So the car running yet?

 

Not yet. I have my suspicions though.

 

oh oh !

 

Not so much drama, but it isn't the plugs either.

 

Yea, I always told you I had plans to go FI on this car. I already bought my INT-X and Im waiting to get my finances in line, but shortly Ill begin the build on my mid-mount with Vlad.

Let me know when you move down here and we'll meet up. Been quite a while since we've last chilled. By that point I may have the turbo in the car, we'll see.

Vlad, if you cant get your car started in the near future and need a test mule for the proto-type, you know who to call

 

Vlad if it wasnt the plugs, or the coils (which looked fine except the one when we pulled them) then what could it be? Car sounded okay when we got it started, just limping on 1 rotor, but it didnt sound blown.

Hope you get it figured out.

 

We should be moving in around March 6th or so. PM me your phone number cause we might be throwing a welcome to our new appartment BBQ.

Back on topic...

Vlad, how's it going with the car. I hope all is well!

 

I haven't yet done anything with the car.
This weekend was spent on cleaning out the garage entirely. Devin has seen the horrible mess I had in there. Now it is clean, organized and pleasant to work in again.
As far as the issue is, there is a loss of compression on one side of the rear rotor, I have been able to confirm it when changing plugs. One side just sounds differently when turned over. Kinda like Pshh-Pshh-Psss... However like I said, there wasn't any detonation when I run the car, no pings, nothing...

It stopped running while I was at the intersection while in idles.

The engine turns over very well. No unexpected sounds, scraping, or scratching noises whatsoever. Everything sounds clean, which gives me and impression that the seals are intact, but the loss of compression may be associated with the excessive carbon build up under the side seals, which caused them to get stuck in the groove.
Now that i think of it, the sparks on that rotor were covered with carbon big time.

From CRH's suggestion I will get some Sea Foam, and try to use it to clean dissolve the carbon some time this week. See how that works...

What is the procedure there with the Sea Foam?

Start the engine,
Spray the stuff in the running engine through the vacuum ports until it starts showing signs of choking.
Shut off the engine
Let it sit for a half an hour
Start the engine again and run it until everything has burned out of it, no smoke comes out.

Am I correct?

 

If you go with the fluid version (ther is a spray or a can of fluid, your choice) then you use a post TB vacuum tube to suck 2/3 of the can into the engine. You will need someone to keep the RPMs up while doing this as the engine will want to stall out on you. You just have to keep adding it in a little at a time. Then with the last third rev the engine up to three grand and dump the tube completely into the remaining liquid. This should suck the rest of the seafoam into the engine and stall it. Let it stall, dont try to save it.


Sit for an hour. Its going to be very difficult to get started. If you can do a de-flood like with the S5 RX7 (stand on the gas pedal) do that or however you RX8 guys prevent the injectors from delivering fuel. The hard part is going to be keeping thengine from flooding, but also getting it to fire off. Turn it over a few times without fuel then let the engine try to start. If it starts you are going to need to give it some gas to keep it running for the first minute or so. There will likely be a lot of very very thick black smoke pouring out of the exhaust. Once you get it running go and beat the **** out of it until it no longer smokes. Be ready for a lot of really dirty looks. On pistons engines its a good idea to change your oil at this point, but Im not sure if you really need to do that with a rotary.


BC

 

Any updates Vlad? Im anxiously awaiting the final diagnosis on the start failure.

I really hope all is well with your engine. Have you been riding the bike everyday? Or did you get a rental car (in other words the wifes truck) :P

Like I said before, if you find yourself without the 8 for a little while and need a test mule for the turbo, you know who to call

Good luck with everything, hope things work out alright.

 

Devin, thee are updates, and I know what the issue is.
So far Iride the bike, and use "Rental" from time to time.
in fact I didn't listen to the weather forecastthis morning and took the bike to work, and ended up driving through a complete soaker on the way there and back.
I miss my car. Funny thing is that I am comparing the turboed RX8 to the bike I have, and the 8 just flat out feels faster. lol

Ok, I guess there is no point trying to make any more guesses, so let this be an official word.
It is what it is. the motor on my car is officially gone. To those who do not know and feel like saying something critical, ot want to make baseless assumptions, here is a little back pedaling:

I have 44K on the motor at this point, 27 of which are boosted.

when the car was at 17K I have installed a nitrous kit on it, and instead of being a blind follower, I experimented to the maximum extend. 75 shot, hot FL weather, chasing corvettes, and M3s and stuff like that...

While with nitrous, the car has experienced a TREMENDOUS detonation once. and a series of smaller but audible pings here and there. To prove all the naysayers who claims that the renny is a weak engine... the motor held it's own.

