mikey d

Hi iam a newbie here and this is the first rotary engine car ive owned. Iam aware that these cars go wrong especially when not looked after. Ive today bought a rx8 on a 2004 plate in silver for 250.00 as a project. I managed to get it cheap because it needs work. The guy i bought it off said it went for a M.O.T and the head gasket failed during the test???? But these dont have head gaskets!!! Anyway i made him a stuipd offer and bought it blind he accepted so ok. Anyway i had it towed home and i chared the battery and hey presto it started first time but its not all good news it it putting out blue smoke but not too much but does smell of oil. I took it for a drive and got it back i then proceded to see if it had the hot start problem and yes it does 👍 typical. It has been stood for a month or so, anyway when i left it cool and started again the revs were quite low so was a bit juddery if i reved the engine up the whole rev range it was rally smooth also then engine sounds lovely. Could i please get a little bit of advice on where to go next insted of ripping the engine out. Its got full mazda service history had 2 owners and has done 63k. Many thanks mike.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

You have a coolant seal failure, and probably at least 1 warped housing. There is no recovery from that except replacing the motor. Still, that's filthy cheap, and even replacing the motor you will be rather well off with it.

mikey d

Ok thank you for your response, not quite the news i was looking for but still its a project, would you recomend me refurbishing the motor i have or buying a second hand one?

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

There is a very high probability of one or more warped housings, which would turn the entire engine into trash. You MIGHT be able to rebuild it for less than a replacement engine, but it isn't likely. If I was in your shoes, I'd just order get a replacement engine and let a rebuilder salvage what they can from that one. It would be both cheaper and faster.

mikey d

Rite ok, is there anyway i could take the engine out and see myself if the housing is warped? Or does this have to go to a specialist? Sorry to be a pain just want to know as much as possible.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

You can certainly pull the engine yourself and open it up, nothing wrong with that. There isn't a warranty or anything here that you have to be concerned about lost value. The educational experience alone would be worthwhile.

Once it's taken apart, if you have some precision measuring tools you can see what is and is not out of spec.

mikey d

Ok thanks will give it ago, ive done engine conversions on my 3 golfs i had before and i fixed a had gasket on the gf clio, just not sure about the rotary engine but i cpuld certinutly pull the engine and try to look. The only thing that is confusing me is all the fluid seems fine and theres very little contamination in the oil ahhhhhh

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Hmm..


I should back up a bunch of steps.

How was a "head gasket failure" diagnosed?

If it was just "water on the dipstick", then it might not be a coolant seal failure. If there was coolant found in the oil, coolant found on the plugs, belching white smoke after a cold start ... then yes, it's a coolant seal failure.

Hot start problems suggests low compression anyway, but if it is just simple low compression then you might be able to rebuild for cheaper than replacing. A coolant seal failure from an overheating usually trashes the entire motor if not caught really early, and if it didn't warp a housing in the process.

mikey d

Interesting, it was diagnosed by a so called mechanic but i can not confirm this story. Ive just tried to attach a pic of the dials after the car was running for aprox 35 mins earlier the dials didnt move from this position.

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, ignore the gauges, they are useless for diagnosis. You can overheat without the temp gauge moving, and the oil pressure gauge is just an "on off" switch, doesn't tell you anything useful.

So before you pull the engine, let the car sit at least overnight, longer is fine. Then while holding the gas pedal to the floor, crank the engine over briefly, like half a second. Then pull the spark plugs. See if they have coolant on them.

Yes = coolant seal failure
No = Possibly not a coolant seal failure.

If they are coated in anything else, snap a picture and upload it here.

04Green

iTrader: (1)

A key piece here too is "charged the battery".

If it was dead, it would have lost the fuel trims. Next time you start it cold, just let it sit until it completely warms up. I will hunt around and sort out how to idle. The first complete cycle does a lot, usually the second finishes it off and life is good.

Something else would be to toss several ounces of 2-cycle oil in the fuel tank. If they flooded it, there is not a lot of oil on the seals, that will impact compression as well.

The coolant in engine test is necessary too.

mikey d

Rite once again thanks for the responses, i did that test this evening and there was nothing. I also then restarted the engine and have ince again left it idol for quite some time i even took it aroung the estate again. Once i got back and checked the smoke situation it had seemed to had subsided significantly. I suppose this is good news?? The revs are dropping quite low on idol and feels a little juddery still but it doent cut out. The only major problem i can see is the hot start isuue.