Bambam7

Well.... I've lost another engine... I'm blaming it on bad tuning. Losing compression in the front rotor.
The car still runs and drives fine, but the idle is a little rough, and it takes a few cranks to start up.

I don't have the time or money to invest in this car, and I'm moving down south for a while too.. so I just don't need it anymore.

What should I do??????
Shoudl I sell the car right now, as is on Ebay?? I think I should be able to get 1500-2000 US for it, because I'm selling with everything in it, (S-AFC, stereo, all that) and it's in perfect shape (you will never see a nicer interior on a 1990!!) except for a dent in the fender that needs to be pulled an painted.

I don't have the money to pay my mechanic another 1000 bucks to rebuild the thing... but I have another option.
I can rebuild it myself, just replaicng the front apex seal.
Here's the thing- the damn engine was just fully rebuilt 2000 km's ago- so can I use all the same seals and gaskets? I shouldn't need to have anything lapped or machined, that was all done very little km's ago.
This way I can sell it for more like 4-5000.


How many hours (once the engine is out) would it take to change a front apex seal???? Can I use all the same seals and gaskets?? If not, how much would the parts cost me??

What to do....

n4ji

iTrader: (1)

I personally would keep it and rebuild it myself. You'll gain a lot of knowledge of the rotary, and it'll also provide a hobby for those long, boring days!

rx-7s rock

I say keep it, but I hear the lack of time problem. Definitely get more money from the car if the engine is rebuilt with low miles.

Rotary Racer

I am not sure of your mechanical abilities or how quick you are. For what I like to call the “bulk labor” I would give your self a min of a day (8 hours) to pull the motor, and a min of a day (8 hours) to put it back in.

Now, on the actual motor. I would give your self about an hour to two to carefully pull all the accessories (intakes, hoses, etc.) off and label everything. Take another two to carefully pull the motor apart and lay every thing out in order and organize so that things don’t get lost. From here you got some boring, smelly, labor-intensive tasks on your hands. I will probably take you the good part of a whole day (if not more) to clean up all the engine parts. This is done so you can take the appropriate measurements/tolerances to be compared to the OE #’s on the FSM.

Lets say all your hard parts (housings, rotors, etc.) and your soft parts (seals, springs, etc.) are good shape and all you need to do is replace that apex seal and a few other disposable soft parts. It should take you roughly 1-2 hours to prep and 1-1.5 hours to re-sandwich the motor back together.

For the most part, putting things back together and re-installing the motor takes a lot longer. This is usually caused by being more careful, cleaning up parts that were once dirty (who wants a dirty engine that was just repaired, yuk), and finding new things to buy (like hoses, belts, gaskets, etc.)

This is a very short down and dirty explanation. If you are serious I suggest you buy the rotary rebuild tape from Atkins, and study multiple books (FSM, Haynes, and any others you can get your hands on). Doing it your self it possible it just takes time, patience, and lots of studying.

Have fun

- Dana

Bambam7

Hehe.. I can pull my engine in 2 hours... done it 3 times now... I'm not exactly a newbie....

All the emmisions are stripped. I know the car inside out, I have put countless hundreds of hours into it, but I have never gone inside the engine, so it's new to me.

Anyone know about the seal and gasket ituation? Can they all be resued with the exception of the broken apex seal?

Rotary Racer

Sorry I did not mean to put you down. I was un sure of your abilities so I did not want to spout out hour #'s that might not have been doable for ya. The quickest I have done is dive a fully loaded/smog legal the car into the garage and had the motor out in 4 hours by my self. So quickness is doable.

When it comes to the internal seals and springs, yes you can re-use them if they pass all the tolerance tests. Make sure you label everything and return the seals and springs back to their respective rotors that they came from. Easy way is to draw out a picture of a rotor and make 4 copies of it (front rotor gear side/open side, rear rotor gear side/open side). Not to be a bummer but most engines I have pulled apart that had a even a “mild detonation” (like any detonation on a rotary is mild ) that caused the engine to blow, required new hard parts (usually rotor housings).

- Dana

Bambam7

Hey, no offense taken at all, I didn't expect you to know my life story! Just clearing stuff up.

These rotor housings have endured 2 engine failures. One being carbon lock, and one apex seal fracture. They were still a 9/10 after that second failure, very nice shape. I'm still getting one full compression pulse on the front, so the housing is likely good.

Good news about the seals and such. I just wanted to make sure there isn't anything that's a "one use only" like a crush gasket or anything.

Now... Where would be the best place to get 3mm seals... just one!

Rotary Racer

I forgot to add. The non re-usable parts are the inner and outer water seals, gaskets of course, and o-rings (I would even replace the o-rings on the oil seals) This gives you an opportunity to go Vinton (sp?).

- Dana

BigTone

Rebuild it. It will be woth it in the long run.