After, that I pulled the Nitrous Kit and sold it in favor of developing something different.

about 4 months later, I reported my first driving experience of the turboed rx8 with my own remote turbo, installed in place of the muffler.
I drove that setup for over 20 thousands of miles, every day, boosting anywhere from 9 to occasional 16 PSI, and for the last 6 month a constant 12-13 PSI of boost. To those who know me i have an extremely heavy foot, and will never turn down an opportunity to GO at it, so i subjected my car to literally and without any exaggerations EXTREME driving conditions, which 98% of car owners will never even attempt to do. Just as an example, There was an instance where I drove the car at the speed of 158 MPH while at WOT and full boost.
Every chance I had to launch from a stop - It was a dragster like take off. What can I say? I love the car, and I am totally addicted to boost.
It is mesmerizing to watch that gauge needle go up as you open the throttle.

I always looked for a way to push the car to the limit. I run it lean, because that way it saved me on gas and made more power on less boost, I run it aggressive on the ignition, because i wanted it to go just a tad faster...

No banger engine would ever be able to withstand this much abuse for so long, and would have probably broke a long time ago, yet tis motor kept ongoing, and going... until one day, 3 weeks ago, or so, it finally let go.

This failure has nothing to do with the tune, not does it have to do with the new turbo. it just died. Gracefully, and quietly, like an old warrior.

It did not ping, it wasn't under boost when that happened. I wasn't on a freeway nor was I even moving.
The car was sitting at the intersection and idling, when suddenly it just stalled, and never came back.

I thought it may have been the coils, the plugs, the wires... but after test on top of a test, there are no improvements. the motor turns over cleanly, and there are no noises that resemble scraping, dinging, or anything else that would indicate internal damage, and presents of debris inside the housings, and yet I run a compression test, using a Pep boys type tester and it in fact did show that on the second rotor, one of the rotor faces does not have as much compression as on the others.

I have tried too flush the rotor with the sea-foam, but nothing, so the only logical solution to this would be contact someone who really know what the hell they are doind;, ...

 

bummer man . Get a mazmart rebuilt and you'll be back in business in no time

 

Yes, thanks man. I expected this to happen one day, and was though not fully, but somewhat prepared for it.
there is only so much abuse an engine can take, and mine took sooooooo much...

I was going to finish the that post yesterday, but got distracted.

Anyway, just to finish the thought:
I had contacted a well known individual who frequent the site and have a level of expertise required to be pull a job of rebuilding a motor, and off course I wasn't turned down and was offered all the help I may need in getting it done in a timely matter.
I will not say who it is yet, as I wasn't given a full go ahead. Just to give everyone a little heads up, in a few days we will be starting a thread, with the entire rebuild process documented, with lots of pictures, and possibly even recorded on video. It will be fun, and a great learning experience.

The coolest part of it all is that the rebuild will be done completely from my garage, with the use of tools that anyone has access to.
So stay tuned.

 

Didn't think CRH would have time for that these days ? heh

 

That are sucks BUT get a new engine and you got yourself another 50k of Boost

 

Soooo, you're gunna let me hang onto the turbo in the meantime, right Vlad... :D

J/K, let me know when the rebuild is taking place, Id love to drive back up and see the Renny getting taken apart.

Sorry to hear its blown man, I really thought when we pull started it that it was something minor.

 

Devin,
If it was a couple of hour swap, I'd let you drive with the turbo for the time being, just so that you get to feel it, and put out a good word. But it is a whole day's worth of work to completely take it off my car and mount it onto yours. (if not longer)
Remember it is not just the manifold and the downpipe. It is the intercooler, the oil pump, the wiring the plumbuing, the oil lines, the gauges... There is a lot more to do than meets the eye.
Unless you want to buy the darn thing off my hands outright, off course, and then I'll just make me a new one...
Believe it or not, for me personally making a kit is easier than taking it off or installing it on the car.

 

Damn man, if I had the finances at the moment I would... but things are tight as you know for the time being.

Let me know when Charles is in town doing the rebuild, Id love to see him tear you engine down.

 

Here is the thread: https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/black-halo-racing-rotorocks-home-motor-rebuild-140100/

 

how much for your used kit rocks

 

It is not used it is only 2 days old LOL, it was steam cleaned (while I drove through rain) and haven't even had a chance to get all dirty.

 

just trying to get a low price....the word !!!used!!! helps


so how much

 

I wasn't really trying to sell this one. I was just kidding with Devin. It is still work in progress. I don't feel like doing it all from scratch for myself again, and having no FI while I am at it.
PM me, and I'll give you the price on the Beta testing that I am running right now. Maybe you'll be happier with that price?

 

And now for the re-build.

 

That's for me to know...
sorry razz. It is by far a less expensive than getting a new motor, though.