Curt’s Gr8t 8 Turbo Build
#201
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I'll say given the source of your oil feed I agree w/ the "good advice"..., but hey you're doing something right.
Yes, I understood your suggestion as incorporating the sandwich plate with the reloc kit. Thx.
#204
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Progress update: Freeze plug delivered...and installed. Engine s/b going back in over the next few days...
Old and new freeze plugs...
New freeze plug installed...
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Old and new freeze plugs...
New freeze plug installed...
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Last edited by jcbrx8; 02-01-2019 at 01:33 PM.
#205
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Given space re: the leaking oil pedestal...plan to take earlier suggestions to replace the reloc head unit inner o-ring and install the sandwich adapter in an effort to improve long-term pedestal oil sealing.
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Last edited by jcbrx8; 02-01-2019 at 01:21 PM.
#207
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Progress update over the weekend: Installed...
Below:
- DP & WG
- motor mounts
- compressor intake section
Up top:
- oil cooler feed & return lines
- pulleys & belts
- coolant hoses to coolant manifold
- AC compressor
- ignition coils & wires
Pretty mundane stuff...all installed w/ out issue.
Current state of bay...
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- DP & WG
- motor mounts
- compressor intake section
Up top:
- oil cooler feed & return lines
- pulleys & belts
- coolant hoses to coolant manifold
- AC compressor
- ignition coils & wires
Pretty mundane stuff...all installed w/ out issue.
Current state of bay...
.
Last edited by jcbrx8; 02-05-2019 at 12:14 PM.
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#208
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Update: Installed...
- oil pan
- WG boost control hoses
- oil filter sandwich plate
- oil filter reloc head unit
- oil filler reservoir w/ LIM valve solenoids
oil pan, turbo drain, WG
oil sandwich adapter and reloc head unit. No issue w/ sufficient space.
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current state of bay...
.
.
- oil pan
- WG boost control hoses
- oil filter sandwich plate
- oil filter reloc head unit
- oil filler reservoir w/ LIM valve solenoids
oil pan, turbo drain, WG
oil sandwich adapter and reloc head unit. No issue w/ sufficient space.
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current state of bay...
.
.
Last edited by jcbrx8; 02-08-2019 at 05:30 AM.
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RotaryMachineRx (02-07-2019)
#209
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Is that your drain line for your turbo on the bottom of the oil pan? If so, is that causing any issues (turbo smoking, etc)? I was always under the assumption that the drain line had to mounted above the oil line to keep oil from backing up into the turbo.... Other than that, I hope this all works out this time.
#210
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Is that your drain line for your turbo on the bottom of the oil pan? If so, is that causing any issues (turbo smoking, etc)? I was always under the assumption that the drain line had to mounted above the oil line to keep oil from backing up into the turbo.... Other than that, I hope this all works out this time.
#211
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Is that your drain line for your turbo on the bottom of the oil pan? If so, is that causing any issues (turbo smoking, etc)? I was always under the assumption that the drain line had to mounted above the oil line to keep oil from backing up into the turbo.... Other than that, I hope this all works out this time.
Yes, that's the turbo drain connecting at the rear of the oil pan. I didn't have any issues w/ turbo smoking before..., but you raise a good point. Even if not backing up to the turbo...I'd expect oil w/b standing in the line. I'll add some insulation in the area closest to the runners. Thanks.
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jcbrx8 (02-07-2019)
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rob babicki (06-11-2021)
#216
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Engine sounds healthy. Good luck
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jcbrx8 (02-09-2019)
#217
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Returned from a second long drive. Currently at a little over 100 mi. and all seems well...
- I've a small coolant leak somewhere beneath my radiator feed or return that I'll have to chase down and resolve.
- No oil leaking anywhere.
Below is a dash shot and a pair of screen captures from my OBDII phone app.
A little over 100 mi. in now...
.
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Ave running coolant temp is 180-185F in 45F ambient temp.
