Hello, some advice please. As I said in another thread, the car(1990 Non-turbo, engine 67K) has no antifreeze in the coolant, and we live in michigan, so I've been warming the water pump with a hairdryer and letting the car idle for several minutes the past couple days (since we cannot drive it right now). One of the things I do when it warms up is rev the engine a little, usually not going over 5k. However, today I toed the gas to 7k and smelled what I belive to be burning oil, accompanied with a small amount of smoke. The car runs very nicely, no harsh vibrations or pinging, but it does seem to do what I think is a backfire (a small pop in the exhaust when the gas is let off).
Pleas let me know of your opinions, theories, or rants that I'm a sensless newbie ******* who's destroying the engine. Thanks.

 

Let me get this straight.

You live in michigan and you only use water with no antifreeze during winter in your engine?

Please, tell me I'm wrong.

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Water

rusts.

Add antifreeze for rust protection. Replace every 12-18 months to make sure the rust protection doesn't run out. It's a good idea to replace the thermostat with an OEM one and inspect the hoses, etc. at the same time.

Besides that don't rev it high until after it warms up or you'll create increased wear. Popping when you let off the gas isn't too unusual. Probably not a major problem, might be running a little rich. It's also not good to run your engine for a short time each day. www.aaroncake.net has a guide that'll tell you how to properly store your car over the winter.

And yeah, you are being brutal to your engine. Mostly from no antifreeze, but also the other things. Flame on!

 

De-ionized water protects against rust. Antifreeze prevents the water from FREEZING. Water, when frozen, turns into ice. Ice, expands. Expantion creates pressure which CRACKS components...

And you are wondering why your engine is burning oil.

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The smoke you are discribing is usually caused by worn oil control rings. They have seals inside thrm that can go bad over time. Usually on older higher miles motors the carbon buildup can help a little with this issue, however if you remove the carbon with a product like Seafoam it can cause this issue to get worse usually only at high RPMs.

 

i have the same problem and it is my oil control rings.

 

No, no it doesn't. Neither does distilled water. It will never ever guard against rust. At first it will not cause rust, until it dissolves something. The water will contain ions after it dissolves something, regardless of whether or not it did when you bought it. If there's anything else at all in your coolant system, it will dissolve something. If it is exposed to air long enough, it will dissolve carbon dioxide and make carbonic acid. Basically any plain water will cause rust no matter what. Antifreeze contains additives that protect against rust. They get used up over time, and that's why you need to change your coolant periodically.

Deionized water and distilled water are always still good to use to prevent sediment buildup. But be sure to combine it with antifreeze.

 

Oil control rings? Are they side seals to prevent oil from the eccentric shaft from leaking into the combustion chambers? Can anyone point me to a diagram or schematic of where they are so I can visualize them?

And I am sorry for being a bonehead about the engine. Will try to get antifreeze into the engine asap. It was intended to be put in, but getting the car home (which was a big ? at the time) was priority, and just havent had the oppurtunity. (has only been here a few days and we don't know of anyone who can work on rotaries).

 

Oh, okay. You won't get any significant rust with plain water in there for just a few days. Especially if there's a little antifreeze residue still in there.

Ya, I think that's where the oil control rings are. Regardless you can't do anything about them without rebuilding the engine. I believe they do keep oil out of the combustion chamber. Best bet would be to use cheap (but still API certified) oil and check it regularly to make sure it's topped off. I'd do this until you're forced to rebuild the engine.

There's also the possibility that your oil control rings are fine and that it's fuel or something else. I'm thinking that b/c of the backfiring (or the little bit of extra fuel could be unrelated). If the smoke is grey/blue-ish then it's oil.

 

Apparently, I am a dumbass. My dasd said that blue smoke was coolant, so it might not be oil. What about hard driving or just "spirited" driving if the oil control rings are damaged?

Black smoke: oil
Blue smoke: gas
White smoke: coolant
Red smoke: possesion by demon-Call excorcist immediately! Or take off those stupid-*** $8000 drift tires!

 

Black smoke: gas
Blue smoke: oil
White smoke: coolant
Red smoke: Someone put a flare in your exhaust.

Fixed.

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oil control rings do exactly what they named for. control the amount of oil the lubricates the sides of the rotor. otherwise it would get hot expand and then stop. when they wear out they let to much oil out. and then you burn to much oil. if your coolant is leaking well probably from having just water in it. lemme ask why in the hell are you driving a rotary in the winter? i live in alaska and **** i pretty much let it sit in the garage... but last summer i blew an apex seal i was near fairbanks when it went. after tearing into the motor i found that someone put a turbo on a 6pi... so yeah. sorry got carried away.

 

1: So black smoke is gas and blue smoke is oil?

2: Just flushed the collant, now has antifreeze in the system
(and by the way, it was only here for a few days <less than 4>)

 

^ 1: I haven't been answering b/c I don't know much about the oil rings/etc. From a quick forum search those colors seem right, but maybe you should search yourself and double check.

 

Oh, and btw, she doesn't seem to smoke when warmed up, she only really smoked when we had accidents: Unintentionally revving her when moving her out of the way of our other vehicles, getting her stuck in some loose snow and spinning a wheel [read: OPEN DIFFS SUCK!]. anyway, going to Ginger Man raceway after I get my licence to see what she's capable of since so far the most we've used from her is about 110hp.(5000rpm max)

 

ANOTHER UPDATE! Just did the "Acid Test!" (4k for 15 secs when warmed up) after getting home from school with her and no smoke! Although, when I started her up in the auto-shop's parking lot (Huron High School Rocks!) the fast-warm-up shi* kciked in and a significantr quantity of smoke was emitted, but it smelled like gas, not oil (smoke was slightly blue, funny thing, that's the first time in a week the cold-tart shi* has activated) . Also, had auto teacher pressure test her, hoses popped off (the labor that installed the current engine apparently forgot a couple of hose clamps). Unfortunately, a leaky water pump prevented any meaningful results, but until I smell sweet, I'm happy.