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jcbrx8 10-28-2018 01:34 PM


Originally Posted by strokercharged95gt (Post 4873628)
That really sucks.

If it really is just a cooling seal and no damage was done to the housings or plates, you could get another closing kit and some better apex seals for like $400-500 and rebuild it yourself (assuming all other components are in good shape).. I rebuilt mine by watching two jobbers from Australia on YouTube. Motor came out fine.

SC95GT, Appreciate it..., and the suggestion. The better part of valor is often objectively assessing your resources for a task...not only $$, but experience, skill, and most importantly time. And of course, in situations as these you don't know what you don't know. That said... I believe it is above my comfort level to "plan" to pop open my engine, diagnose and correct it. So, I'm investigating established, reliable builders in the hopes of getting a quality engine rebuild. I'll talk w/ them... and garner reviews from experienced SMEs w/in our community, and proceed from there...

swoope 10-28-2018 08:43 PM


Originally Posted by jcbrx8 (Post 4873572)
Well, as committed... the good, bad, this is the ugly. I took the car out Mon. evening ...simple cruise...think I hit 1 psi. After driving ~ 5 mi I stopped for gas. After filling up she wouldn't start. Multiple attempts...cranked strong, but would not start. Thought to let the engine cool. After some time while waiting I looked underneath and saw a pool of coolant generally...under manifold area (recall I still have the ex mani leak). So, popped the coolant cap and was topping it up. As I continued to periodically crank the engine I could see wafs of smoke emanating from the coolant overfill bottle coinciding w/ when the engine was being cranked. After ~an hr of cranking, waiting, and getting jumps...finally got her started... white smoke billowing everywhere, and was able to drive directly home. Since...she starts, but has rough idle and fair amount of white smoke. So, I'm reasonably confident, unfortunately, that whatever happened last Sat ruptured the coolant o-ring in the rotor 2 housing. :sad: I was logging last Sat when the initial "event" happened and AFRs repeatedly drove to ~10.6 in boost, coolant and oil temps were ~205F and 190F, respectively. After the event coolant climbed past my alarm threshold (215F) to 220F before dropping back to normal range. So, given that data my presumption is this was simply the product of boosting a 65k mile reman'd non-built engine, which btw I expected to "go"..., but not so soon.

So, currently considering options, cost, and time frames for next steps...

if it helps, and i know it doesnt. :) i am in the same boat, but i managed to do it without boost..

not sure how i am going to proceed.

beers :beer:

jcbrx8 10-29-2018 08:16 AM


Originally Posted by swoope (Post 4873777)
if it helps, and i know it doesnt. :) i am in the same boat, but i managed to do it without boost..

not sure how i am going to proceed.

beers :beer:

Swoope, Thanks, man, appreciate the honesty. Good luck sorting things out and hopefully getting her rolling again.

jcbrx8 10-31-2018 02:59 PM


Originally Posted by strokercharged95gt (Post 4873628)
That really sucks.

If it really is just a cooling seal and no damage was done to the housings or plates, you could get another closing kit and some better apex seals for like $400-500 and rebuild it yourself (assuming all other components are in good shape).. I rebuilt mine by watching two jobbers from Australia on YouTube. Motor came out fine.

SC95GT, ...I m/h spoken too quickly. :fingersx: All options are on table. Thx. Curt

Brettus 10-31-2018 03:16 PM

What are you saying ?

jcbrx8 11-03-2018 11:51 AM


Originally Posted by Brettus (Post 4873981)
What are you saying ?

