I spent a while searching "blown symptoms" hoping to see if I could shed some light on my problem, but it came up with just about everything not related. It seems like if there is anything wrong with a Rex, "blown" and "symptom" appear.

Anyhow, I was out for a boost tonight and came home disappointed and mad. I think I popped an apex seal. Car made repeated "duh duh duh" sounds at 6500 rpm in 4th. So I quickly let up and slow down thinking I may have a tire about to send me into a tree. Well the motor continues to idle, but shakes. I came home a let it idle for 5 minutes while looking it over with my phone flash light, but didn't determine the problem (checking for loose wires, hoses, leaking fluids, etc.). Also, I am using a banjo bolt mod and perhaps my injector just stuck causing it to run bad. I've had a rotary start on 1 rotor before (no spark plug wires on the other), but this car runs *smoother* than that. I get popping and studdering with more than a feather tap on the throttle. The exhaust also sounds wrong. It sound like it's skipping 2 combustions every couple of revolutions. I have no way to get to college tomorrow so I will spend my day checking things.

I looked at a datalog from a few minutes before and I couldn't get more than 7.1 psi on a spike. The run from the datalog was only three gears, but the fateful run was 4 gears. I would have logged my last run, but the connection came loose on the pda.

Here is the line with the highest boost attained tonight:

RPM: 5464.0 Airflow: 750.0 PSI: 7.1 AFM Temp: 32.5 Intk Temp: 42.5 Injector P/W: 7.62 Secondaries: 128.0 Timing L: 24.2 Timing T: 8.8 Coolant: 77.5

Is there anything wrong with those number?

Link to CSV file with more numbers: Log File

Also, would anyone else like to share their blown motor and/or stuck injector symptoms? I'm just bamboozled at this. I ported the wastegate huge, replaced fuel filter, boiled gas tank, and cleaned the fuel pump sock spotless, but am still running 550s all around. Did I fall short on fuel or was it a fluke? What is the max safe injector P/W?

 

Could it be that youe spark plugs are FOULED??? Mine had FOULED plugs and I though it was blown...

 

I went out first thing this morning to clean the plugs with a wire brush only to find they were not too nasty and had absolutely zero white residue. All 4 looked the same. Just a smidge of black, but it wasn't on the electrodes. I found no evidence of any metal shavings in the plugs either. Do I need to try a completely different set of plugs?

This morning the car started up relatively easy. Didn't have to crank but 2 seconds. It seems to run like a bridgeport motor, but not as loud. Oil is good, coolant is good (no bubbles). I did a trailing plug hole "whoosh" test and it sounded just about right. When the motor is running I get a tick sound.

I found a ride to class, but when I get home, I'm going to pull the plugs again and get a mirror and examine the apex seals. I have another one for you guys, what if the turbo was toast? Would that cause the motor to run extra rough?

 

I have a hard time believing that a rotary with a blown apex seal would start right up.

 

Seal broke in half on rear rotor, but no shards, just a split. Time for a rebuild! I saw it through the L2 spark plug hole.

 

at least most of the parts didnt get damaed like when a apex seal shatters....

 

I think I fell short on fuel. What that my case? I have spent some time looking at injector duty cycles and am unable to conclude much. How do I convert my IPW and RPM into a duty cycle number? According to some posts that I found through a search, 58% is the max for the stock ecu. Does the rtek2.0 count as stock in that respect? Rx7.com's fuel calculator says I should only be able to support 183.9hp. I think I am at ~185hp or so which means I'm in the danger zone. 720s and better fuel pump are in the works for the new motor.

 

I got the motor out of the car after a few evenings worth of work. I do have to say, this looks interesting. I have seen photos of rotors where the apex seal or bits of it comes loose and causes indentations in the rotor. Below is a picture of the bad seal. It looks like something got in the engine and caused the groove which then caused the seal to break. The seal is wedged in place, but just cracked from the pinch. How can detonation cause a groove just like that? The housing and rotor are toast for sure. I can feel the grooves on the housing. Also, the rotors looks very clean.





Is the tan color usual or lean AFRs?

 

when running normal things are ususally a shade of tan...

yeah thats weird, it does look like something got in yr motor... all the other seals were fine on that rotor??

 

The other 2 seals were perfect! No unusual markings, no cracks. Front rotor is still perfect. It wasn't the spark plug electrodes. They didn't break and drop in. I checked them and they are fine. :/

 

After dragging my feet for a couple months, I got my motor apart and have taken a picture of the broken apex seal. It's a beauty. It's the new 6 piece mazda design. It lets your motor run even after a seal breaks. What I find interesing is how this motor actually idled at 750 rpm after it broke AND it started up then next day at 8am fine! Also, I was able to see that this seal was partially sealing, but had lots of blow-by. Also saw some seal chatter on the rotor housing.