nickle in rotor housing
 

today i started pulling my motor apart to do a rebuild and got a big suprise when i took off the lower intake manifold. last rebuild i needed rotor housing and was told by the shop doing the rebuild to buy 2nd gen rotor housings because the are the same except cheaper, with the only differance being a hole in the housing for coolant that the 3rd gen doesnt have. i figured this was no problem they would weld the hole or something instead they used a nickle(5 cents) and some epoxy to fill the hole. i have had a small coolant leak for some time coming from the lower intake manifold and now i know why. here a some pics from my cell phone so they aren't good but sunday i will take some good pics with my digital camera.

Wow....That's some fucked up shit...

sounds like we should round up a lynch mob!

OMG you have to be kidding me! a nickel hahahahaha

J/C on a crutch...... :sad:





Who the hell is the builder responsible for this?

Looks like the builder cheeped out and used 2nd gen housings, which have a extra coolant passage. Instead of sealing it up with a freeze plug, they used the nickel. Often they fail and leak so I would never go that route.

+1

I guess you know to not go back to that shop anymore

dude, i would seriously go there and kick his ass!

Wow.

Quit bitching. At least you got a nickel toward your next build! HEHE. That is fucd up. G

i don't want to out right say the name but its located in queens ny, and specializes in rx7s . heres a hint has racing in its name :) oh and i would definetly never go back

Well....that pretty much is useless info. The shop that did this should stand behind their work.

ya can u give me the name i like the look of that nickel and i'd like the same done to my housings. pls give the shop so i can contact them yay

Got a story along those lines but found a small nut lodged btwn the rotor and the housing. Both were junk. This rebuild was done, I guess, by his neighbor a few years back. He was located in Elmont, NY. I personally hope that he has never worked on any else car after the situation I went thru.

Dude, this was not an oversight. It was intentional. You walked into this place, handed over hard earned money expecting a quality rebuild, and they gave you this crap. I mean, someone seriously thought that it was ok to use a nickel in your engine!!!!!!

This kind of thing needs to be public information so that others don't end up in the same boat as you. Please do us all a favor and post up the name of the shop.


Oh, and good luck with the rebuild. :)

i agree that you need to to inform the forum of the shop.

On a side note I have a good rebuild for sale if you are interested. No nickels in this rebuild :)

This place http://www.rx7s.com/ ?

Mahjik :)

You've got to be shitting me......again.

I'd take the 5 cents and go give them your 2 cents worth...

I COMPLETELY AGREE! The shop sealed the hole with a nickel on purpose, so it would leak and cause problems so you would bring the car back in and they make MONEY! ... so Tony can keep racing his super p1mp3d out RX7 (thanks mahjik, as always a fountain of info)

I would buy the DVD that has the video of you walking back in there with the nickel in one hand and a big :fingersx: in the other :)

But seriously, if I actually paid $$$ for that, I would be filing some kind of claim... my time making that hard earned $$$ is f'in worth it! :coolkid01

Where are the HQ pictures???

I wanna save those images into my HD for future reference when I decide to build my motor... I always forget and use dimes that blow out at WOT.

Damn, did Fuego Racing move to NY??

Let's set a couple things straight.

1) 2gen housings are not inferior to FD housings. IN fact, often I have nicer FC housings on my shelf than FD ones. The FD housings see so much heat and abuse, that they often crack, chrome flake and chatter in under 75k miles, where as FC housings with 50-100k mile housings might be far cleaner. The FD housings did have a "superior" surface coating on them, but as you can see, that didn't exactly work out the way mazda intended, so I don't see that as anything to worry about.

2) the FC turbo housings are the only ones with the coolant passages. The FC nonturbo housings can also be used in an FD, and do not have the passage to worry about.

3) The FC rotorhousings are cheaper than the FD rotorhousings brand new.

4) Done properly, you can seal the coolant passage in the FC housings and never have an issue. I personally use the jb stick weld putty and pack the hole full from both sides, leaving a lip on each side to be sure it never moves. I havent done this a lot, but I have not had any issues with it when doing it this way. You can also tap and plug the hole or use a freeze plug.

