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Is my Apex seal gone? Full story, with afterwards testing done....

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Old 10-13-05, 08:53 AM
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These simptoms sound exactlly like what happened to me. My motor has done alot of sitting also (93 with 30 thousand on the clock). I would love to know the outcome of this.
I cranked my motor by hand and had the same kind of swosh sounds come from the sparkplug holes as you discribed. Altough when I did a compresion check the bounces varied on the front rotor. One good and two lower, but not dead bounces. What ECU are you running? I had a Pettit for the last couple of years, and have been told that they can build up carbon and cause this problem. Maybe I could save some money and not do a rebuild.
Old 10-13-05, 09:26 AM
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I have PFC. In my case when i did compression test i had 3 even bounces. but When i moved the crankshaft manually i had one loud and 2 low. I poured some MMO on each apex seal and am going to let it sit, then i'll get that stuff out of there and pour some diesel fuel or Injector cleaner and see what happens. After they soak for a while, and i still get only 1 loud swoosh and 2 low, it's got to be broken corner seal or something else internally.

amel
Old 10-13-05, 12:31 PM
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engine is damaged
probably very minor like a chip out of a seal
15psi is a ton to be running on stock twins, did you feel comfortable doing that all the time on pump gas lol?

go to mazda and watch them hook up the tester, I think they can handle taking out 2 spark plugs
Old 10-13-05, 02:53 PM
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The twins can handle 15psi fine, so can the engine. I wasn't doing that all day or all night.
Old 10-13-05, 03:16 PM
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All depends on the margin of safety that you desire and the service life that you want out of both components.

Of course I really do hope everything is ok but after a hard run with the description you gave I think it's safe to say something changed inside the engine.
Old 10-13-05, 03:16 PM
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that's a lot of bends and conflicts in air flow...extremely hot air coming out of those twins @ 15psi.

not much room for error is what SurgeMonster was trying to say...everytime you hit that pedal on the right, it's like taking a #...not IF, when it gets picked.

sorry to hear about the motor...
Old 10-13-05, 03:19 PM
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Originally Posted by SurgeMonster
All depends on the margin of safety that you desire and the service life that you want out of both components.

Of course I really do hope everything is ok but after a hard run with the description you gave I think it's safe to say something changed inside the engine.
That's what i'm thinking too. I'm like 80% sure that the apex seal probably cracked or something... However before i take the engine out, i just want to make sure it's not a case of stuck seals...

Thanks for your reply.
Old 10-13-05, 10:10 PM
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well soaking the seals has made no difference. Rear rotor gets 3 loud swooshes when turning it manually, front one only 1 loud swoosh, and 2 low.

I've decided engine is coming out. I'll keep you guys posted of what i find inside once it's appart.

Thanks for all your replies and suggestions. I really wish it was stuck seal, but i think it's something worse.

Thanks again.

Amel
Old 10-13-05, 10:20 PM
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some good news one stuck apex seal "could" make one loud and two low...but the bad news is I chipped/broke apex seal does do that.
Old 10-14-05, 07:09 AM
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I'm 100% sure it's not stuck. They all move... i can push it in and out fine.
Old 10-14-05, 07:38 AM
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At least you know how to rebuild
Old 10-14-05, 08:59 AM
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Yeah, i don't and i'm not going to. My buddy will.
Old 10-14-05, 10:19 AM
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Originally Posted by BoOsTin FD
well soaking the seals has made no difference. Rear rotor gets 3 loud swooshes when turning it manually, front one only 1 loud swoosh, and 2 low.

I've decided engine is coming out. I'll keep you guys posted of what i find inside once it's appart.

Thanks for all your replies and suggestions. I really wish it was stuck seal, but i think it's something worse.

Thanks again.

Amel
How have you had time to soak them for days, turning it over slowly, like I and Rick Engman said?
Old 10-14-05, 10:20 AM
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Originally Posted by BoOsTin FD
I'm 100% sure it's not stuck. They all move... i can push it in and out fine.
It's not the apex seals that stick, it's the side seals and oil control rings.
Old 10-14-05, 11:26 AM
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Well, They soaked in the Injector cleaner for a good 8-9 hours. I can tell they are moving Ryan. They are not stuck. I mean if they were stuck, i wouldn't be able to push them in and they wouldn't come back out... right?
Old 10-14-05, 12:24 PM
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Originally Posted by BoOsTin FD
Well, They soaked in the Injector cleaner for a good 8-9 hours. I can tell they are moving Ryan. They are not stuck. I mean if they were stuck, i wouldn't be able to push them in and they wouldn't come back out... right?
you can't touch the oil control ring or side seals...with the motor together
Old 10-14-05, 12:49 PM
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I was pushing in and out the Apex seals... Isn't that what we are talking about here? If they move, then nothing is stuck and there is no reason to try to unstuck them?

Am i missing something here, or am i checking the wrong stuff?
Old 10-14-05, 12:58 PM
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No.... they are talking about the OIL CONTROL RINGS. you cannot test them to ensure they are not stuck without having the motor apart. Your compressions is decent so there should be no real concern about you're apex seals.

You HAVE to have the motor apart to test the OCR's...Unless you have go go gadget hands.
Old 10-14-05, 02:01 PM
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Side seals i could believe getting stuck and giving me problems. But Oil control rings. I doubt those would give me these kind of sympthoms.

The engine is still soaking and i haven't taken it appart yet... until Monday. I will check it out again tonight and next day until monday to see if there is any change.

We'll see.
Old 10-14-05, 03:00 PM
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This is great information about stuck seals and what to do, Thanks.
Old 10-15-05, 11:18 PM
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After it was soaked for a while, i decided to give it a shot and try to start it again. Well it starts fine, but it still runs like crap and only one one rotor.

The engine is coming out Monday
Old 10-15-05, 11:27 PM
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Originally Posted by BoOsTin FD
Side seals i could believe getting stuck and giving me problems. But Oil control rings. I doubt those would give me these kind of sympthoms.

The engine is still soaking and i haven't taken it appart yet... until Monday. I will check it out again tonight and next day until monday to see if there is any change.

We'll see.
One side seal AND oil control ring were stuck on my motor. Oil control ring caused it to smoke, side seal stuck caused it to run like crap.

I'm only being persistent here because I WISH I had tried to soak mine before tearing it apart.
Old 10-15-05, 11:38 PM
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Hi, 3 months ago after doing redline on 15 psi, there was awesum backfire, car was still running but when I came to stop, so did the car, after a many attempts to get it started it finally did but sounded like an old car with no exhaust system or a piston car with broken piston!, so I limped home and turns out I lost 2 tips, the car would still start however but did not sound healthy at all, so if car sounds familiar, apex could be gone,if not then it will be something else of course. Just thought I'd share that with you.
Old 10-16-05, 01:45 AM
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so, soaking the internals with atf may help a stuck oil control ring? Should I use atf or mmo or what is best? my engine smokes a little bit...it runs fine with 115-120 psi on all 6 faces. my turbos are most likely toast, but it wouldnt hurt to try to unstick a seal would it?

Thanks.
Old 10-16-05, 12:49 PM
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following my post in this thread you changed your diagnosis as to the compression pops from 3 good ones on each rotor to one good one on the front rotor.

i conclude you have one problematic apex seal (probable) or two bad side seals (improbable). the apex seal separates two faces so if it goes both faces lose compression. if a side seal goes it just takes down one face. it could be quite fixable on a tear down.

howard coleman


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