86 RX7 rotary will turn by hand, the hits something inside
 

Hi, I am new to these rotary engines. I have one that sat for a while, but only has 16K miles! Working on it for a friend. When he got it, the throttle body was unbolted, air cleaner was off. I took the plugs out, used some MMO. It will turn each way just about one revolution then it hits something solid. I am wondering if something could have been dropped down the intake? I didn't take the intake or exhaust manifold off to see anything, figured I'd ask first, not knowing if I'd be able to see anything. Thanks...BOB!

has to be something in there...
I had a mouse in one of mine!..and you guessed it..squirsh...ewww..bones stopped it!

Were you able to get to it by taking off the intake manifold? Thanks.

Hell no!
the engine was Toast.
I also had a JDM engine.same thing..turns ok but Wham..stopped.
it had a Tennis ball sized chunk of Rust encrusted Garbage from the Shipper's pressure washing the engine to make the Piece of shit look good enough to sell.
That engine also had to be taken apart.

Now,you may be able to see what the problem is BUT you have to take off both manifolds and get a clear view into the inside of the engine.
It may not be visible though,so that is why I am saying it may be better for you to Bite the bullet and rebuild this engine.
The engine is low mileage so that is a good thing.Only taking it apart will tell you how much damage it has.If any.
Do not force things,it will just create more damage.

Thanks a lot for your info, I think I will take it out of the car. Sounds like it has to be done at this point. I'm looking forward to see what the problem is! bob

Bob..it will make you look forward to nice stuff..like say a prostate exam..LOL!!!
Now I know why guys say "it was a shitty job but someone had to do it!!"..
I don't mind the wrenching though.
You are after the "surprise" inside.May it be kind to your wallet.

I was trying to find some info on taking the engine out. Basically, is it easier to take the manual tranny out with the engine or try to separate them and leave the tranny in the car? Someone said to go to the cdn area of this forum for better info, but I don't know what that is either. This forum isn't very easy to find stuff on, I still have to get used to it. I do searches, and don't find the correct things. Do you keep the drivetrain together? I'm sure I won't have any problems taking it out, but just doing some research before I start. I am used to GM cars, this is all new. Thanks

Found out what it was! Got the drive train pulled out, took off the exhaust manifold and it had a pile of seeds in one of the rotors, stored by mice! And this is only because someone had loosened the throttle body and the the mice were able to get into the intake. If I had known I could see in the cylinder that good with the manifold off, I wouldn't have pulled everything, but the car has been sitting so long, it's good to be able to get to everything. Hoping to have this car together by the end of the week.

Sing it with me!...
M-I-C-...K-E-Y...M-O-U-S-E..!!!
..damn mice!

Chances are with 16k miles its done a whole lot of sitting having the motor out will probably make replacing all the rotten old rubber everything much easier so it may be a blessing in disguise either way.

It has been much easier to get to everything on the bench, not know anything about these engines. Just installed all new vacuum hoses today, waiting on gaskets for the intake. Also, we are going to wait on a new oil pump meter lines or pump until we hear it run. The flat o-ring under the shift (manual) fell apart. So we have to find one of those. Already have new fuel, oil and air filters, changing everything.