rx-7PRIDE

Alright guys I have a 3rd gen fd 13b rx7 that I've been having a few issues with! I have come to the conclusion I could be looking at a rebuild as from my knowledge blue smoke could be the seals getting deteriorated BUT I am not a rotary wiz and there are 0 shops in my area willing to touch a rotary so I've been researching for years and doing all the work my self ( SO FAR SO GOOD 3 yrs running onto 4) the issues I'm having now is that on start up my car burns ALOT of blue smoke it does kind of die off after running for say 10 mins or to operating temp but every so often when Im WOT it will start to smoke out the street and continues while I sit at say lights and intersections, then I basically have to just drive until it stops smoking(sometimes have to open up throttle and it seems to dissipate a lot faster, I'd like to know your opinions on that BUT PLZ READ this next part aswell as they may be connected. THAT 1ST issues happened for a month or so before it was parked(still regularly started and driven through the gears down the back alley) but during that one month span I noticed that my seconday turbo would NO LONGER come online, now I know the fds are infamous for boost problems and I do have the ugly rats nest still BUT IVE BEEN OVER EVERY LINE replaced a couple so I can rule out a leak. I persisted to draw the conclusion that the actuator that controlles the flange to open up the secondary has failed as I get 0 secondary as if the pre spool and flange are not working. I GET GREAT POWER AND BOOST OUT OF THE PRIMARY TURBO which I know is run separately. My car after warm up seems to have a little bit of a rough idle not the choppy rotary I'm used to it seems to bump up and down and a little more than the 100 rpm leeway of a rotary !!!! CAN ANYONE TELL ME IF IM LOOKING AT A REBUILD BY THE SOUNDS OF THIS OR SHOULD I LOOK INTO SOMETHING ELSE ( I do have a spare twin turbo complete if anyone believes that's te issue I'll slap that in but don't wanna waste my time if it sounds like a rebuild

rx-7PRIDE

I am no longer located in Calgary Alberta so rx7 specialties is outta the question

JDK

iTrader: (8)

Most cases of burning oil is from the front or rear turbo...check your intercooler and piping for signs of oil... that usually indicates bad turbo seals. Boosting issues are most always a bad solenoid and or vacuum hoses...they can be a pain

rx-7PRIDE

Both upper and lower intercooler pipes are free of any oil or signs of lubrication that oil passed through! Should I go ahead and pull off my turbo and check it out or is there another option I should try first . As stated the vacuum lines have all been gone through and a couple replaced with no improvement so I'm leaning towards the actuators on the turbo controlling pre spool and engagement of the secondary being bad does this sound like it could be a possiblility ?? As for the blue smoke I been told if my motor fires up every time with no problem or hesitation chances are my apex seals are good still does this sound like a knowledgeable assessment ?

sctRota

iTrader: (2)

Just examine the turbos and see if they are leaking oil, rear turbo shows quite easily and the front on you can shine a light on it to see anything.
The "zero boost on secondary" issue can be a vacuum line that runs to the a vacuum valve on the back part of the Y-pipe that tends to pop off as age causes it to do some funky things. (Has happened to me before)
It's a bitch to reconnect without removing the secondary turbo inlet hose or when hot, but with tiny hands or a curved pliers should pop her back in pretty quickly.

rx-7PRIDE

Okay I will examine the turbos now !! But as for the vacuum line like many others I DO NOT have a y-pipe I have 2 independent intake pipes so Ive got to rule that out

rx-7PRIDE

Not sure if the pics worked

rx-7PRIDE

Last pic was inside of intercooler pipe I know it's hard to see but it's clean and the oil like substance on the coupler is actually dirt and condensation mix I already wiped it and smelled it not oily and doesn't smell this pic is the independent intake

JDK

iTrader: (8)

Before you do anything strenuous try some easier checks first:

PCV valve, check by removing the oil filler cap, this will let your engine vent freely and if the smoking stops then clean or replace the valve.

Check you intercooler piping for oil like I already said

From there if nothing is apparent I would pull the turbo’s , check the turbine wheels for oil...if the wheels or the area is wet replace the unit

To answer some of your other questions, apex seal have very little to do with burning oil, the oil control rings would be the only internal parts that would cause your problem, back to the first check I talked about, if the engine is not venting property this will cause oil to bypass the oil control rings.

Over,
Hope I’ve some help for you

rx-7PRIDE

Thank you jdk I will look into all aspects you have listed tonight i can only hope the oil control rings are not shot. Very helpful info I will let you know how my checks go as soon as I finish

rx-7PRIDE

So far I have started it and it smoked quite a bit but as usual after warm up it tends to stop smoking until I push the throttle or rev it up and then there are small amounts of smoke coming out on initial push of throttle it doesn't seem to smoke on idle so I removed the oil filler cap anyway and basically had the same thing happening so I think now I'm gunna pull my primary intake and see if the turbine has oil in it

JDK

iTrader: (8)

Looking at your picture you do have a Y pipe like all stock FD's should have, I think you have been checking you intake pipes....they will tell you nothing, you need to check for oil in the intercooler pipes

rx-7PRIDE

My FD isn't stock as far as I take and intercooler pipes the 2nd picture was of the INTAKE SYSTEM it was a sideways pic the first pic was of the inside of the upper intercooler pipe I will post pics now of the intercooler pipes which are aluminum after market pipes

rx-7PRIDE

Intercooler after market pipes not stock y pipe

rx-7PRIDE

I appreciate all the help guys and I hope I didn't come off ignorant as I wasn't trying to be but I have now discovered that my primary turbo has a broken turbine flange I will post a pic as I don't know the technical term for the turbine flanges

rx-7PRIDE

Pics !!!

JDK

iTrader: (8)

WOW...comp. wheels should not look like that, I would pull those off and seek out a better set just from seeing that picture.The true sign of oil seal failure is seeing the other side of the wheel...turbine side (exhaust wheel). Someone has dropped something into the intake for that to happen...which could be the cause of your problems, the wheel would have been so far out of balance that it could have been the killer for the seal and or bearing.

rx-7PRIDE

JDK I really appreciate the info and yes I believe a friend of mine dropped a 10mm bolt in the intake as he lost one while working with me and it was never found and ever since then the problems have gotten worse I do have a spare twin setup that I am currently installing myself will update status when I finish THANKS AGAIN

thewird

iTrader: (8)

That bolt is probably stuck in your intercooler. You should pull it out and you'll find the bolt.

thewird

rx-7PRIDE

Intercooler is currently out of car and so far no bolt in it I'm 2 bolts away from having the turbo off now I will post an update as soon as I find the bolt and get the turbos out and inspect the damage that was caused I will post pics of anything else significant

rx-7PRIDE

Turbos are out so far no luck finding the bolt but Ill be waiting now till Monday to order gaskets to put my other twin setup on so I will update the status as I go

JDK

iTrader: (8)

You can re-use the exhaust gaskets and other Y pipe metal gaskets as well, if they look to flat just use a very small amount of sealant.

rx-7PRIDE

JDK would you recommend getting the inlet gaskets and turbo to intake gaskets from Mazda or is it possible to use a sheet of gasket paper and make my own for those parts? I noticed that those gaskets are a bit differnt material than a conventional gasket will a gasket sheet material suffice or should I just wait for the proper ones from Mazda ??

JDK

iTrader: (8)

All the gaskets associated with the turbo and charge pipes are metal as far as I remember...

rx-7PRIDE

They are actually more of a fiber type of plastic it's weird I've actually never seen these type of gaskets before for a turbo I figured metal or rubber seal type gaskets but here are the stock gaskets anyway for good measure !!!