"You take the blue pill the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes" - Morpheus

I'm taking the red pill. :cool:

Much to learn... much to be done. More to come...

swoope 11-03-2018 08:34 PM


Originally Posted by jcbrx8 (Post 4874236)


"You take the blue pill—the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes" - Morpheus

I'm taking the red pill. :cool:

Much to learn... much to be done. More to come...

wish you were closer!

beers :beer:

olddragger 11-04-2018 04:12 AM

Have you tried any sealant? Probably will not work ( although I have seen it work) but at this point you have nothing to loose?
very nice write up and clean install.
dont forget if your coolant temp becomes a problem a secondary radiator works wonders.

jcbrx8 11-04-2018 07:57 AM


Originally Posted by swoope (Post 4874271)
wish you were closer!

beers :beer:

Appreciate it, Swoope.

jcbrx8 11-04-2018 08:37 AM


Originally Posted by olddragger (Post 4874281)
Have you tried any sealant? Probably will not work ( although I have seen it work) but at this point you have nothing to loose?
very nice write up and clean install.
dont forget if your coolant temp becomes a problem a secondary radiator works wonders.

OD, Appreciate it... and thanks for the suggestion. No, I haven't tried a sealant. I would have zero confidence a sealant would hold on a boosted engine, and wouldn't want to introduce a sealant essentially to the combustion chamber, or chance clogging coolant passages.

Conversely, hopefully w/ no or minimal damage to housings and plates :fingersx: this is a good opportunity to learn and sufficiently "harden" the engine to handle the power the "Rock's cooking" :cool: Ideally, I intend to rebuild this engine w/ all new seals, a street port, dowells, a stud kit, and likely softer apex seals. THEN, FINALLY get my ex mani sealed. :yelrotflm We'll see how it goes... more to come...

swoope 11-04-2018 08:09 PM


Originally Posted by olddragger (Post 4874281)
Have you tried any sealant? Probably will not work ( although I have seen it work) but at this point you have nothing to loose?
very nice write up and clean install.
dont forget if your coolant temp becomes a problem a secondary radiator works wonders.

denny,
check your pm!

going to be at RR this weekend.

beers :beer:

olddragger 11-04-2018 08:45 PM

Call Cam concerning sealants.
but I do understand your reluctance.
xing fingers for you man

swoope 11-04-2018 09:42 PM


Originally Posted by jcbrx8 (Post 4874290)

OD, Appreciate it... and thanks for the suggestion. No, I haven't tried a sealant. I would have zero confidence a sealant would hold on a boosted engine, and wouldn't want to introduce a sealant essentially to the combustion chamber, or chance clogging coolant passages.

Conversely, hopefully w/ no or minimal damage to housings and plates :fingersx: this is a good opportunity to learn and sufficiently "harden" the engine to handle the power the "Rock's cooking" :cool: Ideally, I intend to rebuild this engine w/ all new seals, a street port, dowells, a stud kit, and likely softer apex seals. THEN, FINALLY get my ex mani sealed. :yelrotflm We'll see how it goes... more to come...

not sure where you are going with sealant. but dont bother. just went down that road with cam, i can tell you what he used... stopped the issue for a while. but failed in long run.. and this was bonus! locked solid.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...7e0b1e485a.jpg


beers :beer:

olddragger 11-05-2018 06:04 AM

Whoa.....! That’s nasty.
sorry to derail the thread.
i did have an engine that was having air bubbles in the coolant...( wasn’t blowing the usual white smoke... yet) and I called cam. he suggested a particular sealant. It worked for me and he told me if it didn’t then no harm done...engine had to be torn down anyway. So I gave it a shot.
The op is going to really enjoy a properly built engine for FI. enjoy your adventure...you will learn a lot. Will follow...great thread.

jcbrx8 11-11-2018 01:39 PM

Engine's out. Let the fun begin... :)


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...2026e3b5ef.jpg
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https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...d01dc0dfcc.jpg
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https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...d1357e5d8d.jpg
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https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...298ab3622b.jpg

strokercharged95gt 11-11-2018 05:01 PM

Pulled my engine out this weekend as well . Are you going REW or just a refresh?

jcbrx8 11-11-2018 05:35 PM


Originally Posted by strokercharged95gt (Post 4874844)
Pulled my engine out this weekend as well . Are you going REW or just a refresh?

SC95GT, I'm rebuilding my 13B rene, not doing a REW swap. I've not investigated it much personally, but understand that a REW swap is significantly more costly.

