Yeah, he's just said that he's done that:

 

the condensation in the filler cap could be lung mustard if the pcv system is not functioning properly (I say pcv so you'll understand). Just remove the hose on the base of the oil filler neck and place a small filter on it with a hose clamp (get the filter from a speed shop) and see if it goes away.

 

Depending on how many Km's/miles are on the motor you could just get away with tearing the engine down and replacing the inner and outter water seals. But it most likely is an engine with higher mileage so it would be an excellent idea to measure your apex seals, side seals and make sure your corner seals are in spec. Usually the bearings in these engines are good, but the seals are the heavier wear items so I would carefully inspect them.

If you do tear the motor down make sure you label where every seal goes. The engines are VERY simple but they have alot of small pieces that can easily be missed or misplaced if your not careful.

 

Ahem.



Many people including myself run synthetic. I run nothing but Royal Purple in all my cars, and I have no complaints.

 

Oh No,

Please dont turn this tread into a oil debate.

It sounds to me like your PCV valve is not working correct, instead of worrying about spending tons of money on this and that, just focus on the main goal.

Getting from point A to point B without braking down, once you got that out of the way, you can worry about how you look getting from point A to point B.

-Matt

 

Couple things to know:

Rotaries are a lot like 2 stroke engines in that they have to burn a little oil. That is why they have something called oil injection. Synthetic doesn't really burn and that equates to very bad things in rotary engines. There are only a few specific synthetic engine oils that have been proven to work in rotaries and one of them is Royal Purple I believe. Lots of people even run a little bit of 2-stroke oil in their fillups to aid the oil injection pump.

If your coolant seals are leaking, there are ways to buy a lot of time without doing a full rebuild. Unlike what you are used to, rotaries are actually forgiving in this arena. It is very common for coolant seals to start to leak into the engine as they sit and when you start the motor after some time sitting a big plume of white smoke will billow out the back but when it warms up this stops. I've had this issue with my current SE engine for a few years now and it doesn't affect anything. In fact it's like a little steam cleaner every time I let it sit Here is some information some people swear by to help fix a coolant seal failure without a tear down:

http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/1s..._seal_fix.html

Also, try decarbonizing the engine since the synthetic oil has probably wreaked havoc on the internals. Seafoam works miracles when put in the gas tank 1/4 full. This will blow a lot of the gunk out while once again making a big white smoke screen. You can also find a vaccum hose that leads into the engine intake and pull it while holding the throttle at around 3k RPM, then dip the hose into a water jug and let the motor chug down the water. A spray bottle with water into the carb will work also. This has a steam cleaning effect in the motor and will help decarbonize the engine as well. Some people say this can also be bad as carbon may be helping keep the engine sealed but at this point after seeing synthetic oil in it I'd probably risk it.

Rotaries like to be run and usually once or twice when you drive it you should run it up at WOT close to redline to help flush the carbon out the back. When you baby a rotary, it starts to build up carbon and can eventually lock the seals against the rotor housings. It will appear like the motor has completely seized when in fact it's just stuck on the carbon. That doesn't mean hot rod it to the point you have new issues but you should always wind her up hard at least once when you go for a drive.

When you tear down a rotary... you essentially pull it completely to pieces and will require some effort to get it back together. That is why most people recommend just doing a full rebuild since it is all apart anyways. If there are problems in the water jackets etc, you will end up just replacing an entire iron and so performing some tricks first may be beneficial to a full rebuild.

You can usually get away with minimal parts on a rebuild without replacing everything. Here is a link about this... you will need to replace some of those items with 12A specific items but the idea is the same:

https://www.rx7club.com/2nd-gen-archive-72/13b-rebuild-parts-lists-395019/page2/

Luckily pulling the motor is not that involved being rear wheel drive and only few bolts really holding the motor in. It's the tear down that you have to be careful with and the rotors sealing system is no laughing matter... you really gotta look at the FSM and know what parts you are pulling, where they go back in, and make lots n lots of notes. It's very intricate.

