Ok, I made a video of the problem so that you can see what's going on, but let me type it out here since I wasn't making much sense in the video...I tend to not think straight when there's something potentially major wrong with the car...

I was driving down the road with a friend, went to demonstrate the cars power curve (downshifted at ~40mph into 2nd gear), and ran it out to ~7k rpms. Just as I was reaching 7k rpms, the motor hesitated. It may have made a noise, but my exhaust is already loud and it happened so quickly.

As soon as it came back down to idle, the vacuum was jumping around instead of being stable where it usually is, which is around 17in. Instead it was fluttering around 15in. The car barely made it home, and felt like it was running on 1 rotor the whole time.

WTH is going on here? Did the car just break a seal internally in the motor, or did something happen with my HKS ignition to the point where it's not firing on all 4 plugs? ... Or could something have happened with my fuel system where perhaps one of the injectors is leaking and it's running rough? I didnt even attempt boosting like this. Luckily I was near home, so I just limped it there and shut it right off.

I am thinking and planning for the worst right now...Motor was rebuilt with new rotor housings/e-shaft/irons/main bearings at KDR approximately 7-8k miles ago. Apex seals/corner seals/side seals allegedly have about 22k miles on them. Up until now the car has been running perfectly with no problems. I will post a link to the video as soon as it's ready.

Please help!!

Link to the video...Pay no attention to the rambling, as I wasn't thinking straight right after this happened. => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9woHvXYLwW4

 

Tom, first things first. Did you check your map sensor line?

Next pull the rear trailing plug and cycle the motor and listen for 3 even pulses. Following that, replace the rear trailing plug and do the same procedure to the front rotor housing. Please also make sure to take out your EGI and FUEL pump relays before any of this...

 

Thanks to Lance I figured it out...or at least isolated the problem. The rear rotor housing isn't pulsing as quickly as the front, so there's a damaged seal somewhere in the rear.

Looks like the car's going down for another rebuild this weekend...

Anyway, thanks for your help Lance!

 

The fluttering boost gauge is a classic sign of a blown motor. Ask me how I know...Haha.

 

Sorry to hear, hopefully this next build will make great numbers like your last one did.

 

Now you have to find out why it blew.

I'm a big fan of water injection to make sure this kind of thing doesnt happen again.

 

Thanks guys. I actually have a 500r, coolingmist water injection kit (dual nozzles), and dual oil cooler to install as well. I’m going to be having Dave at KDR tear the motor down to inspect which seal/seals went, and why. I doubt it was the tune, since it’s been running great all this time and Dave is without question a good tuner (IMHO). It was a cool night (not freezing), and conditions were what they’ve been many many times. I guess it’s possible that these Atkins seals just had enough and decided to let go. Either way, now it’s time to get some nice fresh ones in there that’ll laugh at 450+RWHP.

 

^^ you mean you detonated with AI? How many miles did your motor have? at what milage did you install the AI?

 

^reread he did not install the AI yet.

 

Oh no, no I didn't...I have the AI kit here ready to install. I was going to install everything at once with the single turbo kit.

 

When I blew a side seal, my boost needle would vibrate like that.

 

oh **** missed that! thanks my world got rocked for a second there lol

 

Yep, I was thinking about that too...It's got to be a seal that seals in compression that went. After watching the boost/vacuum gauge, I'm sure of it.

 

Thats too bad.

I don't think apex seals just "give up". Usually there is something wrong:
-fuel injectors
-fuel delivery
-clogged fuel filter
-spark / ignition problem
-OMP and oil injection
-tuning
-too much boost

In some cases its a collection of minor errors vs one single problem you can point to.

Good luck.

 

I know, you're right. Injectors are damn near brand new...I suppose the Walbro could've taken a dump...HKS Twin Power is very new...Haven't had a problem with the oiling system in the past...I didn't notice any boost spikes, but that's certainly possible....

I think the most likely culprit here is my wiring harness. I know I need a new one, and it entirely slipped my mind. I think it's possible that the feed to the secondary injectors could've gotten interrupted for a split second at full throttle, the mixture leaned out just enough, then pop went the motor.

I doubt it was Dave's tuning, too.

 

Might want to either search or PM CrispyRX7 about his engine failure. He attributed it to the ignition amp. I don't have any details beyond that.

 

I heard walbro pumps suck. Do a research on them and you'll find out what i mean.

Swap in the supra TT pump.

 

I also have an RP fuel pump that I'll be installing.

However, that pump should've been more than I needed, especially since I was under 400 RWHP.

 

Im sure it COULD have handled the power, im just saying people have had problems with intermittent failures or all of a sudden failure from walbro pumps.

That would kinda suck, a brand new walbro pump. Then like a month later it will crap out completely.

Yeah... that happened to some people.

 

mine was crapping out on me...

 

Damn. What amount of vacuum does it hold @ 1000 rpms? That was rough for 1600-1700.

 

Questions:

1. What AFR and timing were you running at that boost level (did you have a peek at AFR before your engine went)?
2. How much boost?
3. You're on stock sequentials, right? Maybe you had a primary-secondary transition spike or you hit a different part of the fuel-timing map that you weren't tuned for on the dyno...
4. What gas are you using? Maybe you got a bad tank of gas too....

Before you get your new motor in there you have to figure out why it went.... engine's don't blow up for no reason. Keep us updated. Best of luck to you.

 

It was holding between 10 and 13 in at 1000 rpms...It was ROUGH.

1.) I couldn't tell you exactly what the AFR was when she popped...
2.) Typically boosts 15 psi, but maybe it spiked...Happened too fast to tell...
3.) No, stock twins, non-sequential...tune was good...
4.) I always run 93 and always get it from the same station. Dave is going to asses why it blew. I'm not just going to go dropping in a new motor and drive off blindly. :P

I'll keep everyone posted though!

 

You know my guess Tom... Feel free to call me if you need anything else.