+1

dam

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but I have a couple of questions. First, do the non-turbo housings need any modifications to make them a "bolt on" part? Second, if one did not want to use FD housings, would there be any reason to use the FC turbo housings (with proper coolant passage mods) over the non-turbo FC housings?

This may help:

http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/2n...g_differs.html

To use FC NA housings in an FD, you need to swap the exhaust port SLEEVE with that from an 87-95 turbo engine.

To use the FC T2 housings in an FD, you need to plug the coolant port.

The 89-91 version housings are identical in casting to the FD housings as far as the knock sensor location and the leading plughole location.

The 86-88 FC housings, which are usually not in good shape anyway, are different here and thus are not usually good candidates for use in an FD engine build. If you were to have a perfect set of 86-88 FC housings you wanted to use, you could do so, as long as you use the set...not mix and match an s4 and an s5/s6 in the same engine. Also you'd have to relocate your FD's knock sensor to the front of the intermediate iron, which is where it was on the 87-88 turbo FC.

Nof, how u been??? long time again!
So what was the problem with you engine after all????

I'm pretty sure a freeze plug is worth a little more than a nicke but common!!!!

These are the type of things we as a community should be completely free of!!!!!

gimme a call, I'd like to take a look at your engine!

dude i picked up some real nice freeze plugs made just for pluging those holes pinnapple racing sells them... but since blake is gone there website has been down :(

sorry for your lose. but i wouldnt come down so hard on the shop. first of all it could be one lazy or careless mechanic. i have seen things like these done before, and givin the circumstances and if its done correctly, it most of the time comes out ok. i would call the shop and tell them wat you found and see if they will pay for you to get the work re-done(the right way). if not...someone mentioned legal action, which will scare the shit outa them.

the best of luck with the fix

adam

Everyone seems focused on the nickel as if that alone makes ghetto. What's so much different from that and what a responsible shop does...as Mr. Landers has explained?
I think the BIG issue is whether or not they made the customer aware of it and the fact that apparently it failed.....not so much that a nickel was used.

rotary resurrection i didn't say there is a problem with the 2nd gen housings i choose to use them when i was told they are the same besides the coolant passage and they are around $130 cheaper per housing. my only compliant is not filling the passage correctly. as far as contacting the shop this motor was built nov. 2005 so i doubt they would do anything seeing how long its been . later today i'll post pics of the coolant leak and some better pics of the housing

heres a pic of the leak

Pineapple Racing recently started selling a freeze out plug that fits that passage perfectly. I've used it and it works well. You have to call to order it.

Anthony

You need to do it with the correct sealant and freeze plug, as I' sure you know. A freeze plug creates an interference fit and it is pressed or hammered in. The use of a nickel seamed like a very jerry rigged solution. Also, I bet the owner was never told what housings he was given or given the choice. That I feel is not right.

Read the first post....

Anthony

i took some better pics today and i was wrong it was a quarter in each housing so i have 50 cents instead of 10. which is a better way to plug the hole, freeze plug + sealant or tap + plug the hole. thanks

wow... thats fucked up!

Seen that before too, usually causes a leak overtime...

That sucks, you should file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and let people in the forum know. Because you're cheating us if one goes there and gets burned again.

If this happened in Hawaii, you can bet something will be done to "rectify" this situation.

ooooohh, we have an e-thug in our midst. :rolleyes:

they could have at LEAST used a QUARTER! ;)

:scratch:

lol, woops

just go back to the shop and tell them you'll go half with them on the new rebuild!
or you can just try to hang them with the hole thing.

I don't recall the OP posting up how long ago the rebuild was, but unless it was within some warranty period, I'm not seeing a compelling reason for the shop to share rebuild costs.
The OP knew it was a 2nd gen. housing with water ports that would need to be plugged. Apparently it's been driven for some time with the coolant leak, whose source apparently wasn't a big deal. Also, apparently until recently, a proper size frost plug wasn't available and it was common practice to epoxy the hole shut. I doubt it was the quarter that failed. Seems everyone is more upset about the coin being used, but it's likely the epoxy that's leaking......yet that's an accepted way plug the hole. The shop should be responsible for fixing the leak if the housing is still worth keeping for the next rebuild. Nothing more.