Notices
Series I Major Horsepower Upgrades This is the place to discuss Super Chargers and Turbos, Nitrous, Porting, etc

Esmeril Racing Apex Seals on an FI'd renesis - post your experience good or bad

Old Apr 19, 2010 | 06:17 PM
  #1  
Brettus's Avatar
Thread Starter
Boosted Kiwi
iTrader: (2)
 
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 20,853
Likes: 1,806
From: Y-cat-o NZ
Esmeril Racing Apex Seals on an FI'd renesis - post your experience good or bad

There are a few of us now that have fitted these seals , but there is some doubt as to whether they are worthwhile or not . The Esmeril website states that these seals tend to "bend rather than break" - under severe conditions (EG detonation).
Please post your experiences good or bad with these so we can over time see if they are a worth fitting for FI use .

Please fill in the following :

Number of miles travelled : 6500 miles
Maximum daily boost : 11psi
Ever detonated ? : yes minor detonation x 2 times
Any other abuse ? : no
Seals still ok - yes or no ? : yes
Any other factors that may influence seal life ? : premix at 200:1

Esmeril Blurb on the seals :
At Last! After extensive testing and re-testing over a period of almost 2 years and with countless miles, Esmeril Racing is proud to release their Apex Seals to the public market.

A first in the aftermarket industry for the Renesis engine, our seals are designed to handle the high stress operation normally associated with high boost applications in rotary engines. They are made from a proprietary material that allows them to handle a certain degree of detonation without suffering from brittleness which in OEM apex seals cause cracks to develop and propagate. At the same time they surpass the strength of the OEM apex seals and withstand elevated boost levels without issues.

Our Apex Seals were designed to not cause premature rotor housing wear; the OEM ones will actually wear out the housings faster than these. In the event that the engine is operated at elevated temps, for instance when running very “lean” conditions such as extreme pre-ignition/detonation due to over advancing ignition timing: they will deform before they break. This deformation serves as a warning instead of instantly encountering a severly broken engine which occurs with OEM seals. This deformation will cause a loss in compression associated with loss of optimal seating against the internal surfaces of the engine but it will be as simple as replacing the seals themselves instead of the rotor, housing, etc. as is normally the case with the OEM seals when breakage occurs.

These seals have been proven to withstand boost pressure levels of more than 30psi with proper fueling and tuning. They have seen WHP levels well above 500whp while being safe for engine internals.

This is the ultimate internal upgrade for the Mazda Renesis engine

Last edited by Brettus; Apr 22, 2010 at 04:53 PM.
Reply
Old Apr 19, 2010 | 07:15 PM
  #2  
MazdaManiac's Avatar
Banned
iTrader: (3)
 
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 16,386
Likes: 28
From: Under my car
Originally Posted by Brettus
Ever detonated ? : yes minor detonation x 2 times
...
Seals still ok - yes or no ? : yes
How do you know this? You tore the engine down?
Reply
Old Apr 19, 2010 | 07:19 PM
  #3  
Brettus's Avatar
Thread Starter
Boosted Kiwi
iTrader: (2)
 
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 20,853
Likes: 1,806
From: Y-cat-o NZ
of course not .

still have good vacuum at idle , still starts well , still goes well .
surely if there was an issue one of the above would be affected ......
Reply
Old Apr 19, 2010 | 08:00 PM
  #4  
MazdaManiac's Avatar
Banned
iTrader: (3)
 
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 16,386
Likes: 28
From: Under my car
Originally Posted by Brettus
of course not .

still have good vacuum at idle , still starts well , still goes well .
surely if there was an issue one of the above would be affected ......
Nope.
A Renesis will run - often for a long time - with no noticeable drop in performance or vacuum with a completely halved apex seal.
Reply
Old Apr 19, 2010 | 08:13 PM
  #5  
Brettus's Avatar
Thread Starter
Boosted Kiwi
iTrader: (2)
 
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 20,853
Likes: 1,806
From: Y-cat-o NZ
OK - kinda knew you would say that .
Then again -these particular seals are supposed to bend rather than break so if they had bent there would be a drop in compression/vacuum .

BTW : the detonation event was mild and it happened 5000 miles ago ....

