Hi all,

Apologies if this isn't completely coherent; I'm a little shaky right now!

About an hour ago my gorgeous, excellent condition '88 GXL was mashed on the freeway by a drunk driver. (No injuries, thank god.)

In anticipating the "to-repair" or "not-to-repair" dilemma, I have a question for you gurus more familiar with the internal workings of the 13B rotary.

Initially, I was thankful that most of the damage was to the rear and driver side of the car, thinking the engine might be just fine.

But after the accident when I tried to start the car to move it toward the tow truck, it started immediately and then revved to redline (and beyond) and stayed there. I killed the ignition when I saw it wasn't going back down. This happened three or four times as I tried to figure out exactly what was going on. It seemed like the throttle was stuck completely open, so as soon as the car started, it revved all the way, making the engine scream, as you can imagine.

I can do most of the body work repair myself, but am worried it might not be worth it if the repeated high-rev and redline to the engine was damaging to it. So, my question is this: Can high RPM (for several seconds, like 15 or 20) damage an otherwise excellent-condition rotary? Any idea how likely it is I blew a seal and ruined my compression? And is a dealer compression test the only way I can tell?

The engine had 148,000 miles and was still running very, very strong and at full compression. I'm the original owner and have serviced the car absolutely on-schedule forever. In short, until tonight the engine was still running like new.

Do you guys think the four or five times I let it rev so damn high could cause me serious problems? Problems that may deter me from repairing the body and saving my baby?

Thanks for your opinions; they're much appreciated!

P.S. Any reccomendations for good rotary mechanics (non-dealer!) in Utah? I've always done my own work, but don't think I can handle this . . .

 

Well, it would have been better if yo ushut it off as soon as you saw it approaching redline but oh well. High RPM can damage the side plates if I remember right because the rotors will move to the side and hit them. Did that happen in your case? Not sure. You can do a compression test at home using a regular piston checker, just pull the pin out and then crank the engine. Look for even bounces. You can get a more detailed how-to by searching the site.

I would check the throttle and stuff to see if you can get it closed.

 

Coulda sent the eccentric shaft into the truffle shuffle too Do you not have a rev limiter? If it just banged off rev limiter I don't see how it could be damaged.