My fd is in the garage at the moment with internal damage to the engine and turbos. The mechanic says it needs a rebuild and new stock twins. He said that if the oil seals on the turbo had gone then all the oil from the engine could have been sucked through the turbo and out......starving the engine of oil and so needing a rebuild. He said it was the rear bearing that had been damaged...possible???

Id like to hear your opinions you wise bunch

 

It's possible. You'd need a pretty catastrophic loss of oil, unless you ran it for quite a while with low supply.

 

What is the compression on the engine? Is the mechanic saying the engine is most likely toast just because the turbos are toast? Possible but not likely. If the engine failed due to this it was over a period of time without you checking the oil level. Can you get the opinion of another mechanic? Is the mechanic you are using a reputable rotary mechanic?

 

How does he know if the rear bearing is damaged without tearing down the engine?

 

That sounds like some internet rumors I've heard about other turbo cars like the Subie Legacy GT. Goodfellas is on the ball. If he doesn't have the engine apart, how does he specifically know the rear bearing is gone?

If the turbo oil seals had failed, you would have seen huge plumes of oily smoke out of the exhaust. You wouldn't miss that symptom.

 

Sounds like a inexperienced mechanic with rotaries (no offense). Just do a simple DIY compression test.
$25 tool rental from Autozone or similar auto parts store.
30 minutes-1 hour depending on mechanical skill.
You will need a 13/16" deep socket (spark plug socket) and a ratchet.
Remember to disconnect one plug wire at a time and have fun!
You can do a compression check on a cold engine but it's more to see what's going on, not to get PSI readings. (If this makes sense)

www.banzai-racing.com/compression_test.htm

 

Thanks for the info guys im still looking into it with the mechanic and the garage so fingers crossed but i wasnt sure with what to believe.

 

Anything is possible, but what you are describing is not really a practical diagnosis. We have had cars come into the shop that had complete turbo failure. Below is a picture where the compressor wheel broke off and turbine wheel exited the exhaust system. This resulted in immense lose of oil, literally dripping from the exhaust. However the bearings in the engine were still within spec when we opened it up. The customer obviously did not drive the car very far once this happened.

If your car was smoking heavily (blocking the sun), your low oil buzzer was going off and you drove your car for miles, you will have damaged bearings. This more than likely would have actually resulted in spun bearings and a trashed engine.

 

That's the second time I've winced a little seeing that picture. "Complete turbo failure"....yeah, doesn't get much more "complete" than that.

 

I would agree with Banzai with low oil buzzer, a few weeks ago I went for hard driving in some twisted road while coming back I notice my oil light came on? I immediately checkmy oil pressure seems fine with oem & after market gauge, I could not pull off over right away because the Hi way only have two lanes, anyway maybe about a half block then i pull over. As I exit out the car oil was on the entire driver of the car the from to the back. I let the engine cool down with the fan on. Anyway I found the hose that was running from the chassis and I fixed, the car drove fine & idle perfect and oil pressure is good 60 psi @ 3k rpm, plus and somke and I did a compression test with mazda rotary test everything seem fine. However since I caught it in time is it possible to have any damage internal? I am curious to hear from you guys, since we speaking oil starvation.

 

Khris, we need more information..... what oil line came loose? I'm betting an aftermarket oil cooler line. Also, how much oil did you lose?

 

Hey Rich, when I check the engine oil level the dipstick show nothing and yes it was the aftermarket oil cooler lines.

 

...... so either how much oil did you have to add, or how much did you drain out of the oil pan?

 

I had to add 4 quart at the time to get it back home, since I have order new lines and re-route them in different location and changed the oil twice to get all the any shaving out of the system.

 

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