Hi everyone, I just bough an 87 fc n/a, bone stock!

drove it down from maine runs very good, But smokes so much!!!
on start up its unbearable and past 4.500 rpms it starts smoking real bad...

it doesnt smoke too bad when its idling warm... or driving without reving too high.

I checked my coolant, it seems like it shouldnt be a problem, i drove it hard with lots of smoke for 3 days and the coolant is still full.

I would imagine that if i am burning coolant then it should burn faster than that.
I was just wondering, what else can make so much smoke in the rotary?
I showed it to a couple of my friends and to a couple of mechanics who dont know rotary engines and they said "looks like a blown head gasket..."

Now if i replace the apex seals will this stop? or do I need something else?


ohh and past like 5000 rpm the car has very little power... and smokes a lot..?


Please help me out guys...!

 

If it has a bad coolant seal you will eventuall have the coolant tank overflow. Rotaries can smoke if the oil control seals are old. Apex seals are part of what allow the engine to have compression, and have nothing to do with oil control.

Either way you will have to take the engine apart, tear it down and replace some O rings to fix the problem.

 

okay i checked the coolant today and its dissapearing...so im saving up for the overhaul kit...

I bought a manual and im gonna read it to see if i can do the rebuild myself...

Im gonna have a friend help me he has adaquate knowledge of regular piston engines...but he said that it shouldnt be too hard...with the manual and stuff.

Anyone ever rebuilt their own engine ?

any tips...
we were thinking of doing it in one day...how long does it usually take?
any weird tools that well need...?

 

I've done it several times. It is not hard, just follow the manual. If you really want to get fancy you can go on ebay and buy a set of telescoping gages and a 4" micrometer to check the bearing and rotor to side housing clearance.

It takes about a day to tear it down, clean everything, measure, and reassemble if you don't have to redo anything. Taking it out of the car and putting it back in will take 3-8 hours depending on how much crap the motor has on it (AC, PS, dirt, etc.).

There is a weird tool you'll need: a 54mm socket for the flywheel nut and either a hold back bar for the flywheel or a large impact wrench. You can get a special 54mm wrench from mazdatrix.com or racingbeat.com for about $40 shipped, and make your own hold back bar from a $10 piece of steel flat.

 

www.atkinsrotary.com they have a video that has instructions for rebuilding a rotary. Get the overhaul kit C from atkins.

 

I just got a new job so I dont have any time to do this rebuild myself.

But I am going to get this car running because im using my moms car right now..and thats temporary...

Basically I got about 4k to spend tops....

I talked to Josh at Atkins and told him i want the turbo motor....
I heard a lot about the things that are included in this like I would need the turbo tranny and the rear end cause i got an N/A.

But josh told me that i can just use the lightweight flywheel with my N/A tranny and rear end....

SO basically I just need a motor and the flywheel....
Does anyone know anything about this flywheel thing ?
is it better to just get the rear end and tranny instead of the flywheel...?

Any clue if the 89 to 92 13 b motor will fit my 87 rx ??

 

Ask Kevin Landers your question.

www.rotaryresurrection.com