So, I hesitate to post this because I feel a bit foolish. Who knows, maybe someone else will find it usefull. I could use a bit of advice also.

For reference, the motor is built and ported with stock primaries and 1600 secondaries, PFC, single turbo, etc. I finished putting the car together and started it on a borrowed base map. Barely into the 3rd test run, the car started smoking heavily, barely running and died in the driveway. It appeared to have oil blown out of the exhaust/turbo interface (didn't get the Vband quite right). I assumed control rings, turbo, or possible too much pressure on the turbo feed.

After more looking and checking a week later I tried to restart it and the motor seized. I was unable to turn by hand forward or backwards so I assumed the worst. I pulled the turbo and found more of the "black oil" I had seen. I smelled fuel, but didn't pay much attention as I was pissed. I readied the rest of the motor for removal and the last thing was to pull the wastegate from the manifold. It was mounted upside down and a cup of fuel must have poured out. Hmmmm. Strange.

All plugs were removed and I was still unable to spin the motor so I proceeded with the removal of the engine.Upon removal of the turbo manifold 2-3 more cups of fuel poured out. As it turns out the whole motor was full of fuel. After some effort, I was able to spin the motor backwards and gobs more fuel came out. Turns out I can blow through one of my 2000cc injectors

So, I think the whole problem was a secondary injector that stuck open and flooded the motor. In my playing with re-starting, I had jumpered the fuel pump to check fuel pressure. To make a long story shorter, I think I just filled up the motor with gas, and then when I tried to start it it seized. The black I think was mostly fuel with carbon deposits in it.

So, the motor is out, and spinning by hand it seems to be fine. I suspect I dried out my seals with all that fuel. Obviously I need to deal with the injector issue. Does anybody have any suggestions before I put it back in the car and try restarting? Like lubbing the seals or things like that.

-Chris

 

Pour in a bit of ATF or 2-stroke oil via the spark plug hole (2oz should be enough).. spin around a bit to help build compression / lube things up.. and you should be good to go.

I have seen a similar problem, however the engine didn't hydrolock.. just had a lot of fuel pouring out of the waste gate and the engine got flooded.

 

How did you come up with hydrolock based on your story?

 

You should be fine. It's either an open injector or a bad O-ring on the injector to the fuel rail that's bypassing pressurized fuel into the engine. That should be pretty straightforward to test, pull the fuel rails from the motor and pressurize the fuel system.

I doubt you've caused any long term damage, just a little oil in the motor and probably change your oil as well and you should be fine.

Dale

 

1qwik7- It's just a theory.
I can't explain the fact that the motor locked and I was unable to spin by hand with a breaker bar on the front main bolt. Not that I tried too hard since i didn't want to cause further damage. I probably poured 1/2 gallon or more of fuel out of the engine itself. Once I was able to forceably spin the motor backwards I got more fuel out, so I assume that's what seized everything.

I left out the fact that, while trouble shooting, I jumpered the fuel pump to check rail pressures etc, and I expect I filled the engine up with gas. As I said, I feel a bit foolish about the whole thing.


Dale- Orings are new, and I can blow through 1 injector like a straw, so I'm sure that's the culprit.

I'll go with some oil to relube everything and give it another go.

-Chris

 

i would put some oil in the motor, spin it around, and recheck compression. it should be fine, but better safe than sorry.

i've had stuck injectors too, although not 1600's! the engines seem to not mind too much, once you get all the gas out

 

Just to follow up on this for any future readers.

I put some oil in the plug holes, turned the motor a few times and after re-installing it (with a different set of injectors) the car runs great.

So, note to self "Next time I'm having fueling problems and the motor locks up while trying to start, check for stuck injectors before pulling motor."

 

pull plugs or if you have the exhaust manifold already off put some marvels mystery oil in the housing and let it see and see if it will break free.

How long did the motor sit before the first start attempt?

it could have build up if the rotors were not properly cleaned and checked for clearance.

 

ive flooded mine before lost spark before and flooded it washed a heap of fuel into the oil so a quick oil change and re map and its was fine

 

Chris, let me know if you ever need any injectors. Glad to hear you're still tinkering with rotaries.