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Temp and idle after idling in the garage ~ 5 min.
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- I've a small coolant leak somewhere beneath my radiator feed or return that I'll have to chase down and resolve.
- No oil leaking anywhere.
Below is a dash shot and a pair of screen captures from my OBDII phone app.
A little over 100 mi. in now...
.
.
Ave running coolant temp is 180-185F in 45F ambient temp.
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Temp and idle after idling in the garage ~ 5 min.
.
Last edited by jcbrx8; 02-11-2019 at 11:20 AM.
#218
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So, a bit more detail surrounding my start-up & beginning engine break-in experience...
I took Fri. afternoon off work and finished the reinstall. Push started her and began driving around the block in my subdivision w/ no or little white smoke. About 7min in my coolant temp alarm goes off so I stop. No low coolant icon...no CELs at all. ??? I wait about 15 min. push start her again to drive home (around the block) and pretty quickly notice a good deal of white smoke!? Back at the house I'm perplexed :
Sat. morning first thing I research how long should I expect assembly lube white smoke after a rotary rebuild? I find the below site which indicates"...Expect this to get into your exhaust and smoke can remain for up to 8 hours afterwards..."
So, why is she overheating? I theorized here that putzing around my subdivision at 15-20 mph was too slow to achieve effective cooling. I'd need to test at > 40mph. So, I push start her again and drive to a local main road. OEM coolant gauge comes right up to normal operating temp. While I'm waiting for my thermostat to open and my Prosport gauge to read correctly, I pull up my OBDII reader app on my phone to read the actual OEM coolant temp. Soon after...my thermostat opens and my Prosport temp gauge comes up to temp. I'm glancing between them both and discover at that speed & ambient temp, my Prosport gauge consistently reads ~12F +/- higher than my OEM. Aha moment... I realize that b/c of sensor positioning...my Prosport reads coolant temps exiting the engine, while my OEM gauge reads coolant temp entering the engine. So, my Prosport 210F threshold alarm is actually alarming when the coolant entering the engine is ~ 198F +/-. So, I raise my alarm preset to 220F.
By now she's driving nicely... no white smoke, coolant temps are stable at ~180-185F ...w/no CELs. I'm finally able to relax..."a bit", and ...enjoy the drive.
Drove ~100 mi. total predominantly on a 5 mi loop requiring regular decels., downshifts to 1st, u-turns, & a moderate acceleration running thru the gears back up to ~45 mph. Over the course of the day I could feel engine smoothness, compression, and acceleration out of u-turns increasing.
Currently, she idles at ~925rpm +/- , but won't quite start on her own yet.
I took Fri. afternoon off work and finished the reinstall. Push started her and began driving around the block in my subdivision w/ no or little white smoke. About 7min in my coolant temp alarm goes off so I stop. No low coolant icon...no CELs at all. ??? I wait about 15 min. push start her again to drive home (around the block) and pretty quickly notice a good deal of white smoke!? Back at the house I'm perplexed :
- Why is she putting out white smoke again... is it remnant assembly lube?,... or a coolant issue?
- Why is she overheating?
Sat. morning first thing I research how long should I expect assembly lube white smoke after a rotary rebuild? I find the below site which indicates"...Expect this to get into your exhaust and smoke can remain for up to 8 hours afterwards..."
Link: Start-Up & Break-In
W/ only ~ 30 min run time on my engine, white smoke is still to be expected. Immediately feeling better. So, I presume that assembly lube has vacated the combustion chamber, but is still in the mid-pipe & exhaust, which would explain why I initially saw no smoke, but smoking once the mid-pipe and exhaust heated up. Conversely, an internal coolant leak would emit white smoke immediately and consistently. K, cool.
W/ only ~ 30 min run time on my engine, white smoke is still to be expected. Immediately feeling better. So, I presume that assembly lube has vacated the combustion chamber, but is still in the mid-pipe & exhaust, which would explain why I initially saw no smoke, but smoking once the mid-pipe and exhaust heated up. Conversely, an internal coolant leak would emit white smoke immediately and consistently. K, cool.