Overall I think you have a lot of options with your engine and wouldn't jump to conclusions too quickly about whether you are in trouble yet or not. You can often times find fully operational 12A blocks for less half that of a rebuild kit.

Everyone please feel free to comment.

 

1. Why did it take so long for anyone to suggest lung mustard?
2. Synthetic wont hurt your engine
3. Remove the carb end of the OMP lines and visually check they are working
4. Do a SeaFoam treatment, (Do a search) then change the fluids
5. The rear drum issue is best solved by picking up a GSL rear end and doing a swap, this way you get the disc brakes AND LSD. Remember to pick up the park brake cables.
6. Describe the oil in the water, is it a slick on top, foamy or what?

7. Drive it like you stole, but let it warm up every time

 

well im about to purchase a new 1st gen and im hoping thta dont happen to me , he wanted 1350 and i talked him to 950 but i may offer less he needs cash..well my cousin is great on this rotary im just learning, i have an rx3 but is rebuilt and runs great is sitting for now, anyways,

my cousin say same as one of you mention go and start car cold if it fires right up it should be good, and check if muffler has oil coming out, well guy said if you let car sit for a couple days it smokes a bit then it goes away,,is this commen,

thanks guys,

 

What Vashner says. Drain ALL fluids, then replace hydraulic fluids in brakes and clutch with standard dot3 (not silicon, which is incompatible and not required).

Replace transmission fluid with high grade stuff such as redline MTF. replace diff fluid with highgrade synthetic such as Redline. Replace engine oil with any decent synthetic, such as Mobil 1, that is easily available.

Go to auto store and purchase the Prestone cooling system flushkit (about $6) which contains a 5/8" Tee (with a screwon cap) which can be spliced into the lower heater hose on the passenger side of the radiator. Go to Ace hardware, tru value or home depot for the plastic snapin gardenhose adaper that will screw onto the anti-syphon connector that comes with that Prestone kit (i find it more convenient than the screwin connector). Install that 5/8" tee in the lower heater hose for ease and convenience in flushing your cooling system. You will flush many times when preparing this old cooling system and it will be useful.

While at the autostore, get a bottle (or two) of CRC block seal, which is a clear appearing liquid with suspended (colloidally suspended, actually) copper particles. You will apply this to the cooling system, but NOT in the method indicated on the bottle.

Also buy a large bottle of degreaser, which will be used to clean out the cooling system.

Pressure test the radiator and cooling system. your friend at the local garage or service station can do this in two minutes with his gadget, or you can just run the car, let it cool off, then unscrew the rad cap and observe that it goes "pffftt!", thus testifying that it's at least kinda tight. That's encouraging. Test the rad cap at the auto store (*free*), if necessary get a bubble pack radcap ($8, and sometimes they even work, for awhile) and test it before leaving the store.

There are several sets of instructions for doing the "temporary water seal fix" on this BBS that you want to read. I do my own simplified fix as follows, which takes me about 8 hours of (elapsed time) casual work on a summer day, and always seems to work for at least a year or two:

-clean out the interior of the cooling system until the water runs without a blue oil film across the driveway. Usually this requires a bout 3 cycles of the following:

--attach the garden hose to that tee you installed in the lower heater hose, remove the radcap, start the engine, adjust the garden tap until you have a small steady flow of water coming out the radiator neck (I usually have about a 1/4" head coming out, no spray, just a nice steady low flow). Turn on the interior heater valve full, and let that engine run until the temp gauge comes up to normal. Cut the engine. Undo the garden hose from the Prestone Tee (don't burn your fingers with 180degree water!), you'll soon figure out an easy way to do this with those cheap plastic garden hose connectors. Let out about 8-16 oz of water, about 1/2 to 1 pint, doesn't have to be accurate. Close that tee with the cap or replace the hose to stop water. Leave the radcap off and add about 8-16 oz of degreaser into radiator. Start engine and let it run for about 3-5 minutes to make sure it's back up to operating temp and degreaser circulates thoroughly. Caution: don't let this go too long or the degreaser may attack the water pump bushing which will cost you $50 for a new water pump and an hours time. there's also a slight chance it could enter the engine and cause more damage. Don't push it. Cut the engine, turn on the garden hose to start flushing the degreaser out through the radiator neck and restart engine. Observe the color and oil film as the stream trickles across the driveway. let that flush run for a few minutes

-repeat as necessary to satisfy youself that the cooling system is very free of grease and oil.

