3rd Generation Specific (1993-2002) 1993-2002 Discussion including performance modifications and Technical Support Sections.
Sponsored by:

What would cause a side seal to blow?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 12-01-03, 11:07 AM
  #1  
Former Rotorhead

Thread Starter
 
Sprockett's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Midland, MI
Posts: 1,926
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
What would cause a side seal to blow?

Here are my mods:
Blitz intake
Pettit Downpipe
Blitz BOV
Cat-back exhaust

Now, Mazda seems to have cancelled my warranty because the aftermarket parts led to the failure of the engine or some ****. Now, I am not familiar with the side seal, so how exactly does this thing fail and what does it do?
Old 12-01-03, 11:18 AM
  #2  
Lives on the Forum

iTrader: (126)
 
allrotor93's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Cary, NC
Posts: 6,703
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
should have taken the stuff off b4 mazda looked at it.
Old 12-01-03, 11:22 AM
  #3  
Former Rotorhead

Thread Starter
 
Sprockett's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Midland, MI
Posts: 1,926
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
thank you for not being any help or answering the question.
Old 12-01-03, 11:43 AM
  #4  
Rotary Freak

iTrader: (12)
 
moehler's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 2,319
Received 32 Likes on 27 Posts
by side seal, I'm guessing you mean one of your apex seals. Your mods could have caused you to overboost and run too lean... I know you don't want to hear this, but you really should have removed the mods before mazda looked at it. for once, a dealer is actually correct, your mods could have blown your engine.
Old 12-01-03, 12:01 PM
  #5  
Full Member

 
red 7's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: FL
Posts: 219
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Is that a universal weld on muffler?

Or HKS catback?
Old 12-01-03, 12:33 PM
  #6  
Eye In The Sky

iTrader: (2)
 
cewrx7r1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: In A Disfunctional World
Posts: 7,895
Likes: 0
Received 114 Likes on 66 Posts
How in the world do you still have an active warranty with a FD? How many miles on the engine?

Your mods are too little to have blown the engine.
I ran more mods than that before I went with an upgraded ECU and was running 10PSI boost.

Now if you somehow got the boost over about 11.5 psi, then yes you did it.

Did they tell you side seals or spex seals were bad. The way side seals normally go bad is being stuck from too much carbon buildup. This also can happen to apex seals but I have not seen this yet.
Old 12-01-03, 02:04 PM
  #7  
Former Rotorhead

Thread Starter
 
Sprockett's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Midland, MI
Posts: 1,926
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I just had the engine replaced 6k miles ago - that's why there was a warranty. And it wasn't the apex seal it was a side seal - Chris Sanders (Banzai Racing) looked at it and told me.
Old 12-01-03, 02:26 PM
  #8  
built my own engine

 
93BlackFD's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Buckhead, Atlanta
Posts: 3,470
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
no, you have side seals too....side seal + corner seal + apex seal ~= piston rings

now, as to how you had a failure? high heat can cause springs to collapse = seal failure

or you could have been running really rich, which would cause your seals to get "sticky"
Old 12-01-03, 05:34 PM
  #9  
WTB** Very Low Miles 94-95

 
artguy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Tejas
Posts: 3,298
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
HEAT


j
Old 12-01-03, 05:44 PM
  #10  
Tenseiga

iTrader: (1)
 
Sesshoumaru's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Iowa
Posts: 2,252
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
you can lose a side seals from pre-det too.

from the mods it looks like it was possible (could be other things like fp/injectors too).

It's more common to lose the apex due to larger surface area but if the apex seals were new and the side seals are used (most rebuilds resuse them) it's possible.

In your case you can pretty much rule out carbon.
Old 12-01-03, 06:48 PM
  #11  
Eye In The Sky

iTrader: (2)
 
cewrx7r1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: In A Disfunctional World
Posts: 7,895
Likes: 0
Received 114 Likes on 66 Posts
That is a good reason why to not buy a Mazda rebuild,
too many reused wearable parts. All rortor seals should never be reused in my opinion if you want a real reliable engine. As I said many times, you get what you pay for
and 4 banger guys would never reuse piston rings.

Too many RX owners are stingy to a fault!

