3rd gen comon blown motor
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Rotary Enthusiast
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 750
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From: Florida
3rd gen comon blown motor
what are all the reason that these motor blow and what do people try to do to prevent it. What you think could be made to make them stronger. No dumb remarks PLEASE
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Everyone is kind of sick of these questions so they don't usually take the time to respond. Everyone will tell you to click "search" and type in Reliablilty in the box and then choose 3rd gen specific. I am not like everyone so I will tell you my experience. In my opinion 75 % of the blown engines and problems with the 3rd gen are due to them being modded wrong, etc. I have a stock 94 with 140K and has perfect compression still. If the car is taken care of real well you can get good life out of it. This is NOT a miata so you have to really take care of it and it will still have alot of problems and parts are a fortune. For example, in the past 2 months I have replaced my coolant over flow tank 125.00 for part, installed myself. My drivers side door handle 212.00 installed myself. Last week my upper radiator hose sprung a leak where the clamp tightened. $32.00 for the hose, I installed myself. I still need to replace my drivers side power window switch and headlamp covers (209.00 and 95.00 for just the parts.).
here is what I do to maintain my car. I change oil ever 1750 to 2000 miles. I do not have a turbo timer but when I stop driving I wait from 1 to 2 minutes with it idling so the turbos can cool off. I ALWAYS open my hood for atleast 30 minutes to 1 hour after I park the car (except when I am in a parking lot or at work) to cool the engine off faster. I add about 1/4 qt of oil ever 250 miles, for me that resolves to every sunday morning. I open my hood constantly (every day) to make sure nothing is wrong. By doing that I definately saved my engine last week with the radiator hose blowing, the only reason I found the problem early was I open the hood and was able to smell the coolant and 2 days later I found the problem. change fuel/air filter every 12 to 18 months. I inspect all my radiator hoses every few months, very carefully. I use redline fuel additive to clean the fuel injectors. Check the coolant level often (this is a clue that there is something wrong if the coolant is always needing filled).
For mods you can put a boost gauge and water temp gauge (did these already), replace the precat with a downpipe (should receive this week) and if you want you can replace the stock radiator with a fluidine (I have not yet).
And most importantly replace the stock stereo with a MP3 player/CD and Aux input with a 20 Gig Archos Juke Box.
here is what I do to maintain my car. I change oil ever 1750 to 2000 miles. I do not have a turbo timer but when I stop driving I wait from 1 to 2 minutes with it idling so the turbos can cool off. I ALWAYS open my hood for atleast 30 minutes to 1 hour after I park the car (except when I am in a parking lot or at work) to cool the engine off faster. I add about 1/4 qt of oil ever 250 miles, for me that resolves to every sunday morning. I open my hood constantly (every day) to make sure nothing is wrong. By doing that I definately saved my engine last week with the radiator hose blowing, the only reason I found the problem early was I open the hood and was able to smell the coolant and 2 days later I found the problem. change fuel/air filter every 12 to 18 months. I inspect all my radiator hoses every few months, very carefully. I use redline fuel additive to clean the fuel injectors. Check the coolant level often (this is a clue that there is something wrong if the coolant is always needing filled).
For mods you can put a boost gauge and water temp gauge (did these already), replace the precat with a downpipe (should receive this week) and if you want you can replace the stock radiator with a fluidine (I have not yet).
And most importantly replace the stock stereo with a MP3 player/CD and Aux input with a 20 Gig Archos Juke Box.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 689
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From: Wausau WI
Originally posted by T88Rx7
well i thank you very much. but im looking for answers not from coolent but internal engine block like seals housings springs ext. but again thanx for your reply
well i thank you very much. but im looking for answers not from coolent but internal engine block like seals housings springs ext. but again thanx for your reply
Lives on the Forum
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 14,716
Likes: 10
From: San Lorenzo, California
There are two main causes for 13B-REW rotary engine failure:
*coolant seals - caused by overheating the engine, the comments made about coolant leaks and such are very relevant
*apex seals - caused by detonation-running too high of an A/F ratio, not adding more fuel when increasing air flow, too hot of intake temps, etc
Almost all stock cars suffer failure of coolant seals long before the apex seals give. This can also be caused by the simple process of heating and cooling off again. The twin-turbo rotary runs VERY hot.
*coolant seals - caused by overheating the engine, the comments made about coolant leaks and such are very relevant
*apex seals - caused by detonation-running too high of an A/F ratio, not adding more fuel when increasing air flow, too hot of intake temps, etc
Almost all stock cars suffer failure of coolant seals long before the apex seals give. This can also be caused by the simple process of heating and cooling off again. The twin-turbo rotary runs VERY hot.
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Originally posted by T88Rx7
why would a stock FD detonate if there is no increase in air flow
why would a stock FD detonate if there is no increase in air flow
Maybe running too low of an octane, or bad fuel filter....
Probably quite a few ways to make it happen, but they are probably not as likely to happen to a stock FD as they would be to a modified one.
As stated above though, probably the most common failure of stock FD is the coolant seals.
Last edited by Mahjik; May 14, 2002 at 04:59 PM.
Originally posted by T88Rx7
well i thank you very much. but im looking for answers not from coolent but internal engine block like seals housings springs ext. but again thanx for your reply
well i thank you very much. but im looking for answers not from coolent but internal engine block like seals housings springs ext. but again thanx for your reply
Dave
Full Member
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 195
Likes: 13
From: Seattle
I also agree with onekrazyguy about maintaining the car to lengthen life of engine...I have 131,000 miles on original engine, however i did/do not take as much care as onekrazyguy does...
I do change oil every 3000 to 4000 miles however i always make sure it is full.
I ran out of gas 4 times
finally changed radiator after stop leak quit working
instead of sitting in car for a couple minutes, my neighborhood has a downhill (about 1 min) and i just coast for the trip.
I do open the hood for increased heat escaping when at home.
boost/lin temp gauge and fan mod as mods keep me cool
this procedure has kept my car 100% reliable for the past 4 years with 10-8-10 boost levels.
and a bunch of other little stuff that are always recommended by everyone here on the forum
However, it seems something went wrong just recently and now i have low compression on 1st rotor, so rebuild time for me. but i believe the rebuild is more do to age than my method of maintainment above.
hehe.
anyhow Peace out!
Edgardo
I do change oil every 3000 to 4000 miles however i always make sure it is full.
I ran out of gas 4 times
finally changed radiator after stop leak quit working
instead of sitting in car for a couple minutes, my neighborhood has a downhill (about 1 min) and i just coast for the trip.
I do open the hood for increased heat escaping when at home.
boost/lin temp gauge and fan mod as mods keep me cool
this procedure has kept my car 100% reliable for the past 4 years with 10-8-10 boost levels.
and a bunch of other little stuff that are always recommended by everyone here on the forum
However, it seems something went wrong just recently and now i have low compression on 1st rotor, so rebuild time for me. but i believe the rebuild is more do to age than my method of maintainment above.
hehe.anyhow Peace out!
Edgardo
