willabie

Hey guys, I am from NY and here is what happened to my car... again.

It has been a while since i have posted on here, about a year ago i got a rebuilt engine for my 87' pulled the old engine with no problems got the new one in and still had no problems. I then brought the car to a mechanic for instillation/tuning, he works with Rx-7's and Rx-8's since he was the only dude in the area... long story short new engine gone. He said it ran fine for a few minutes then the thing sounded like a cannon went off. He went off blaming that the engine was sitting to long and something happened to the stator gear(no idea if that is how it is spelled).

So where is a place people would recommend getting another rebuilt engine or a used one? Sadly the last engine chewed up part of my budget. Also possibly a different shop in northern NY to get the new engine installed.

Or would it be better to simply ditch the car and cut my losses?

**the shop i took it to specializes in engine swaps/ rebuilds... just not rebuilding Rotary engines.**

Any advice will be most helpful
Will

RX7 allnight

only take it to someone that knows rotarys.
simple if you have money and you like the car keep it. once you get it right theres nothing better!
is it turbo or non turbo?
a non turbo should give you very minimal problems and should last quite sometime. anywhere from 150-300+ k
if the guy didnt have any rx7's in there its a good idea he wasent the right turner/installer. if its non turbo buy a rebuild and install it yourself its easy really it is. sorry to hear for you loss blown engines suck and are a huge headache! but once it done u forget all about it

RX7 allnight

and its stationary gear do a search and youll get lots of pics

hpfiend

I am new here but to me it seems like it would be in your best interest to get a shop manual and learn how to build one yourself-

rx7fan1903

You could probably find a new motor on this site either in "parts for sale" section or the "cars for sale" section. Some people part out their cars piece by piece, while others sell their whole car as a parts car, where you can transplant car parts from the parts car to your own car.

stylEmon

iTrader: (2)

i beleive the mechanic should've known to check for a locked up motor before he started it... especailly if he is a rotary specialist.

I'm no pro, but shouldn't one try to hand crank the motor first... and prime the motor with oil first... before firing up?

well uhhh

^ 100% correct, if the car has been sitting for a while, the seals are going to be dried up, sometimes locked even. a little oil and some common sense goes a long way, ask me how i know.

pfsantos

iTrader: (1)

Bought a used engine over the weekend from a list member (good buy). First thing I did after removing the intake and exhaust (and a few external parts) was put a flashlight to the exhaust ports and spin the engine and inspect.

Please tell us a bit more about the mechanic involved. **** can and will happen at times, but exactly how much and what work do these people do on rotaries. What about reputation (from customers with independent opinions)?

I read your post before, and also meant to ask...you said you installed the engine, but also said they installed and tuned? Also, someone asked about whether this is a turbo'ed engine?

Morondongon

Sorry to hear about your loss... I've been there once that road... What you should do is find out the Rotary shops around your area. If you don't know post in the forum about shops in northern NY and some will pop up... Also post the name of the shop so people around your area know better...

I got my engine rebuilt by Kahren, he is from Conneticut, about 2hrs from me, i took the engine out and took it to him myself... He is in the forums you should PM him and ask... G/L

willabie

I will try to answer all question in one swoop,

the original engine lasted 182k miles and only has a crack in one of the water seals just before the compression cycle(stroke). Coolant comes out of the engine where the leading spark plug is located when the spark plug is removed.

For starters there are no rotary shops for about 150 miles... maybe more. The closest one was in Syracuse, NY but i am fairly sure they closed years ago when the Mazda dealership moved its location.

Stationary gear is correct. I spoke with the mechanic today and he said he could "try" to rebuild the old engine because he is fairly sure the new one is damaged beyond repair. I am not sure if i should let him do it of get the shop manual and do it myself as recommended.

My car is a 1987 N/A, and the engine i got was from a 1991. Initially i did try to put the engine in myself and after i had to pull the engine again to deal with my clutch i brought it to a shop for final adjustments before hitting the road(i also had the car running for a few moments but it was rather rough). It has high compression rotors, high flow fuel injectors and a few other little things. It was rebuilt by a company in SC and a friend picked it up while on Spring Break back in 07'. I did spin the motor several times (every other week or so) by hand to make sure that there was no problem with any of the seals and i kept it lubed while it sat waiting to be put in. i have read of the horror stories of letting these engines sit.

The shop i took my car to was a reputable shop that has dealt with these cars in limited numbers he is a specialist by no means, but he is the only shop around that has dealt with rotary's and the only shop that would give me the time of day with my car. He mainly rebuilds V8 race motors for dirt track cars and basically any engine you bring him he will tune/rebuild he is also a general purpose mechanic and I would highly recommend him even though my engine is no longer among the living. I take my MR-2 and Corolla to him also several people i know all use him as a mechanic.