One Mazda rebuild that a customer bought for us to take apart and port, had rotor housings that definitely violated Mazda's rebuild standards. He sued Mazda and won. Took a fricken year.
Old 12-01-03, 08:06 PM
  #12  
Original Gangster/Rotary!


iTrader: (213)
 
GoodfellaFD3S's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FL-->NJ/NYC again!
Posts: 30,529
Received 539 Likes on 326 Posts
Originally posted by cewrx7r1
That is a good reason why to not buy a Mazda rebuild,
too many reused wearable parts. All rortor seals should never be reused in my opinion if you want a real reliable engine. As I said many times, you get what you pay for
and 4 banger guys would never reuse piston rings.

Too many RX owners are stingy to a fault!

One Mazda rebuild that a customer bought for us to take apart and port, had rotor housings that definitely violated Mazda's rebuild standards. He sued Mazda and won. Took a fricken year.
Whoa. Every motor that we've taken apart has looked good as far as the irons, rotor housings and rotors are concerned. However, clearancing on the seals is another story altogether.........
Old 12-01-03, 09:54 PM
  #13  
I'm a CF and poop smith

 
skunks's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Hawaii
Posts: 3,958
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Originally posted by allrotor93
should have taken the stuff off b4 mazda looked at it.
he does bring up a very good point though, why the hell did you not take off the stuff before going to mazda?
Old 12-01-03, 11:26 PM
  #14  
Mr. Links

iTrader: (1)
 
Mahjik's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Kansas City, MO
Posts: 27,595
Received 40 Likes on 26 Posts
Arrow

The original thread:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...hreadid=233511
Old 12-02-03, 05:54 PM
  #15  
Rotary Enthusiast

iTrader: (47)
 
zkeller's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: york, PA
Posts: 917
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Side seals can "blow" by over-reving and possibly because of improper endplay.
Old 12-02-03, 08:15 PM
  #16  
Senior Member

 
R-magic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: columbus,Ohio, usa
Posts: 258
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
How does the car run when the side seals go compared to when the apex seals going?
Old 12-02-03, 10:20 PM
  #17  
Tenseiga

iTrader: (1)
 
Sesshoumaru's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Iowa
Posts: 2,252
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
i would guess better due to losing only one face instead of losing two faces

prolly depends on how bad too.
Old 12-02-03, 11:38 PM
  #18  
Former Rotorhead

Thread Starter
 
Sprockett's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Midland, MI
Posts: 1,926
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
he does bring up a very good point though, why the hell did you not take off the stuff before going to mazda?
Listen...I know that this is a good question - I DON'T KNOW. OK? I was pretty ******* upset when it happened. I had to go back to school the next day and I had to have it towed somewhere. That was the first place that popped into mind because I knew (or thought) they could diagnose what happened. OK? Now, this has NOTHING to do with what I asked, so ******* forget it. I don't care anymore.
Old 12-03-03, 01:03 PM
  #19  
Eye In The Sky

iTrader: (2)
 
cewrx7r1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: In A Disfunctional World
Posts: 7,895
Likes: 0
Received 114 Likes on 66 Posts
Goodfellafd3s,

What I was talking about was never reuse any rotor
seals! Always use new: apex, corner, side, and oil seals.
That is the only way to achieve maximun compression and reliability. Custom fit your side seals per Maxda comps manual. This is where too many people scrimpt.

Side housings can be lapped, and worn e-shaft or rotor bearings can be replace.
Old 12-03-03, 08:00 PM
  #20  
Original Gangster/Rotary!


iTrader: (213)
 
GoodfellaFD3S's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FL-->NJ/NYC again!
Posts: 30,529
Received 539 Likes on 326 Posts
Originally posted by cewrx7r1
Goodfellafd3s,

What I was talking about was never reuse any rotor
seals! Always use new: apex, corner, side, and oil seals.
That is the only way to achieve maximun compression and reliability. Custom fit your side seals per Maxda comps manual. This is where too many people scrimpt.

Side housings can be lapped, and worn e-shaft or rotor bearings can be replace.
Mr. Charles E. Westbrook, esquire

I was actually talking about the last piece of your post re: out of spec rotor housings. Whenever we do rebuilds we always use new corner, side, and apex seals and springs and make sure to spec the side seals for proper fitment (as Mazda typically has them too long, or tight).

take care--
Rich
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
cristoDathird
Introduce yourself
28
05-30-19 08:47 PM
sYnth.
Build Threads
0
08-19-15 06:27 PM



Quick Reply: What would cause a side seal to blow?



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:58 PM.