All the best to you. What's your time frame?

swoope 11-12-2018 08:19 PM


Originally Posted by olddragger (Post 4874350)
Whoa.....! That’s nasty.
sorry to derail the thread.
i did have an engine that was having air bubbles in the coolant...( wasn’t blowing the usual white smoke... yet) and I called cam. he suggested a particular sealant. It worked for me and he told me if it didn’t then no harm done...engine had to be torn down anyway. So I gave it a shot.
The op is going to really enjoy a properly built engine for FI. enjoy your adventure...you will learn a lot. Will follow...great thread.


think most of the damage was in the overheat, the coolant sealant finished it off. you would have recognized a lot of faces at RR. did a 1:28.31 in a stock 17gti with pads and 200 tires. it was a hoot.

carry on with the thread, sorry.

beers :beer:

swoope 11-12-2018 08:24 PM

Engine's out. Let the fun begin... :)

cant wait to see where the leak is!!

beers :beer:

strokercharged95gt 11-14-2018 06:29 PM


Originally Posted by jcbrx8 (Post 4874847)


SC95GT, I'm rebuilding my 13B rene, not doing a REW swap. I've not investigated it much personally, but understand that a REW swap is significantly more costly.

All the best to you. What's your time frame?

Bolting on the new counterweight, flywheel, twin disc clutch tomorrow then resealing the front cover and oil pan, etc. I'll be dropping the motor back in this weekend. Good luck on the rebuild.

jcbrx8 11-15-2018 12:08 PM


Originally Posted by strokercharged95gt (Post 4875135)
Bolting on the new counterweight, flywheel, twin disc clutch tomorrow then resealing the front cover and oil pan, etc. I'll be dropping the motor back in this weekend. Good luck on the rebuild.

SC95GT, Congrats on your progress! All the best going forward... auxiliaries install, re-install, etc.

Thanks! I've been covered w/ work. Expecting to make some progress during time off over Thanksgiving. Next up...stripping auxiliary items, and cracking the block.

jcbrx8 11-29-2018 04:46 PM

Quick progress update: engine stripped down to short block and cracking the keg.

​​​Note: Can see the damaged rear rotor / end iron side water seal (in last pic) in the area of the exhaust chamber.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...548f2ec6a2.jpg
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https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...ef6d8e8067.jpg
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https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...259ea8a23c.jpg
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https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...bd3fb874f9.jpg
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https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...8e9f62f045.jpg
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jcbrx8 11-29-2018 04:54 PM

Short block disassembly:

Note: Can see the damaged rear rotor / center iron side water seal (in the 4th pic) in the area of the exhaust chamber.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...ab793aa994.jpg
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https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...ea28f8116a.jpg
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https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...ddbc4a8e23.jpg
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https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...b9d30cc22c.jpg
Note: Water seal seen here on the rear rotor / center iron side destroyed around the perimeter of the exhaust phase.
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https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...e0e4a4a033.jpg
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https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...d34d69a2ab.jpg

jcbrx8 11-29-2018 05:03 PM

- The culprit, blown water seal
- rotor 1 & 2 spring and seal disassembly
- rotors & housings cleaning...

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...863fa184cf.jpg
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https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...03b6d56f3b.jpg
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https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...650cd8b12a.jpg
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https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...749414e6ee.jpg
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https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...e6dd58f810.jpg
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https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...b7095145fa.jpg
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https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...75cac6b455.jpg
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https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...f1227a116a.jpg
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https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...5df5c3a83a.jpg
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https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...c0a74c8371.jpg
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https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...90fb2c359b.jpg
Note: Old housings showing scoring around the leading plug holes. These were NOT reused in my rebuild.
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https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...47ce565876.jpg

strokercharged95gt 11-29-2018 07:11 PM

Looks good. I know some people will say you need all new housings etc., but I would just verify everything is in spec and not damaged, buy a new closing kit and get it back together. Chances are something else will blow well before anything else is truly unusable... :cool: If your are iffy on that, you may look into resurfacing those housings. I got mine done at Freelance and they came back looking brand new for like $300.


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