Last edited by Brettus; Apr 19, 2010 at 08:20 PM.
Reply
Old Apr 19, 2010 | 10:40 PM
  #6  
WingleBeast's Avatar
HAVOC
 
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 800
Likes: 0
From: Afghanistan
hopefully if someone with these seals do blow their engine, they would be kind enough to show us some pictures of the results, and try to be unbiased about them
Reply
Old Apr 19, 2010 | 10:47 PM
  #7  
Brettus's Avatar
Thread Starter
Boosted Kiwi
iTrader: (2)
 
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 20,853
Likes: 1,806
From: Y-cat-o NZ
/\ I'm sure there are 4-5 FI'd engines on this forum with these now . Would be great to at least find out who they are and follow thier progress .
Reply
Old Apr 20, 2010 | 01:15 AM
  #8  
Mawnee's Avatar
I divide by zero
 
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,192
Likes: 0
From: Spring Hill, FL
Originally Posted by MazdaManiac
Nope.
A Renesis will run - often for a long time - with no noticeable drop in performance or vacuum with a completely halved apex seal.
Yah, I'm prolly one of those now. Had hard hot starts for a while now. But still idles and drives perfectly. :D
Reply
Old Apr 21, 2010 | 08:31 AM
  #9  
Luckycat's Avatar
Registered User
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 227
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by Brettus
There are a few of us now that have fitted these seals , but there is some doubt as to whether they are worthwhile or not . The Esmeril website states that these seals tend to "bend rather than break" - under severe conditions (EG detonation).
Please post your experiences good or bad with these so we can over time see if they are a worth fitting for FI use .

Please fill in the following :

Number of miles travelled : 6500 miles
Maximum daily boost : 11psi
Ever detonated ? : yes minor detonation x 2 times
Any other abuse ? : no
Seals still ok - yes or no ? : yes
Any other factors that may influence seal life ? : premix at 200:1

I got these seals in my engine. So far for incidents that would ruin the engine, during tuning we forgot to check where the rev limiter was set at (8500 rpm instead of at 9200) and we went pass 8500 rpm and heard 3 loud bang bang bang from the engine. We reset the rev limiter and the car drove fine. Note that I am running snowperformance methanal on my car. Car is tuned to around 10.5 AFR. However, I am running microtech on mine and car tends to flood easily. This has nothing to do with the seal. It is just the cranking map needs to be fine tuned. Car pulls good vacuum.

# of miles so far: ~ 7000 miles
Max daily boost: 10 psi.
Ever detonated?: Beside during what happen during tuning, no.
Any other abuse: No.
I premixed mine. 5 oz of premix per full tank.
Reply
Old Apr 21, 2010 | 03:37 PM
  #10  
Brettus's Avatar
Thread Starter
Boosted Kiwi
iTrader: (2)
 
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 20,853
Likes: 1,806
From: Y-cat-o NZ
/\ thanks man . Any reason you run so rich ?
Reply
Old Apr 21, 2010 | 11:37 PM
  #11  
BigTurbo74's Avatar
Registered User
 
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 72
Likes: 0
I wonder if Esmiril is just having RA seals cut down to Rx-8 size and doubling the price. Be an easy way to make a few bucks...
Reply
Old Apr 21, 2010 | 11:53 PM
  #12  
Brettus's Avatar
Thread Starter
Boosted Kiwi
iTrader: (2)
 
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 20,853
Likes: 1,806
From: Y-cat-o NZ
/\ wouldn't surprise me -but you do get a fancy insciption on the side of them - yay !
Reply
Old Apr 22, 2010 | 07:06 AM
  #13  
Luckycat's Avatar
Registered User
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 227
Likes: 0
Originally Posted by Brettus
/\ thanks man . Any reason you run so rich ?
Reason? Just for safety of the engine. What is your AFR ?
Reply
Old Apr 22, 2010 | 11:01 AM
  #14  
MazdaManiac's Avatar
Banned
iTrader: (3)
 
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 16,386
Likes: 28
From: Under my car
Originally Posted by Brettus
/\ thanks man . Any reason you run so rich ?
Maybe because there isn't a whole lot more power on a rotary motor at 11:1 and its safer?
Reply
Old Apr 22, 2010 | 11:18 AM
  #15  
Charles R. Hill's Avatar
Owner of BHR
iTrader: (7)
 
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 4,101
Likes: 45
I am wondering if by "bend", Chris from Esmeril actually means to say "flex"?

