F&&@#&$#&, and @$#@#$# again!!!! On my second day of Rex ownership, the engine's gone!! I got the car 3 days ago and took it to a garage for an oil change and radiator flush yesterday. The car drove very well last night and was holding boost at 0.8 bar till redline. First thing I did this morning was open the radiator cap and fill her up with more water thinking that trapped air could have escaped after last night's drive. I start the car with the radiator cap off and to my amazement, green water with ample amount of rust sediments starts gushing out. The bastards didn't clean out all radiator flush and there was still plenty of that stuff trapped in the engine overnight!! I can tell as they added green coolant to the radiator flush but filled up with clean water afterwards with no coolant as I planned to add water wetter in the morning. I suspect the radiator flush could have corroded the o-ring overnight. Does that sound likely?.

I didn't notice any mushroom cloud of white smoke from the exhaust so while I thought that was odd, but since there's no smoke, that's probably just airlock (stupid I know). So I filled her up with water and off I went. Half an hour later, I smelt coolant and the temp went through the roof. I stopped the car and there was not a drop of coolant left !!!!! *@#$@#$$@ Luckily I was very close to home so I filled her up with more water after half an hour of cooling and manage to limp home.

After two hours of cooling down, I filled up the radiator with a heavy heart and start her up. The mushroom cloud confirmed my worst fear. D!@#$@# This is actually my second Rex after I sold a yellow R1 a year and a half ago and bought a Supra TT. Then the Rex bug bite me and now, regret is an understatement. The Supra is just bullet prove and I'm glad I still have it.

So spilt milk it is and I'm done crying over it. To the tech Gods on the list, is there an easy way to check whether the housings are warped once I have the engine out (like using a straight metal rule? Don't laugh, I am that stupid) If they are not warped, is it just a simple case of putting in new o-ring seals and apex seals? Where's the cheapest, fastest place to get these items? This is testing my EQ to the limits .............

Apart from changing all vacuum lines, what else should I do while the donk is out? Is porting a good idea and where could I send the housings to for porting in the US or Australia? I'm currently on secondment in Hong Kong and there's no Rex specialist here. The idiots at the workshop was arguing with me yesterday that the Rex is supercharged AND turbocharged. I killed myself laughing when they pointed to the airpump.......

Martin

 

Here is a link to getting the rebuild kit, I don't know if they out of country though.
It's too bad, I had the same experience just before xmas. The only absolute way of knowing the condition of the rotor housing is to take it apart and do all the necessary measurements. The general way of looking at it is this, if the bottom exterior of the housing shows black baked on stuff (after removing the oil pan), then you can be certain the housing is gone. Otherwise do the measurements, you may get lucky.
You can get porting templates and do the porting your self, if you have access to some grinding and polishing tools. The templates are available from Mazdatrix. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the info on the repair kits. They're still bloody expensive though compared to 2k for a new engine. I'll have the engine out within the next couple of days and see what's the damage like. As regards measurements, how do I take them? Sandwich two housings at a time and find some calipers to measure the total thickness?Sorry I really don't have a clue. Are there tolerance info to be found on the web?

 

Check this link and down load the engine section of the online manual. You'll find all the tolerances in there.

 

Mushroom cloud not withstanding, i'd observe a little more befor calling it teminal. Can you do any of your own work? Who did the flush?

I'd put it up on stands and drain whatever coolant is in there, refill and start the burping process. Check closely for leaks. Are you getting white clouds every time you start it? Is it puking coolant out of the overflow after shutdown?

I don't want to give you false hope, it doesn't sound good. Maybe try some of that block weld to buy yourself some time?

 

I almost forgot the blockweld thing so thanks for reminding. I'll give tha a try but problem is I can't find that stuff over here. Are there any online shops that sells them? I've tried pep boys and summit racing and neither of them seems to be selling chemicals online.

This however is a very very slim ray of hope. I don't think it'll work as its leaking so badly that as soon as I turn the engine, there's water coming out from the radiator neck and there's water coming from the engine underside and hugh cloud of white smoke billowing from the exhaust. Nevertheless, any suggestion where I might be able to purchase a couple bottle of the block weld stuff would be most appreciated.

 

Also, on the rebuild kits that Threxthe3rd suggested, I note that the only differences between the master kit and the basic kit are the additional side seals, corner seals, oil pump chain and rotor oil seal seat. Are these normal wear and tear items that MUST get replaced or just a good idea to have them changed while the engine is out?