So, why is she overheating? I theorized here that putzing around my subdivision at 15-20 mph was too slow to achieve effective cooling. I'd need to test at > 40mph. So, I push start her again and drive to a local main road. OEM coolant gauge comes right up to normal operating temp. While I'm waiting for my thermostat to open and my Prosport gauge to read correctly, I pull up my OBDII reader app on my phone to read the actual OEM coolant temp. Soon after...my thermostat opens and my Prosport temp gauge comes up to temp. I'm glancing between them both and discover at that speed & ambient temp, my Prosport gauge consistently reads ~12F +/- higher than my OEM. Aha moment... I realize that b/c of sensor positioning...my Prosport reads coolant temps exiting the engine, while my OEM gauge reads coolant temp entering the engine. So, my Prosport 210F threshold alarm is actually alarming when the coolant entering the engine is ~ 198F +/-. So, I raise my alarm preset to 220F.
By now she's driving nicely... no white smoke, coolant temps are stable at ~180-185F ...w/no CELs. I'm finally able to relax..."a bit", and ...enjoy the drive.
Drove ~100 mi. total predominantly on a 5 mi loop requiring regular decels., downshifts to 1st, u-turns, & a moderate acceleration running thru the gears back up to ~45 mph. Over the course of the day I could feel engine smoothness, compression, and acceleration out of u-turns increasing.
Currently, she idles at ~925rpm +/- , but won't quite start on her own yet.
Last edited by jcbrx8; 02-11-2019 at 12:58 PM.
#219
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I have always kept all my compression readings from when the engine was assembled to thousands of miles out.
I just pull a spark plug from each (i do Leading), pull the fuel pump fuse, and check maximum compression in each chamber while listening to the pulses in the other chamber. Its not the proper way to do it, but its better than nothing. Make sure your battery is charged, throttle is open, and engine warm if you can. Depending on many factors, both my chambers fall in the 90-100 psi range which is okay considering I rebuilt a junkyard motor with old housings, plates, and rotors. It also gives me some background readings to compare to in the event if I think I may have hurt the motor.
Given that the MSP motor is 10:1 compression, I would be worried if either chamber was below 100 psi after a few hundred miles. You should be able the start the car by now unless your battery/starter are weak. Good luck.
I just pull a spark plug from each (i do Leading), pull the fuel pump fuse, and check maximum compression in each chamber while listening to the pulses in the other chamber. Its not the proper way to do it, but its better than nothing. Make sure your battery is charged, throttle is open, and engine warm if you can. Depending on many factors, both my chambers fall in the 90-100 psi range which is okay considering I rebuilt a junkyard motor with old housings, plates, and rotors. It also gives me some background readings to compare to in the event if I think I may have hurt the motor.
Given that the MSP motor is 10:1 compression, I would be worried if either chamber was below 100 psi after a few hundred miles. You should be able the start the car by now unless your battery/starter are weak. Good luck.
#220
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Thread Starter
I have always kept all my compression readings from when the engine was assembled to thousands of miles out.
I just pull a spark plug from each (i do Leading), pull the fuel pump fuse, and check maximum compression in each chamber while listening to the pulses in the other chamber. Its not the proper way to do it, but its better than nothing. Make sure your battery is charged, throttle is open, and engine warm if you can. Depending on many factors, both my chambers fall in the 90-100 psi range which is okay considering I rebuilt a junkyard motor with old housings, plates, and rotors. It also gives me some background readings to compare to in the event if I think I may have hurt the motor.
Given that the MSP motor is 10:1 compression, I would be worried if either chamber was below 100 psi after a few hundred miles. You should be able the start the car by now unless your battery/starter are weak. Good luck.