-after flushing cycles are complete let the engine cool down pretty good, let out about a pint of water thru the tee, cap the tee and put away the gardenhose, shake up that bottle of CRC copper stuff and pour it into the radiator, start the engine , and let it idle until it comes back up to operating temp. I've done this step with the radcap on and the radcap off and both seem to work so I don't know which is best. Do not rev the engine over an idle while doing this in order to avoid over-pressure on the leak and to avoid cavitating and foaming. Let the engine idle for about 20 minutes. Kill the engine and let it cooldown overnight so that the copper stuf has a good chance to setup in the colloidal stuff (silicone-something, as I recall, which becomes a low-grade ceramic).

-put radcap on, start engine, let it idle up to operating temp, kill the engine and let it cool down. Should get a nice "pfftt" when you open the radcap on the cool engine.

-you can repeat the previous step a couple times just to be thorough, since you went to all the trouble of getting the engine nice and clean inside and you've got a fair amount of that copper stuff still in the system. Pretty easy. easier than a rebuild, which you might screwup anyhow.

-after your final cooldown and "pfftt" test you can bleed out some water thru the tee and top up with antifreeze in the radiator neck, always a good idea because the anti-freeze has useful corrosion inhibitors, etc. I don't know if it makes any diff whether you drain all the copper carrying water out first or not, it's probably harmless.

-Now you can try your car on the street, even revving it up, some. But don't abuse the privilege. Every morning you should lift the hood and give it the "pfftt" test. Watch the fluid level in the radiator neck/tank. You should also see a little crosscurrent of coolant when the engine is running, indicating that the waterpump is OK.

-anytime you're topping up the cooling system you should "burp" it to clear bubbles and get them out thru the radiator neck. Just rock the car gently and replenish coolant as necessary. And check coolant level a couple times after refilling cooling system to make sure it's still topped up.

Bring up the 'mazdatrix.com' website on your computer and order up 3 OEM items: a new radiator cap ($10), new thermostat ($15) and new kinky heater hose to go under the beehive (it's got 2 ells in it and costs about $45, tho you can use a standard 5/8 heater hose with some imaginative cussing, or search out a certain Mustang hose that works pretty good, but the OEM goes on easiest of all, tho that isn't too easy, just be sure to lube the hose interior at each end with a little soap).

Usually that kinky radiator hose fails around 100k miles and is the cause of engine overheating because it dumps the coolant frighteningly quickly and certainly before you can get back home. Replace it.

The top radiator hose is the only one that bursts (because it gets the hot water!) and it's cheap and easy to replace, so replace it! And put in proper screwon hoseclamps, too!

Radiators also fail around 100k, but usually less rapidly. they're available for about $120 from rockauto.com and radiators.com.

Waterpumps are also scheduled to fail at 100k, and they evidence failure by leaking from the "weep-hole" in the housing under the pulley and spreading white residue all over from the dehydrated coolant. Often waterpumps fail prematurely from overtightened belts which cause excessive radial load on the little oilite bushing. Usually caused by an ignorant ham-handed mechanic. Please observe the Service Manual 16mm freeplay spec. $50 for a new OEM pump from rockauto. Do not use rebuilds unless you have no choice. Only takes about an hour to replace, if you've done it before. radiator stays in, but shroud and fan clutch come out, bottom pulley loosened, but don't lose rotational orientation or your timing marks may be off 90degress (hell of a thing!).

Thermostat is easy to replace, just make sure the diddle stick is UP to allow the prescribed air bleed (you did get an OEM tstat with a proper diddle stick, right?)

