Seems my car doesn't like me anymore
After not being able to run it properly, I managed to get it running yesterday. It took so long because I needed to solve a waterleak. You'd guess that can't be too hard, but guess what? It lasted for 1 ******* day! Today my car was leaking, again.
Don't know where, but I believe the intake manifold (where the problem was at first) is the reason once again. Apart from the steam it's not very nice...
Also, the exhaust isn't thight anymore (what an understatement). Actually, I don't have much of an exhaust anymore. To re-seal the intake (which didn't help) I obviously took of the manifold, meaning the turbo had to come of, and the downpipe, etc. Now the rear donut (rubber) is screwed, so the center-pipe can't go back. Cool sound!
I'd guess that didn't matter: loud pipes save lives, you know. So I start anyway. Backfires as hell! Airtemp reads freaking 99°C. Must be slightly wrong, with 15-17° outside. Water is just as much wrong, but otherside: 6°C. Mixture gets screwed up of course.
The engine starts (not very easy though), but doesn't run unless you blimp the throttle. Maybe I can adjust idling, but I think it simply won't run under 1500-2000rpm. Great.
So why does the engine run bad? I DON'T KNOW. I borrowed a map from someone who runs his engine on it, so I'd reckon I could at least start and run mine on it. Fine tuning can always be done later. But it won't run at all.
So I compared the Wolf map (from the site) with his. Ignition is completly different! Like some 20° or more at some points! So I'm confused once more...
I hope I can find something out about that.
But there's more: the car is dripping oil!!! I can almost cry... I know the cause, but it means tearing the engine out! The 12A front cover was modified for the turbo-return. I feared the proffesional that welded the cover had the material disturbed, meaning it wouldn't be flat anymore. And yes: I'm right... Another 80€ gone...
None of you can help me very much, but I was hoping someone would at least tell me everything will be alright someday... Hell, I haven't driven a rotary powered car for ages... (over a year!!!) I'm getting depressed!!!

 

Don't worry
Everything will be allright someday.

 

I have a lapping machine that I can use where I work, so I could propably fix the front cover... same for the intake manifold. Maybe you can try resetting the wolf to stock settings... and work your way up from there... Have you checked the compression of the engine... And please tell me you checked if the engine was still loose before you cranked it! if it was so long ago since you've started it... for the meters, bad ground?

 

The engine was/is loose, no problem. Compression is only going to be reliable tested when the engine can run, as a hot engine will give different ratio's. But even then, I think I have found some causes: TPS isn't reading correctly, making the ECU think throttle is opened wider then it really is. Should be easy fix, wasn't it for the stupid top-mount intercooler.
What worries me most was the boost: the line was connected to one of the nipples on the TB (remember: all emmision controls are gone), as I read somewhere this was a very reliable place to do so. But it now might be reading wrong, according to the manual this can cause the engine to run extremely rich (deffenitly the case), which causes stalling after starting. I have not much experience with turbo engines, but it seems to read very little boost, even at 4000rpm (didn't go further). What wonders me most was a vac. signal at some point. Negative pressure in a turbo engine??? Might look at the TPS and line again tomorrow (depending on the wether), and see if it helps.
BTW: anyone who knows a source for generic exhaust gaskets? I need material (you cut it yourself) to make two exhaust gaskets, as it is just a bit too loud now.

 

I have some excess lying around if you're interested (different thicknesses).
Otherwise you can get them at R-Power (www.rpower.be), though I don't know if this far/near for you.

 

negative pressure can be caused when the throttle is closed and the engine doesn't get enough air, it's this vac in the intake at that moment that can be used to pull open a blowoff valve... which type of wastegate are you using? maybe it's malfunctioning or it's just opening to soon if the ecu gets a wrong pressure reading, that's if the wastegate is controlled through the ecu, if it's controlled by the pressure itself, I'd check if it's set right...

 

Stock wastegate, OEM pressure release valve (cheap Mazda version of a blow off valve) for now. The vac./boost line is probable the cause, I'll check that. Problem is that not many possible pick-up points exist. I could drill a hole and tap it for a nnipple, but that'd mean yet another time removing everything. On the other hand, if the oil leak really is bad enough, I'll have to do that anyway. But it's something that'll have to wait a bit. I'm not going to pull the whole thing out again before th garage is ready. I'd just like to get the engine running clean enough to be able to take it for a quick flick around the block. After knowing it's right, I'd pull the engine anyway, to repaint the enginebay and re-wire the electrics.

 

There's a pickup point for pressure on the Upper intake manifold, really don't understand why you would try to put it on the TB.

Stock pickup point is on the LIM, but if emissions are removed, its proberly not useable.
as for the readings, check groundings, very important, especially if the car has been siting outside for some time.

 

the sensors are TWO wires. So they are not grounded by the block or so. They are grounded by wire through the ECU. The sensors are basicly reading wrong, and I don't know how to fix (might need other sensors!)
as for the vac. lines: I used the pick-up points "under" the TB (which is actually at the right side), where almost all lines come from. These are 3 on each side. I'm not really aware of other usefull ones, must check tomorrow.

 

i wish you all the luck

 

I don't see why the nipple on the TB would be a bad point to read boost pressure. Anyway, if the car is not driving, it will not make a lot of boost.
On my FD, boost only seems to appear when the engine needs to work. I can rev it to any rpm out of gear without getting real boost.

I have some spare 12a front covers if you need one. I would not weld onto the front cover, I would drill a hole myself and try to get it tight myself (bolt with a hole in it, nut inside and nut outside + some sealing stuff). At least, it would be my mistake if it were to leak oil :-)

 

Boost problems are solved: the turbo spins up properly, making boost as it should. The sensing line was not really at the wrong place, but didn't "seal" well. The engine runs way smoother now. I could only do a temporary fix now (McGyver way: lots of tape will fix any problem ), but at least I now know what the problem was/is.
As for the cover: I needed a large hole, since the return line is AN10, with a 18mm adapter piece. I couldn't drill 18mm holes (no large enough machines for that) nor tap the hole. The problem is the limited thickness of the cover, which won't allow for threads to be cut in. I might redo the thing using a larger male/male connector and nuts to sandwich the cover wall. But I must check if there's room for that inside the cover.
Most important problem now is the ignition, which is seriously offset.

 

maybe you should bring the car to Higgi? i think he will fix the problems within two days so you can enjoy the summer in your car!!!!

 

And just how am I gonna get there?
Actually, I'm pretty sure the current "problems" are an easy fix. It's just about finding the time and an extra pair of hands. I'll be tuning the idle soon, esp the ignition. Once that's done, I can finally run the engine until it's warm, and work from there. The vac/boost referring line was just a minor problem, but it'll take some searching to fix. The nipple on the Wolf uses a rather large diameter hose, while all the nipples on the engine are a little smaller. But I'll fix that somehow.
I had a temporary fix (McGyver way: tape solves every automotive problem ) and the engine ran way better. But it's useless to try and tune the fuelmap if the inputs from the CAS might be offset. The thing is, to get the right ignition map, you'll need to "zero" the CAS, so it must be positioned that the sensor triggers the Wolf at 0° (or TDC). The wolf will then calculate the correct output signal. Sounds easy, but it isn't. To do so, you'll need to remark the pulley, etc. It'll be done one day, but it's a bit fiddling.
Also, I did most of the TB mod (didn't remove the extra plates, but the BAC etc went), which makes the engine a bitch when cold. I'll take a look if something can be done, cause it's not really cool to have to keep the engine alive when cold.