My engine was running for approximately two hours on and off as he checked all the oil seals, oil injectors, CAS, and whatever else is in the checklist. He made sure all the pressures were correct etc. and as he was putting tools away before backing it out of his shop it made a slight whine sound then a very loud bang. I am going tear the engine apart to see what happened internally because now you cannot turn the engine even with a breaker bar.

On a side note the mechanic just tuned my friends 1971 Cadillac DeVille to 550hp

TehMonkay

iTrader: (-1)

Sounds like loss of oil pressure. Was the engine taken apart to replace any gaskets? Were the oil cooler lines properly connected?

Morondongon

I would got the extra mile, and take it to someone that knows about rotaries... He might be very knowledgeable about everything else but Rotaries are a total different ball game... You do what best works for you. I have a friend that lives in Rochester (near you) and he takes his car to KDR which is far from him... I drive about 45 min to my mechanic and i live in northern NJ. Whatever you do just play it safe... and you might be better learning and doing it on your own... G/L

willabie

I am about 240 miles from Rochester... there are no mechanics around here... in fact i owned 1 of 5 functional Rx-7's in the county, however if there was a specialist within a few hours drive that is where it would have gone

Morondongon

I was looking around and i talked to my friend that lives in Rochester and he said that he takes his car to Queen KDR. Everything is about 5 hrs from you in the U.S. I think that you should try working in the car yourself or just ship the engine to get worked on... Wish you the best of lucks...

DriftN7

sorry for your loss, I reccomend going to areas forum (New York) and asking the members there if they know any rotary mechanics. Thats what i did Im almost certain they can help you out.

myersprostatus

iTrader: (2)

wait so you swapped an s5 into an s4?
ummm did you do anything for the series swap? different omp? different tb different front over, different everything LOL.

you might be the cause of this failure. expensive mistake

arghx

iTrader: (3)

Sounds like somebody here dropped the ball. This is an n/a... they don't break prematurely unless you make a BIG mistake with them. We need more details on the s5 to s4 swap. Did you premix?

What you need to do is get a known good (or rebuilt) s4 n/a engine and put it in. Do not mess around with the s5 swap, it's only going to be a headache for you. And quit dicking around with this shop, they don't know what they are doing. I stopped trusting local no-name shops a long time ago. You can handle it if you have the correct parts and tools.

willabie

Yes i swapped everything as needed. the omp, the front cover for the water pump etc.

willabie

I am done with the shop and swapping the engine S5 style, however i will see what parts can be used from the newer engine. i am looking for a S4 rebuilt or a running one. As i stated before all that is bad with the old one is a water seal... how hard is that to replace?

MazdaMike02

iTrader: (4)

Its locked? Dude probably dropped something down the intake. Thats usually what happens when it "locks up" some retard drops something down the intake...doesn't tell anybody hoping it'll be fine the car will run fine for a bit til it gets sucked in there...then it'll **** whatever it hits and get wedged betweent the rotor and housing gouging the **** out of it.

NoDOHC

A stationary gear failure could certainly cause an engine lockup (rotor gouges into housing with no rotation synchronization).

Coolant seals are no big problem (they do require tearing the engine apart though). If you are going to replace coolant seals, why not replace all hard seals worn our of spec, oil control rings and seal springs? You have the engine apart anyway.

I always prefer doing my own work, that way I at least get a lesson for my money if I make a mistake, rather than paying someone else to learn on my car.

bigdv519

iTrader: (3)

Forgive me for not reading further but I stopped at arghx's post. He basically took the words out of my mouth.

1. Quit screwing with this shop.
2. NA motors don't break that easily.
3. Something was built incorrectly.
4. How did YOU (not your mechanic) verify oil pressure.

Unless your willing to go get another motor, and have a REPUTABLE shop install it...go get all the manuals out there, get some extra hours on the forums reading, and get some tools and do it yourself to MAKE SURE its done correctly.

bigdv519

iTrader: (3)

Motor ran for a few minutes then stopped. Nothing fell into the intake. This looks like classic loss of oil pressure.

willabie

i could have been a loss of oil pressure. I have been busy with school, but i am taking apart the block later this week since i have the week off. What are some classic signs of pressure loss and something wedged in there is rather obvious.

I will most likely try my hand in rebuilding the original engine block.

bigdv519

iTrader: (3)

Bearings should look like crap. Have you drained the oil yet? Look in there for bearing material.