GooRoo

iTrader: (4)

Ok, let me preface this by saying my car has not been running well recently, actually it's never really run great for more than about 10 minutes. Here was my most recent problem:

When cold the car was ok.
Once it got warmed up, occasionally below 3500 rpm it had a slight power drop. Sometimes it was hardly enough to notice, and sometimes it was very noticable. If it happened for a few seconds, if you revved the engine to 3500rpm (or got into boost) it would go away. Twice the power dropped out enough that the car actually died.

With Damian's help I replaced the fuel filter, a harness piece (from the main harness to the fuel tank/pump) in the back that looked like it may have been shorting, and the fuel pump. The problem seemed to go away temporarily with each change, but came back.

Now for the actual bad news...

This past weekend I was at MAM running an event. On the track I never go below 3500, so the fuel issue wasn't a problem. However once I got to 110 mph in 4th gear (6500 or so rpm) the car wouldn't accelerate any more. I drove anyway and just would let off the gas at about 105. There was no issue with 3rd or 2nd gear all the way to 8000 rpm.

My second session I was going into a corner and I blipped the throttle, and then let out the clutch to go down into 3rd gear. I was braking heavily at the time, and suddenly the back wheels locked and I started sliding and went off track. I have video of this that I can post another time. The car would no longer start. Once it cooled off I limped it home (400 miles) getting about 8 mpg and having to have my foot on the floor boosting the whole time just to keep 60-70 mph

Damian and I did a compression test. Here's the graphs:



Here's the full size pic

Here's the leading plugs: (The front rotor is on the left)



Here's the full size pic

Here's the Apex seal, as viewed from the leading plug hole:



Here's the full size pic

The motor only has 9500 miles on it. It made 85 psi on all rotors/faces at 1500 miles.

Does the seal look bad? We took some dentists tools and felt the edge of the seal. It didn't seem to be sticking out much past the corners of the rotor itself. Also the rotor looked scored/black/covered with gas/oil on the faces.

Is there any other way (besides at least 2 seal failures) that you would get a flatline compression test? We also just left the hole open and listened for air being released, on the front you could hear it, on the back there was nothing.

Is there anything else I should test/try before sending the motor in to someone for a rebuild?

Is it normal/possible for a engine to let go under full vaccuum?

Am I missing anything else?

Any help/advice would be appreciated.