Turned my Rex into a tractor...

[dandan]

Er, I was giving it a bit tonight, but not too much, as I have a firing problem at high revs (5500+) which i think is dodgy spark plugs, but I accidentally made it lurch and misfire by pushing it too hard, it did it quite badly, and now it idles at 400-500rpm and sounds like its missing a cylinder, or whatever the rotary equivalent is.
The best way to describe it is it now sounds like a chugging tractor on idle.
Have I broke my new toy?

[iaint]

Afraid to say it but it sounds like you\'ve lost a rotor (i.e. you\'re running on 1 not both).

Could also be the map sensor (on the bulkhead above the oil filter) - if the vacuum hose has popped off you can get really rough running but it sounds more like you\'ve bust a tip...

Get it to a rotary specialist and they\'ll be able to give you the full sp.

[dandan]

Nooooooooo!
Its going to Re:worx on friday, looks like i better wrap it in bubble wrap till then. Nuts.

[Freddy]

I think you have broken an apex seal. In fact I am allmost certain you have.

This would mean a full rebuild I\'m afraid.

What modifications did it have?

[20B_boy]

Nooooooooo!
Its going to Re:worx on friday, looks like i better wrap it in bubble wrap till then. Nuts.

Nooooooooooo! Didnt we have the \'take it easy til then\'-conversation the other day?

Bad man Dan! Fingers crossed its not the dreaded already

All the best mate,
Rich

[NixRX7]

Take it easy and RX7 are two things that really dont go together very well.
Sorry to hear about your misfortune, i am sure you will soon have it fixed and back on the road again, even if your wallet is a bit lighter

[K1HKS arse]

Sorry to hear mate,sounds expensive im afraid.

Hope you get it sorted

[dandan]

I genuinely wasn\'t pushing it that hard (for an RX), but the stutter was happening at lower and lower revs and with less boost, so maybe it was a matter of time.
Thing is, it was rebuilt by WGT only 12months ago, so something major really shouldn\'t go so soon surely? The previous owner had it rebuilt but surely WGT would be keen to keep their reputation by helping to sort it if I spoke to them? The one year warranty ran out in June but I do have proof of posts on this site in mid june mentioning the problem.
I will take it to Re:worx, see what they say, and then go from there i suppose. Is there no chance a stutter could just be totally dead spark plugs? please say it could!
dammit my £1000 reserve fund just isn\'t going to make a dent in this one...

[iaint]

I don\'t want to rag on you or be an a$$hole about this in your time of pain but if you\'d:

- had advice (even low-key) to take it easy until a known problem was sorted
- noticed it getting progressively worse

You should either have not driven it or kept well off boost (which is nigh on impossible as it\'s frustrating as hell).

Loads of possible reasons for stutter under high rpms from dirty plugs to detonation, fuelling issies (blocked filter, knackered pump, etc).  Engine death from those would probbaly not be covered under warranty anyway as they\'re not somethign a engine builder can control.

When I had mine rebuilt by WGT the warranty was 12k or 12 months - whichever came 1st.  I\'m on 20k miles now and it\'s been bullet proof but I know Pip is a fair person and having a conversation with him might be a good starting point.  I would doubt he\'d be prepared to work on the engine after it\'d been pulled apart by someone else so talk to him before re:worx do any more than identify the problem.

Here\'s hoping it\'s something cheap to fix!

[davegttph1]

hmm, this sounds like a scary thread, when I start my car in the morning Ive started to get a grinding loudish noise... after Ive done a few hundred yds in it alls fine again and it seems OK.... just when I start it sounds a little dodgy, as if theres a fan on or a pump whining... if that makes sence! also when the second turbo kicks in  I sometimes get lots of hesitation or missing but thats only say once out of 10 times I boot it, I know its due some spark plugs though, hoping to get it done soon.

ohh and a co-incidence is that this motor was rebuilt just over 12 months ago by WGT too.... lol

[dandan]

All your advice is totally fair Iain,
I know I should really have just kept the thing in the garage until i got it checked out as soon as i realised the problem, but I have only had it for about 2 weeks now, after waiting over 18 months without a car. What are the chances of me keeping it locked away, lets be honest.
The problem only got progressively worse while driving last night, so i was taking it easier and easier and it still stuttered then started idling funny.
Looks like I might be paying for the previous owner\'s ignorance of rotary engines, as I haven\'t even had the thing long enough to mistreat it!
Well if i do end up shelling out, hopefully it will be a relatively cheap rebuild, what with it only being a year out of the last rebuild, many re-useable parts hopefully, and on the bright side, then at least i KNOW the engine will be ok!
Well i\'m off to find a rope and an oak tree, can everyone cross their fingers for me please?

[Oedipus Rex]

duuude I\'m gutted for you.


I told you that the boost cut would blow your engine if you let it keep happening, you really gotta take care if things aren\'t right or you\'re gonna end up with a big problem instead of a little one.

You\'ve detonated and lot a rotor.

Hope it\'s not too expensive, why not take the opportunity to get some other stuff done while the lump is out?

[Freddy]

dandan - fingers crossed. Its only that the symptoms you have provided point to engine failure caused by detonation. It was was stuttering badly at even low revs. Prehaps car was in limp mode. It may have got a bit too hot to handle. Standard intercooler? When you do start it up, does it lose all power slowly and die out or is the idling steady at 500rpm? What fuel were you using? What modifications? It all helps.

Where are you based? The availability of re useable parts is down to what type of a rebuild it had the last time.


davegttph1 - Change Plugs!

Hope its sorted soon. I know how you feel, watching the rx broken is never nice.

[dandan]

I\'ve just spoken to Geoff at Re:worx who said it really could be any number of things, I will find out on Friday, but he did say that if it is a rebuild then the fact that it was recently rebuilt should keep the cost down, so Oedipus, I will take a look at putting some shiny goodies in while the motor is out.
I will try to describe what happened as precisely as possible, see what you think.
Pulled onto an A road, 3/4 throttle which never usually results in stutter, 2nd gear was ok, got to 3rd and it stuttered at 5500-6000rpm. so i lifted off and dropped into 4th then 5th to cruise.
After roundabout, pulled away in 2nd at probably 1/2 throttle, it stuttered really badly at about 4000 rpm so i lifted right off and cruised very carefully to the pub in 4th/5th.
maneuvering in the car park i noticed a low, irregular idle, sitting in the car felt like sitting on a washing machine due to vibrations of 400-500rpm.
2 hours later started up fine but still idled low, drove VERY carefully home, where it possibly idled a tiny bit higher, but there was a regular \'ticking\' noise from under the car, probably about 100ticks per min and it was still vibrating a lot.
switched it off and went to look for my wallet which had scarpered in abject fear.
thats about it. if it sounds like a rotor tip, no need to tell me that, but if it sounds like it could be something else, give me a shout.
Nearly forgot, tuned by panspeed in japan, although standard ecu, optimax fuel, BIG intercooler, no overheating problems, was running 82ish deg.

[davegttph1]

Freddy, changing very soon, infact gonna try book it in today. I hear theyre a pain to do yourself? is there a guide on here to doing it? could save me a few bob and alot of travel time to get to a specialist if I could do it myself. PLus I was hoping to run the car at santa pod a week on saturday, needs to be done for then