I just pull a spark plug from each (i do Leading), pull the fuel pump fuse, and check maximum compression in each chamber while listening to the pulses in the other chamber. Its not the proper way to do it, but its better than nothing. Make sure your battery is charged, throttle is open, and engine warm if you can. Depending on many factors, both my chambers fall in the 90-100 psi range which is okay considering I rebuilt a junkyard motor with old housings, plates, and rotors. It also gives me some background readings to compare to in the event if I think I may have hurt the motor.
Given that the MSP motor is 10:1 compression, I would be worried if either chamber was below 100 psi after a few hundred miles. You should be able the start the car by now unless your battery/starter are weak. Good luck.
Do you use a tester similar to:
https://autosupplies.co/products/compression-tester-kit?CAWELAID=120005270000089336&gclid=Cj0KCQiA14Tj BRD_ARIsAOCmO9a5tl5yVHTQijvWI1evue8wWtE031dGgzjhO6 A2tIw-YPMbrZ3M4yIaAsRQEALw_wcB
Last edited by jcbrx8; 02-11-2019 at 04:53 PM.
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jcbrx8 (02-12-2019)
#222
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Break-in Progress Update:
For Valentines Day she showed me some love: started via starter for the first time. Moving in the right direction.
I've decided to go w/ the below break-in process:
- < 100 mi, < 4500rpm (oil changed)
- <160 mi, <5000 rpm
- < 220 mi, <5500 rpm
I've decided to go w/ the below break-in process:
- < 100 mi, < 4500rpm (oil changed)
- <160 mi, <5000 rpm
- < 220 mi, <5500 rpm
- <280 mi, <6000 rpm *current mileage
- < 340 mi, <6500 rpm
- < 340 mi, <6500 rpm
- <400 mi, <7000 rpm
- < 460 mi, <7500 rpm
- < 460 mi, <7500 rpm
- <520 mi, <8000 rpm
- < 580 mi, <8500 rpm (oil change)
Engine break-in impressions to date:
- < 580 mi, <8500 rpm (oil change)
Engine break-in impressions to date:
- The idle note sounds a hair deeper & louder w/ a hint of "wobble" which I believe are a result of the exhaust port work.
- I'm running a 4# spring w/ my EBC off
- Driving style is reasonably aggressive w/in the break-in rpm range. No WOT.
- She's no CELs, and idles ~925rpm.
- "Feels" a little less responsive down low, ~1k-2k rpm, which I suspect is the result of the street porting. We'll see...hoping to experience the opposite in the upper rpm range,>6k & up.
- Pulls firmly at ~ 65% throttle from 3 - 6k (my current rpm limit).
Last edited by jcbrx8; 02-15-2019 at 02:36 PM.
#223
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Great news. You should also be keeping note of your engine vacuum at idle as it also gives you a bit more information on how well everything is sealing.
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jcbrx8 (02-15-2019)
#225
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Q
Who knows what tomorrow holds..., but at this point pleased with progress toward my objectives back in Nov. '18. Hopefully w/ no or minimal damage to housings and plates this is a good opportunity to learn and sufficiently "harden" the engine to handle the power the "Rock's cooking" 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. We'll see how it goes... more to come...
- engine rebuilt w/all new seals
- street exhaust ported
- full length doweled
- precision studded
- OEM apex seals
- ex-manifold FINALLY sealed
- have learned MUCH
All-in cost of engine rebuild to date:
- $925: Atkins closing kit (w/all seals & springs)
- $475: Turblown stud kit
- $440: 2x new "used" housings from Goopy
- $129: Pineapple solid dowel kit
- $125: Pineapple HD water seals
- $115: Mazdatrix porting templates
- $70: New turbo thermal cover
- $2,279: TOTAL
Note: Plus ~$400: Shop tools (crane, engine stand, dremel tool, etc.)
Continued thanks to the entire community, but special mention to Brettus, Stroker, & RotarymachineRx!
Last edited by jcbrx8; 10-13-2019 at 07:49 AM.
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