If someone is going to be machining apex seals they better have some damned good machines to do it; the seal-to-tip clearance is often less than .001". When I measured NRS's ceramic apex seals while doing Kane's build they were within .0001" of each other on all dimensions.

Last edited by Charles R. Hill; Apr 22, 2010 at 11:21 AM.
Reply
Old Apr 22, 2010 | 11:47 AM
  #16  
Kane's Avatar
Senior Member
iTrader: (1)
 
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 6,364
Likes: 44
From: PCB
Originally Posted by Charles R. Hill
If someone is going to be machining apex seals they better have some damned good machines to do it; the seal-to-tip clearance is often less than .001". When I measured NRS's ceramic apex seals while doing Kane's build they were within .0001" of each other on all dimensions.


And it is nice!

Now that I have had the Ray treatment, I really wonder how many issues with stock motors (HP output, hot start etc) are seal clearance ones...
Reply
Old Apr 22, 2010 | 11:54 AM
  #17  
Charles R. Hill's Avatar
Owner of BHR
iTrader: (7)
 
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 4,101
Likes: 45
Originally Posted by Kane


And it is nice!

Now that I have had the Ray treatment, I really wonder how many issues with stock motors (HP output, hot start etc) are seal clearance ones...
Probably due to OMP volumes, first, and inconsistent side seal clearance, second.
Reply
Old Apr 22, 2010 | 01:03 PM
  #18  
Mawnee's Avatar
I divide by zero
 
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,192
Likes: 0
From: Spring Hill, FL
At some point my engine will have to come out. I still cant decide whether to try to rebuild it myself(would love the experience), get Ray to build me one or just bite the bullet and do an LSx swap. hmmmmm
Reply
Old Apr 22, 2010 | 03:28 PM
  #19  
Brettus's Avatar
Thread Starter
Boosted Kiwi
iTrader: (2)
 
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 20,853
Likes: 1,806
From: Y-cat-o NZ
Originally Posted by MazdaManiac
Maybe because there isn't a whole lot more power on a rotary motor at 11:1 and its safer?
fair enough - not sure but I think 3-4% is what I've seen gained by running mid 11s vs mid 10s and mid 11s has been touted around here as "safe" as well ....
Reply
Old Apr 22, 2010 | 03:36 PM
  #20  
MazdaManiac's Avatar
Banned
iTrader: (3)
 
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 16,386
Likes: 28
From: Under my car
But remember - you can run more ignition timing with that extra 1/2 point of AFR.
Reply
Old Apr 22, 2010 | 04:57 PM
  #21  
Brettus's Avatar
Thread Starter
Boosted Kiwi
iTrader: (2)
 
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 20,853
Likes: 1,806
From: Y-cat-o NZ
Esmeril blurb added to first post - hopefully over time we will get a feeling for whether these claims are real ......
Reply
Old May 2, 2010 | 08:36 PM
  #22  
suay's Avatar
Work hard Drive Hard!
 
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 229
Likes: 0
From: south texas
no problems here. I have ran the car to its fullest and no problems! I can actually feel the car can handle more than of course the original seals. I have had them since they first came out and I have ran them about 5,000 miles, hard!!!!! No problems up to now.... Sorry I took so long to post and nice picks brettus, haha
Reply
Old May 2, 2010 | 10:21 PM
  #23  
KrumbZ's Avatar
1.3L of Fury
iTrader: (3)
 
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 266
Likes: 0
From: Colorado Springs
definitely putting this on my next rebuild along with mazdamaniac upgrade, next year or so.
Reply
Old May 19, 2010 | 11:58 AM
  #24  
Phish806's Avatar
Registered
iTrader: (4)
 
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 950
Likes: 0
From: Des Moines, Ia
I am currently having these seals put in my motor. It was just completed yesterday and is still sitting at Steve Kan's shop in Texas. I wont get the motor back till memorial day weekend though. Hopefully things go well.
Reply
Old Jul 6, 2010 | 02:19 AM
  #25  
csl's Avatar
csl
Registered
 
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 417
Likes: 0
Any more feedback?
Reply

Thread Tools
Rate This Thread
Rate This Thread:
You have already rated this thread Rating: Thread Rating: 0 votes,  average.


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:43 PM.