Im going on 4 weeks.

 

So how's mine looking, Jason?

 

I can tell you guys that Gotham is receiving motors. Heat Treated's fd has been on the road for a while now, and Apnea "Free Diving Champ of the Free World" Blue's fd was just started up yesterday, I witnessed the event.

As an aside, how'd you pop your motor, Manuelo?

--El Capitan

 

Manny, did the engine just let go at the Tracquest event at VIR? If so, sorry about the news.

Ramon

 

Don't know. Am awaiting the news from Rx7 Store. Motor stopped running after 18,000 miles/18 months. No. Motor quit running @ TracQuest Memorial Day/June 1 Mid Ohio event. Was running 12 psi boost with no problems on the track. I had a stutter/popping with black smoke coming out of the tail pipe, @ high rpms coming out of Turn 13, 3rd gear. I got out of the gas, pitted, in, turned down the boost to 10 psi (from 12 psi), and continued my session with no problems. Parked the car, and cooled it for 2 hours, while I instructed students. Went back to start her up, to run in my session. Motor wouldn't idle. I thought--fouled plugs. Replaced them, with no improvement in idle. I checked MAP sensor. It was connected. Checked ignitor. Ultimately, the car was trailered to Rx7 Store from Mid Ohio. Zavier checked the compression. Front rotor was very low. Rear was fine.

During my open track sessions, ambient temps were in the low to mid 80s. Air intake temp peak was 50 C. Water temp peaks were between 110 to 115 C near the end of the session. Boost was set to 0.85 kg/cm^2. I was not monitoring knock. Currently, I'm not sure if that popping/stuttering was detonation, or not. Presumably, if it did ping, the motor would not have pulled well when I turned the boost down to 10 psi?

Eagerly awaiting what Zavier finds, when he finally cracks my motor open to see what exactly failed. It's all speculation until then.

FWIW, my motor was a KDR streetport with enlarged oil and cooling passages, eccentric shaft mod (constant oiling jets), and silicone water seals. Motor was built from a Malloy Reman purchased in Nov 2002. Motor was built and installed in Jan 2003 @ Rx7 Store. Fully tuned to 16 psi with 93 octane pump gas, and churned out 370 rwhp on Rx7 Store's Mustang Dyno this past March. Motor ran like a top. J-spec twins were making great boost, with no problems with the sequential system. Motor was completely devoid of leaks. Car was TIGHT!

Contacted KDR's Dave Barninger. Based on my description, he thinks apex seal failed. No warranty coverage.

 

Must be the fuel starvation!
The same thing happened to me on autocross.
We stopped for lunch and fuel. Then went out again, then it start to idle funny.
Reman motor had over 30K miles in 4 years. Mostly autocross and drift events.
Cooling by PWR and 25row Dual Oil Cooler.

 

Yup. Wierd. Unspectacular failure, but an engine failure nonetheless.

 

Interesting Manny. I had a similar situation. My car wouldn't idle after my last session at VIR N and allowing it to sit for an hour . Interestingly enough it idled perfectly right before shut down too. Turns out it was an apex seal in the front rotor. I believe the culprit was a blown hose that that was capped at the wastegate (I was full non seq.)--I probably over boosted/spiked on my last run.

I bought new seals from Malloy and I was back on the road within 10 days. Love the simplicity of the rotary.

Best of luck.

R

 

Yes. Exactly the same symptoms. Not sure if I overboosted/spiked. Maybe that stutter/popping was the Power FC retarding the ignition. I just don't know. Interesting nonetheless. I thought I was the only one to have such an unspectacular/unceremonious engine failure. How many miles did your motor have on it before it failed? Was that the KDR motor from Malloy?

I probably screwed myself. I drove the car with poor idle--thinking I flooded it or something--and that driving it under no boost would clear up the idle? I just hope I didn't score the housings, or worse, shoot a piece of apex seal through the J-spec twin turbo blades

I wish Zavier would tell me what's up. The suspense is killing me!!!???

 

Do you have a stock MAP sensor or a 3bar MAP? I'm assuming 3 bar since your running over 14.7psi boost.

I think I have a FD I'm working on that has a bad 3 bar sensor... We will find out tomorrow when the new one comes in. The car just quit running during an auto-x. It starts but won't run.

 

Manny, it was a KDR upgrade on a Malloy reman. I believe I got 25,000 miles and about 15 full track days on it. I was never easy on that motor. My friend and I rebuilt the engine--actually he did it :-) Diagnosis = cracked seal. That's all. Turbos and housings were in perfect shape. Actually we decided that I should be using pre-mix even though I have a working OMP. We changed the seals and put some new teflon o-rings (mc master) and I was good to go. I did notice that I was probably losing compression prior to the incident. The rubber corner seals were all EXTREMELY hard and one side seal was warped.

R

 

Jeff,

No, I have the stock MAP sensor. I only run 1.05 kg/cm^2 (15 psi) on the street. On track, I turn boost down to 0.70 to 0.85 kg/cm^2 (10 to 12 psi) depending on ambient temps. I might have been a bit exuberant running 0.85, but dammit, it had been raining @ Mid Ohio all morning. The track finally dried late in the afternoon, and I wanted to go banzai with 12 psi LOL. Interesting that you had a similar symptom with your motor? Why have I not read about this type of engine failure before?

 

Hmm...very interesting. Did your failure happen recently? You got a few thousand miles and track days more than I did on my upgraded KDR/Malloy motor. Do you how/when you cracked your apex seal...ie...what were the conditions that caused a cracked apex seal? Yes I admit, once the KDR motor was broken in, and tuned, I was fully utilizing my mods LOL. Once Zavier opens up the motor, I'll let you know what's up. Hmmm...I guess I'll need to invest in an engine hoist, and pull my own motor the next time an engine failure occurs?? Do you think it's worth going with 3-mm seals (and having the rotors milled)?

 

Taking off line. Sent you a PM.

 

Checked my PMs. Haven't seen it yet.

I guess in my case getting a reman isn't the way to go? I guess this is a good thing, since there are people waiting on reman motors.

What I see happening for guys who track our modded FDs is preventative engine rebuilds once every 18 to 24 months!

 

Update:
As mr. Rich said, my Reman is doing well, I just started boosting since Im done with break in and all signs look good.
Boost feels good again, hope "I got one of the good ones"

 

Welll at least your car will be in good company there, as mine is there also getting a major facelift

 

Mine is on the front rotor too.
We took off the Intake elbow. Rev it up, and heard the compression kick back from the secondary runner. So it must cracked or missing a piece near the front secondary runner.

Currently thinking of getting reman. How is the reman quality lately?

I guess having dual oil cooler and radiator upgrade does not always prevent apex seal from cracking.

Good rich tuning does not help as well, if you just happened to pull a lot of G with the R compound.
The fuel slosh and a small air buble gets in the fuel line . Then thats it....

 

Back again but with good news.

Update for Malloy customers as of Friday morning.

Ray stated that they are getting some in and out now but should have a plentifull supply by the week of July 19th. Good news at last!

Of course they show up a week before vacation! D'oh!!

 

Manny, the PFC doesn't retard timing like the stock ecu when it hears detonation. So if you heard a popping noise, more than likely it was something bad happening with the engine.

Tim