put pressure on the rad cap. The only place I could see water coming from was the cap. I checked the cap afterwards and it opened at 10 psi.

rx7_FREAKKK

iTrader: (1)

Do you have an electric fan? or stock fan clutch system?

arghx

iTrader: (3)

So have you pulled the engine apart and inspected everything? What do the water seal o-ring grooves look like?

alritzer

The water seal grooves are in good shape. All intact, no cracks and they don't look warped.
We used a straight edge and a feeler gauge to check for warping of the irons. They appear flat. A couple of guys visible checked for cracks in the irons and did not find any.

alritzer

After we first rebuilt the engine we left the stock fan on, but the stock fan did not keep the engine cool enough because of the front mounted intercooler blocking the radiator too much. So, we switched to a high capacity electric fan. The electric fan is setup to run anytime the key is on.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

check for pitting in the coolant channels, especially around the spark plugs and around the exhaust ports.

if they are OEM oil seal o-rings, pitch them and buy a new set. if they are vitons, they can be reused.

airman90

iTrader: (2)

I know this doesnt have anything to do with your thread but i was just wondering how long did it take you to rebuild the engine and have the car running? im about to do mine but is my daily driver
thank you

Rotank

iTrader: (2)

This is one of those things its based on experience. A person that never pulled an engine before, let alone the one in that specific car might take 12 hours to pull it.

A person that knows how to pull an engine might take em 3-4, a person that knows how to pull a 13b out of an FC might get it done in 2, or less with a helper.

I can't say how many hours you would need to rebuild a 13b. Most 4 cylinders I've done took about 10-12 hours with dissassemble, cleaning, blasting, machining, hot-dip, final cleaning, and assembly. Add about 3 hours if you need to disassemble and clean the head to be rebuilt.

That said, these things have a lot less moving parts. But you still need to do a lot of cleaning.

Poker Player

Oh man! The cleaning parts Suck! That takes a lot of time if you do it right and scrub, scrape, and pick the crap off that is stubborn! Wait until you get to those stinkin apex seals? Putting those in "correctly" takes a lot of time! I don't have a garage, so I rebuilt my engine in a spare room that I call, "the garage." But I did it all by myself and with the advise of people on this website... Have fun!!!

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

considering his is already rebuilt, a bit less in cleaning.

i have done a removal of a stock TII, teardown, reassembly and have the car back running rather casually through a saturday + sunday weekend working only those 2 days. probably a bit longer for most people, but that was many years ago before i even knew it all.

airman90

iTrader: (2)

wow i guess im going to need 3 or 4 days since this is my first rebuild

alritzer

I can remove the engine from the 7 ine one day. Another day to disassemble the engine. Then I have to order the needed parts. I can get the engine parts cleaned and ready to reassemble while waiting for parts. I can probably put the engine back together in two days. One more day to put it back in the 7.
Of course, you can probably do it faster. But don't get in a hurry.
.

SpeedOfLife

iTrader: (16)

The oil control rings ought to be set fairly snug into the rotor before ever even assembling. Drawing the block together with the tension bolts will seat them even tighter, but I don't think they should be loose on tear down.

Any thoughts on that, Karack? I've just built one motor (though it's been a pretty good success).

rx7_FREAKKK

iTrader: (1)

Dont be in a hurry. I pulled my engine rebuilt it and put it back in alone. I didnt have help. it really does not take long. keep at it.. it will get done. You dont want to be in a hurry, trust me

alritzer

This is my 4th rebuild and I really don't remember the oil seals being loose upon tear down on the first three. You have to usually pop them out with a crew driver.

My Dad says that he remembers having a tough time getting one of the viton rings to seat and he can't remember if he ever did or if something else required his attention and it was just buttoned up like that.
Still, it seems like the tension bolts would finish pressing the ring into place.
IDK

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

the OEM inners become loose after as low as an hour of run time and basically fall out of the rotor when you disassemble it. the tolerances for that seal were a bit too lax from the start if you ask me.

i'd guess that the seal would press into the groove during assemble but also likely pinch it if it wasn't pressed in prior to assembly. it would have smoked a lot more than in the videos if it lost an oil seal internally.

alritzer

OK, thanks. I do have the viton seals.

I think I found another problem. There is a crack in the front housing, down in the intake port. It looks as if somebody ground out too much when they were doing the street port and then tried to patch it with something. But, whatever they used to patch it did not hold and the patch lifted off on one side.
But, that would still not account for the water in the oil or the smoke I guess.
What would that crack cause? Sucking extra air into the engine?

ash

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

take a picture of the porting and crack.

it wouldn't account for water in the oil but it would certainly account for water in the engine, thick smoke, running like crap when attempting to start, hard starting, overheating, etc.

alritzer

It ran really good immediately after being rebuilt. I'm not even sure when it started smoking and running like crap, maybe after being overheated, but maybe before that.

Here are the pics of the front intake port showing the crack.

ash

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

can't really tell in those pics if that is a casting line or like you said, a repaired crack.

that porting though is hideous, some people simply should not be porting parts.