theman4444

Hey I'm posting for my friend and he just rebuilt his rotory and it's still smoking. He's only put 160 miles on the car and I told him that I heard you have to put around 400 miles on it before it will stop smoking.

I'm sure I heard this on this forum. Can someone tell me if this is right or what is the correct time it should stop smoking. It's not a lot of smoke but even a little smoke is disconcerting to a guy new to rebuilding.

Thanks.

FC or S13

What color is the smoke? (I ask cause I'm about to rebuild mine)

1987RX7guy

iTrader: (3)

Wankel7's TII has a lot of miles on it and it rarely smokes. I believe like 1500+ but it stopped smoking in the first 500 IIRC.

slpin

iTrader: (9)

erm
mine smoked for the fist 5 minutes....

1987RX7guy

iTrader: (3)

i'm hoping he means trace smoke not like plumes from initial startup.

jacobcartmill

iTrader: (6)

i hate when people ask the "WHAT COLOR IS IT!?" question... it all looks the same (oil, coolant), but oil smoke is just a little thicker.

it should not be smoking after a couple hours of running. how much is it smoking? the oil control rings could have been messed up, or if its coolant seal (which i'm sure you'd have figured out from the coolant temps or bubbling coolant) it may have been pinched during assembly.

but anyways, it sounds to me like a problem with the oil rings.

oblio

mine only smoked when it was full of vaseline from the rebuild, does the motor have compression?

theman4444

Motor has compression and it has good power. He didn't tell me what color the smoke was. Also this is a 12a with a med. amount of porting so he thinks he might just be running real rich and getting some smoke from having too big of jets in the carb. He did say that usually when it's idleing it's fine but when the rpm's increase so does the smoke.

He thinks that the smoke has decreased from the time he first started it, but that could be his imagination.

Thanks for the replies. What else do you guys think.

jacobcartmill

iTrader: (6)

step 1: figure out what kind of smoke it is

step 2: yes

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

[QUOTE=jacobcartmill]i hate when people ask the "WHAT COLOR IS IT!?" question... it all looks the same (oil, coolant), but oil smoke is just a little thicker.

I disagree 100%. Coolant smoke is very clearly white and has a sweet smell, while oil smoke is much darker, sometimes even black. There is a difference.

slpin

iTrader: (9)

he said it runs fine
chances are, he doesnt know how to put in oil control rings correctly
no biggie, dustin took about 3 rebuilds to get it right...

theman4444

Ok well I talked to my friend today and he said previously that the first time he put this engine back together he reused the old oil control rings because they looked good but then he ran it and it was smoking so he pull it out of the car and put in BRAND new oil control rings. This is where I asked you guys how long it took before it stopped smoking. He said he followed the FSM exactly when he was doing all this but then he put it back into his car and it still smoked. Don't know if it was any better than before but it still smoked. If the FSM is the wrong way to do it what is the right way?

He said the smoke is a grey color with what might be a hint of blue but he's not sure.

theman4444

What do you mean "yes."

RETed

It depends what you use as an "assembly lube"?
I use regular motor oil on assembly, and it usually stops smoking the first 30 minutes to an hour.
I tend to assemble motors on the tight side, so after the initial start-up, there is very little smoking that comes out the exhaust afterwards.


-Ted

theman4444

Dang, so what if my friends engine was a little "looser" than one of yours Reted. Will the seals still seal after time and finally stop the motor from smoking, or is this engine in need of some deep modification still?

I'm not quite sure what he used to lube it up but I'm sure he used whatever was appropriate.

HAILERS

It should have stopped smoking by now. Any residue oil in the exaust should have gotten hot enough to burn up by now.

The reference to the oil control rings might be understood if you look at the attached jpg.

I doubt if this is the problem, but make sure the rod for the oil pump isn't pulled up in the full up positon all the time. I tied one up all the way just to see what I could see, and after a couple of hours of running I had a small oil smoke out the exaust at idle.

Or make sure the oil injectors air nipple on top is not blocked off. If it was that would cause the oil injectors to suck a lot oil. I doubt thats the problem but look anyway.

The smoke shoulda stopped by now. How much is it smoking? Only at idle or a whisp while drivine or a trail while driving?

HAILERS

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It should have stopped smoking by now. Any residue oil in the exaust should have gotten hot enough to burn up by now.

The reference to the oil control rings might be understood if you look at the attached jpg.

I doubt if this is the problem, but make sure the rod for the oil pump isn't pulled up in the full up positon all the time. I tied one up all the way just to see what I could see, and after a couple of hours of running I had a small oil smoke out the exaust at idle.

Or make sure the oil injectors air nipple on top is not blocked off. If it was that would cause the oil injectors to suck a lot oil. I doubt thats the problem but look anyway.

The smoke shoulda stopped by now. How much is it smoking? Only at idle or a whisp while drivine or a trail while driving?