Any and every screw or bolt or nut you replace put into your RX-7 must have proper anti-sieze slathered onto the threads. You get several of the little packets at the autostore checkout counter for $1 each, along with the dielectric grease packets you get for your battery posts when you're checking out with your Prestone flushkit, etc.

It's common for the 8mm capscrew that holds the thermostat housing to twist off ("damn! little c*cks*ucker" we all say, but it does no good) so you maybe gotta get a heli-coil kit for $50 from the autostore or borrow one from a friend, since they'll work for about 6 holes) you may want to try a stainless steel capscrew if you can get one, or, better, a bronze screw since stainless has it's own vices. Just be sure to slather in that anti-sieze.

Oh yeah, we all try an EZout first, but it never works. I must have 10 EZouts in my toolbox, and I always try them but they never work. But there's always a first time, so they say.

That should prepare the cooling system which is the most important system in your car because the rotary system is sensitive to over heating because it has very low mass and so temps can rise alarmingly fast and high with a small increment in gross heat. Heavy engines can accomodate bad heat inputs better because their high mass reduces the temp effects.

Don't ever remove the radcap from a hot engine: you'll burn your hand (especially if you have a glove on which gets saturated with boiling liquid and continues to burn painfully long after your feeble brain finally gets the pain message), AND because the release of pressure will allow the superheated coolant to rise in temp and create bubbles, which are p*ss-poor conduuctors of heat so you'll overheat even more. the hottest part of the rotary is near the bottom, farthest away from the radiator neck, so bubbles will go everywhere. Instead, park your car and let it cool off for an hour or two (on a summer day), then, when you add water or coolant do it while the engine is idling so as not to cause radical internal temp gradienst which will permanently warp critical engine clearances.

After the cooling system, the next most important engine system is the Oil Metering Pump (OMP) system which injects small amounts of engine oil into the manifold to lube the rotors and apex seals and combustion chamber surfaces. There's a process for testing this in the Service Manual, but I just work around it by using a premix in the tank before every fillup of gas (87 octane, as specified by the factory, hi-octane is contra-indicated for a rotary since it retards flame front velocity) consisting of 6 to 8 oz of either Marvel Mystery Oil or synthetic 2-cycle oil. I always use MMO, sometimes as much as 12 oz., with engines whose history I don't know, since it also helps cleanup the fuel system pretty good. Eventually that engine will idle smooth and purr like a kitten.

 

Rotary engines do not NEED to burn oil. From whence would such a need proceed? They HAPPEN to burn a little oil for the same reason that a 2-cycle engine does: there are some engine working surfaces that cannot be properly lubed by ordinary oilways and so there must be some lubricant supplied through the intake system, either in the fuel or through the manifold. Thus, the rotary has an oil injection system, and that can be augmented or replaced by a premix in the fuel. Having served it's purpose, that lube exits through the exhaust and perhaps exhibits a little smoke. It behooves the lube to burn cleanly and not leave ash or carbon behind, thus the low ash nature of 2-cycle oils and the superiority of low ash synthetics (all the 2-cycle oils I've ever seen are synthetic).

The only reasonable claim I've ever heard for not using synthetic oil is that changing from dino to synth may change the characteristics of old gaskets impregnated with dino. But I've never seen it.

I run all my cars on synthetic now after the endurance test I unintentionally imposed on my old boinger, which it could only have survived because of the synthetic in the sump.

 

After flushing the coolant and changing to standard 10w40 non synth there are no more leaks. No oil in the coolant. No leaky oil pan gasket. Thats why you shouldn't use synth on older motors, this ol girl has 200thousand miles on her needs a rebuild and was not fit for synthetic oil.

Still condensation in oil cap which I replaced. I'll check into the pvc valve, could you explain what that is? All emmissions equipment including airpump and vacume lines were removed and covered however under the carb there was something there for emmisions, it was removed but was not plugged it's a giant hole that needs to be plated.

The oil feed tubes were not running I primed them and they are now functioning. The carb linkage was tweaked to run on 2 barrels I guess to save gas.

So what is "lung mustard" and what/where is the pvc valve