Jturbo

iTrader: (9)

I had an engine fire on Memorial Day weekend of 2010. I replaced everything that had been burned including a brand new wire harness and many solenoids along with all new vacuum lines. The fire burned many of the parts under the UIM but nothing else. I had a fire extinguisher handy to put out the flames at the first hint of smoke.

The car was all original with 53,000 miles. The engine had great compression before the engine fire.

After replacing everything and getting the car back together, I sprayed some fogging oil into each rotor housing so the engine would not be bone dry when I spun it to build oil pressure. From the first turn of the engine it sounded like there was no compression and would not start.

I did a compression test and am getting absolutely zero compression on both rotors on all faces. I thought the compression tester I had was bad so I tried another and had the same results. So, I tried listening and feeling for compression and I feel three even pulses on each rotor housing, however, they are extremely weak. There is no chugging noise at all with the plugs removed. If you listed to the exhaust you can hear very faint pulses but that is it.

So, has anyone dealt with zero compression on both rotors? I was thinking the seals might be seized and I should use the ATF trick after sitting for over a year but I am not so keen on that after reading about what it does to the oil seals. At this point I may have no other choice.

I also thought that the compression could be related to the fire. However, when the fire started the engine was not under any load. I was at cruise and then idle when I stopped and noticed the smoke and the flames were put out right away.

Any ideas? Thanks!

MOBEONER

iTrader: (18)

Pull the ignition fuse Remove the spark plugs and crank the motor. Listen to the pulses, how strong to they sound?

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

use MMO instead of ATF. less of a smokescreen as well as less harmful for rubber seals.

Jturbo

iTrader: (9)

MOBEONER - The pulses sound very weak. They seem to be weak enough to not even register on the gauge.

Karack - Thanks for the input. I will pick up some MMO and give it a try.

I have found that this whole time that I have zero spark on any plug. I am getting fuel as the plugs are wet and smell like gas.

I suppose the engine could be flooded, however, it has sounded the same from the very first turn of the key having no combustion due to not having spark.

I will try to solve my no spark problem and then inject some MMO into the rotor chambers.

I was a bit shocked to see zero compression on all rotor faces. I have blown the rear apex seals on the Turbo 2 I had, but the front rotor was healthy and the rear showed at least some signs of life on the compression tester even though it was blown.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

these engines really don't appreciate storage much, carbon stuck seals aren't all that uncommon yet i would also say that more than a small amount of 7's have wound up in the junkyard simply because the owners/shops didn't know how to start a low compression engine to free up the seals. it is also a sign that you should consider a water/CC treatment after you get it all sorted out, granted not every engine sees the temps of an engine fire so it could just be an oddity.

Jturbo

iTrader: (9)

Karack - I will definitely consider a water/CC treatment if I can get this thing up and running.

One other thing to note is that the fire probably only burned for around 20-30 seconds before I knocked the flames out. The fire department then sprayed the embers out with a hose.

Much of what was under the UIM was burned, but the block itself did not have any soot or marks from the flames which is why I assumed that the engine would not be an issue.

This may be a stretch, but I am curious if water was forced into the rotor housings when they sprayed the car since some of the vacuum lines were burned away and the nipples and various areas on/around the UIM were exposed. I noticed that the original plug tips were rusty when I removed them.

I wonder if this has caused the rusting/seizing of the seals as the water was never burned away as the car sat for over a year.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

quite possible, it doesn't take much water or even actual surface contact to start oxidizing the internals. but i'd still give it a shot once you get the igntion issue sorted out, they could just lightly be jammed up.

Jturbo

iTrader: (9)

Will do. Thanks for all of your help and I will give an update when I can.

Davin

iTrader: (14)

Dude, you probably cooked every gasket you had in your engine. Do you have coolant failure? You really need to pull the engine apart man...

Jturbo

iTrader: (9)

I will not know the extent of the damage until if/when I get the car running. If it needs a rebuild due to bad seals etc. then so be it.

With the short amount of time that the fire was burning it took out the rubber and plastics under the UIM. I was hoping it never got hot enough to do any serious damage but maybe it did. I will try the MMO, fix my spark problem and go from there.

Thanks guys.

jetlude

iTrader: (9)

What is MMO ?

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Marvel Mystery Oil: http://tinyurl.com/3gbbmsw