i dont really know a whole lot about rotaries, just the basic function and i found an '88 project. when i tried to crank it over(i had jumper cables to it), it tried, but just smoked out the tailpipe. the owner said that every spring, they would have to push/pull it to start. it has been sitting for 2 years. any idea how the seals on these were in '88? it has no visible rust what-so-ever and this is in Iowa. i was going to shoot an offer of $200 unless i feel that a rotary would be too much for me to work on/fix up or if the '88s werent too good. thanks.

 

my question is, what color was the smoke? i don't know if it applys to all 2nd gens, but i heard that they were prone to leaky injectors in their old age. even if it needs an engine, it's worth $200.

 

blue-ish, looks a lot like the smoke that comes out of my turbo shadow. even if it is work $200, i'm definatly not ready for replacing an engine. any other ideas of what it may be? thanks.

 

I think that it breaks down like this: blue smoke means oil, white sweet smoke means coolant. I know that these engines should be burning through about a quart every 3k miles, but blue smoke seems to mean that it's burning a bit more than it should. In piston engines I think that means leaky o-rings. No idea what it could be in a rotary.

 

blue aint oil. its gasoline.

i bet teh injectors are leaky as hell, and its stupidly flooded, which makes sense as to the each spring no start deal. search for the "unflood procedure" or look in the FAQ.

 

Take out the Egi Inj fuse under the hood try and crank it a bit then put the fuse back in.