1994 JDM FD - Rebuild Timing
 

Hey guys,

I am a new owner of a 1994 JDM FD, its in very good condition and thankfully only has 27,000kms on the clock.

However, it makes a little bit of smoke out of the exhaust, smells quite a lot like petrol/oil and the compression in the rear rotor is a bit low, around 96psi.

The mechanic at my local rotary shop thinks that even though its low kms, the engine is still 20 years old and that the oil seals are going flat. I know i need to rebuild soon, but realisticly how much time do you think i have? Another few thousand kms? Will it start smoking worse and a sign to me? Or is it going to just explode on me without warning?

Thank you!!

It depends on how you drive the car.It can last forever or 2 miles.

Did your mechanic think about the stock turbos that like to blow seals too..and cause the engine to smoke out the exhaust??
I would NOT just up and rebuild an engine with 96 psi compression.
Hell!,guys have run engines a lot worse than that and rebuilt them without any ill effects on parts or wallet.

I've heard people driving FD engines with 60psi,.

Thanks for the reply mate, much appreciated.
At this stage I'm inclined to trust him that the turbos are ok but I'll speak to him about it.

Correct me if I'm wrong though but would the oil control rings not affect compression? Could you have decent compression but still burn oil?

the only time I experienced "oil control rings" was when the engine was at a High RPM..it would smoke blue on high rpm in heavy throttle.
The Turbo seals can do that too though.
obviously it was different though as the oil control ring problem was on an N/A and the turbo seal problem was on the TII.

I can't see a low KM engine with bad oil control rings..that is what rattles me.So I don't want to rule it out.
All I can do is suggest that you don't just Jump into spending on a engine that may NOT need a rebuild.

* is this 27,000 km on the original engine that came WITH the car and has NOT been rebuilt?

His words were 'oil seals' which I thought were the same as oil control rings? Are they not? It's original engine and car both on 27k kms

Change the oil every 4000-4500 km. with a quality filter and monitor. With that low of an odometer it's sat alot. Compression isn't THAT bad and may actually improve. Regardless, enjoy the car and don't loose sleep over it.

For that matter, I recommend you change all your fluids for a maintenance baseline, Especially change the coolant, which goes acidic over time.

Thanks mate. I've already had all filters and fluids replaced.
Do you guys reckon I should run a higher weight oil or maybe some additive to combat the smoke?

No. And no additives should be necessary with a decent quality oil.
Just run an appropriate viscosity for your climate and move change intervals a little closer than what you may have been used to in a piston engine.
If I were to recommend any additive, it would be a good fuel system cleaner....personally I like the BG44K stuff available here in North America.

Thanks for the replies

So I finally got her back from my new Mechanic. This guy has one of those proper rotor compression test units and he reckons front rotor is 100psi and rear is 80 psi.

On a scale of 1 to 10, how boned am i?

Well it might idle a little lumpy. But off-hand I don't know of anything you can practically do about the compression other that what I've said before. If that mileage is true and it's only done 27,000 kilometers (~ 18k miles) in 20 years, it's sat a lot. Maybe too much. I could see a hard seal is sticking a little or maybe seal springs going a bit weak. Again, compression on both rotors may improve some as you drive it. If it's hot starting OK then you can worry... or drive and enjoy the car.

I Agree with blue.. That's a lot of sitting and I would bet that it will improve if you just drive. Like he said keep a close eye on the gauges.. Good luck man keep us up to speed.

Damn running on 60 psi compression that's crazy lol