Mazda Rotary Club

I changed the alternator at the weekend as I had some burning smell, and then loss of electrical power... The alternator was dead :flamed

Anyway... when I took it out there was a bit of plastic under it melted into a puddle shape.. From what I can tell it was two very small pipes. What are these for? Can I replace them with standard piping or do they need to be hard pipes and a set size?

Thanks
Ben

are they like little very thin pipes, prob about the size of a WD40 straw?

if so they are for your oil metering pump. get them replaced asap and don\'t drive the car till you do. there are braided lines available for them or get new Mada ones.

Matt

they look like wd 40 pipes. I will get some spares then.

Thanks

I have made a fix to these pipes using some fuel hose and now need to test how the fix is working.

Does anyone know a way to do this? Are these vacum pipes hence why they are so hard? Or do they flow fluids?

Thanks
Ben

there is vertually no pressure to speak of in the omp lines, so long as the fuel hose wont collapse and the repairs are airtight it will be ok. See my recent thread on the other forum.

Thanks for the info they should be air tight, if its low pressure they wont collapse as its strong pipe.

which thread?

Ben

http://www.fduk.org/forum/showthread.php?t=13691

I can\'t get to this link as I am not a paid member.

However a bit of googling and I have come accross a couple of yanks doing a fix on a 1990 RX7.

http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=351880

http://www.rx7club.com/showthread.php?t=348068

Does anyone have any experience of DIY repair on the Oil Metering Pipe lines? These guys are undecided on which type of line is best, any ideas and best local supplier?

Also how hard is this? How much of the engine bay do I need to remove to get to the relevant areas on the OMP?

I do not want to repair the pipes I have after reading around as I cannot be sure I got 100% air tight seal also they melted so may have further defects out of sight.

Thanks
Ben

i\'ve copied my post from the other forum:

********************************

well, had the day off today and wont be needing the car for a few days so decided to get stuck in this afternoon. Biggest job i\'ve done on the car to date.

1. airfilter, intercooler pipers, strut brace off
2. throttle body, plenum and alternator out. Alos took out oil filler neck and replaced duff o-ring that was leaking.
3. plugged holes with kitchen towel.
4. carefully photographed and marked various vac lines
5. undid loom, and fuel lines, undid and lifted out both fuel rails, lifted off ratsnest.
6. finally exposed the blighters, 2 hrs later

if it doesn\'t rain, i\'ll install the braided lines and start sticking it back together tomorrow if i can remember how!

I\'m also going to replace the thermostat whilst i\'m in there since i have a brand new oem spare sitting here.

(http://www.derminfo.co.uk/misc/omp/DSC_0171_resize.JPG)

(http://www.derminfo.co.uk/misc/omp/DSC_0202_resize.JPG)

(http://www.derminfo.co.uk/misc/omp/DSC_0204_resize.JPG)

(http://www.derminfo.co.uk/misc/omp/DSC_0209_resize.JPG)

(http://www.derminfo.co.uk/misc/omp/DSC_0212_resize.JPG)

(http://www.derminfo.co.uk/misc/omp/DSC_0219_resize.JPG)

(http://www.derminfo.co.uk/misc/omp/DSC_0216_resize.JPG)

you really need a whole day to do it - took me 2.5 hrs to expose the top of the block, and 3.5 hrs to replace the lines and get it all back together again.

further copy & paste re sourcing the lines from the other forum:

chap called Ihor made them up, (Rotary Experiment Seven) a trader on rx7club.com (over 7000 posts & runs a shop IR tuning), came in seven days and cost around $100 inc del i think, so not cheap. There is a big debate whether braided lines are required or not, the omp lines don\'t carry any pressure many people seem to just replace the knackered oem line with flexible viton tubing, re-using the same banjo bolts which would be the cheapest option. However, since mine have melted twice i wanted a bit thicker & tougher tubing. I saved my knackered lines just in case.

I had a minor mishap when one of the new lines popped out from under the waterpump housing and started to rub on the main pulley - but fortunately no harm done and i made a quick bracket attached to the lower waterpump bolt to hold them away from the pulley and belts.

Thanks for the post.

I\'m not the best mechanic so now not sure I will do this mYself . it looks like open heart surgery to me. I need them done asap as I go nurburgring next Friday, I may see if a local garage wants to do it. but then they may take as long. however getting parts in time could be a problem.

If I was make the lines do u reckon fuel pipe would be ok with the old clamps on each end?

to be honest i think unless you\'ve got two or three totally clear days (inc testing when you\'ve got it back together) i might be inclined to leave it until after the nurburgring trip, just patch it as best you can and run premix. Search for premix on the forums.
If you\'re not confident you might get the ratsnest back together wrong or something or unmask another problem. (if you do a patch make sure it isn\'t leaking - you don\'t want oil leaks on the nurburgring, they will charge you for the cleanup not to mention endangering other drivers etc). Unless your local garage has experience with rx7 ratsnests you\'d be better off doing it yourself to be honest, the labour charge could be enormous.
definitely do one of the above before the nurburgring, an oil-starved rotor is not a happy rotor!

Ash,

Thanks for your posts this week... You have given me hope !

I am going to fix it! I will start tonight by photoing and labelling all the vacum hoses around the dreaded rats nest.

Then each night this week I will do a bit more that will leave Saturday and Sunday to assemble it again.

I dont like the idea of premix, do you know how many tanks of fuel I used getting to around and back from the ring on my last trip! I would forget to add the oil in the fuel at least once and that would not be good!

I am going to do the repair method using MegaFlex Viton Tubing

1x 10Ft length of A-0400-020  (http://www.megaflex.co.uk/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,606/category_id,11/manufacturer_id,0/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,31/)(ID 4mm, OD 6mm)

10x \'O\' Clips Mild Steel Zinc Plated - OC05/07 - 5mm minimum, 7mm maximum

I will then try to reuse the metal connectors at each end. Mainly because I am not sure of their size yet so do not know what to order as spares. Do you know what size they are? I would like to replace with newer items or at least have the odd spare :Hammer

Once its up on ramps and being worked on I can change the engine, gearbox and diff oil and fit my new Racing Beat exhaust.

Stay online this week, I may need you to answere a few more questions :god

Hopefully once its done :3gears-rh

Thanks again
Ben

Whilst I have Rats nest off... What size vacum pipes does it use? I want to replace some as they are very worn at ends , and these will be my next fault / issue.

Thanks

I will get you a :guinness if we ever meet after all these questions have been resolved :)

Does this stuff look any good?

http://www.auto-performance.co.uk/index.php?cPath=29_92

Its the Silicone Vacuum Hose 4mm 5/32" ID 5 Metre?

Thanks

yep 4mm for most things, some 3mm hoses too i think (internal diameter) and one metre of 5mm or so required i think if i remember correctly. Any larger ones you replace check there aren\'t any restrictor \'pills\' in there and careful not to kink any, the sillicone is more prone to this than the tougher rubber ones. Might be worth getting some viton check valves too whilst you\'re at it.

where can i get those check valves! pwease. :)

Cole Parmer (http://www.coleparmer.com/catalog/product_index.asp?cls=7005)

thanks you :)

The SS lines seem to be the way to go, however I have known a number of people that have run them, and have removed them.  The main reason is they rub against the sensor harness, eventually leading to rub through and causing faulty sensor issues.  For race applications it\'s not an issue but for street driving it could be a problem.