Well the apex seals aren't broken anyway. It's thought that the engine died from possible water seal failure. The engine itself was built 3K miles ago.

From a quick look, there's no scoring on housings etc, etc.. obviously everything needs cleaned and measured up.


Does this look like the cause of water?



It's just surface rust... rubbed off easily enough. There also seemed to be a little (not much at all) water sitting in the front housing (not the one where the flywheel is - if that's classed as front?).


Another question... I've read about putting side seals etc into a box so you know where they came out of etc, etc. Half of mine just fell out of place when I took the engine apart.

Can I re-use these not knowing where they came from etc - if they are within tolerances? Do they need to go exactly where they came from?

I did find a little 2cm long part of broken cast material that fell out when I took it apart. I don't know where it came from. I'll have a good once it's cleaned etc. It could be the cause of my problem. Possibly need a new housing - time will tell once I find where it's broken from.


thanks! - any advice appreciated!

 

id say yes because it has rust on it, and oil doesnt cause rust. therefore it must be water.

as for the seals, if your already that far torn down with it i say replace all the seals and get it over with.

 

Yes that looks like a little bit of rust from water. The side seals are reusable just make sure they are within spec within there respected side seal grooves when you put them back in. You have to be extremely careful with the side seals and side seal springs though, they damage extremely easily.

David

 

I'm expecting to find something like this once it's all cleaned up.



The bit of casting I found looks like it would fit in somewhere just like that.

I've already got some spare housings and plates so if it is like that, it's not an issue at least.

 

Its pretty rare for the REWs to crack the coolant seal passage castings. It can happen but it is pretty rare. Usually that is more common in the 13BTs

 

We see coolant seal retaining wall failure on 13b-rew's all the time, there is nothing rare about it at all.

 

What else would cause the water being in there then? (bearing in mind I've not checked everything over yet).

The car didn't overheat etc. It flooded, then when started was pumping out heaps of white smoke. Obviously something's failed.

Any suggestions as to what else it possibly could be? Simply a dud water seal?

 

Ah... lol.

Cheers for sorting that one out.

 

Excuse me, out of the couple hundred engines or so I have torn down I have seen it once :why: Maybe it is a midwest thing It still isnt very common.

 

You should be able to see the wall failure, before cleaning anything, it is a very obvious chunk missing and the coolant seal will be protruding into the channel.

Check your front and intermediate irons, here is a customer's FD engine that had failures on both (go to the bottom of page):

http://www.banzai-racing.com/2008_cu..._breakdown.htm


You're Excused!!

We get engines shipped to us from all over the US, so it has nothing to do with the region.

Here is one that we just cracked down from California, with front iron wall failure:

http://www.banzai-racing.com/2008_cu..._breakdown.htm


We also see this failure a lot on low mileage engines that have sat for long periods of time, j-specs seem to be very prone to this failure for the same reason. I could post up dozens on links that show this same failure on FD engines, but I think I have made my point.

 

Also, you want to get the irons and rotors cleaned up pronto and sprayed with WD-40 to prevent corrosion. If you let them sit for a while with all that water, they could corrode to the point where they're not usable.

Dale

 

Well they were sitting in the car for a couple of weeks like this.

Clean them up etc, then wrap them in clingfilm or something?

 

Thanks. It gives me a good idea what to be looking for. I'll have a look later on. I'm on child duty at the moment.

 

Thats why i was curiouse to see the inside of your engine jim, mine failed due to the retaining wall breaking away exactly like in that picture. The coolant seal was intact but the seal was hanging out of the wall letting water pass into the engine. Had rough cold starts white smoke but car drove great, bit of a shame really, also noticed that the walls on some of the irons are dangerously thin in some places, bit of a bad design if you ask me. Examine all the old coolant seals and irons carefully you will be able to find the fault easily. Let me know how you get on.

 

The coolant seal retaining walls crack when you don't use change you coolant often enough, use the wrong coolant mix or tap water, or if the engine isn't properly cleaned and too much debris builds up in the coolant seal groove.