So this past weekend my sand rail quick starting. I have tried the below and it still only cranks.

Battery is at 14 volts
New Starter
Deflood
Hooked up spark plug tester and both T and L are firing.
Fuel Vapor is coming out of the exhaust when cranking

13B motor with a Motec M4 with 3MSD Boxes for Ignition. Car runs on 110 with Premix at a ratio of 1oz per gallon.

Car was running great for 4 days straight. Went on a run then stopped for break and car cranked and would not start but eventually started.

Tried to start the car next morning and it only cranks. Cranks till the battery is almost dead.

Please help!!

H

 

A little update.

Still will not start.

Tried the dry it out again and put marvel mystery oil in it. Might have put too much as it now just smokes heavily when cranking.

Replaced post fuel pump filter with no change.

Also put a new starter in as I thought it might be cranking too slow.

Any Ideas???

 

welcome to the board.

well, if you've got fuel and spark, then the next thing to check is compression. that should round out the basics.

 

In your opinion does the smoke I am getting out of the tail pipe a sign that I am getting spark?

 

it could mean that, but not necessarily. that said, i thought you said you confirmed spark at the plugs???

 

Sorry, I did say that. I went back and reconfirmed again.

Did a compression test and am seeing mid 60's on both rotors. Did this through the trailing plugs.

Do these motors instantly die? The car was running great till it would not start again.

 

for the sake of making sure we are all on the same page, can you walk me through how you conducted the compression test? is that 60s in each of the 6 chambers?

as far as your question goes, it can happen. with you running it in a sandrail, my first questions are your air filters and cooling system. however, let's go about confirming your compression numbers before we start that talk.

 

Thank you for your reply!

For compression, I had my wife push all the way down on both the clutch and gas and had her crank. I removed all the ignition wires and pulled the T1 spark plug and inserted my compression gauge. She cranked it for 10 seconds and the needed on bounced between 60-65. I did the same method on the T2 spark plug. The fuel pump was also off.

Is there a different way to perform this test? I am very new to rotary's and learning as I go.

Thank you!

 

from what i understand of the process, that sounds about right. did you use an actual rotary engine tester or a regular tester for piston engines (with the valve removed)?


sadly, either way, it seems like you've found your issue.

 

I used a standard piston engine tester but I did leave the valve core in.

Looks like its time to get quotes on a rebuild.

 

I removed the valve core and the reading was even lower. I plan to pull the motor this week and send it out for a rebuild.