Engine i think.....some advice please

[D1 WTF]

my car has a couple of times now made a funny noise on start up.  i am sure it sounds like it was running on one rotor.  either after 20-30 seconds or after you give it a little throttle it clears and runs on both again.

a wise man said to me that this sounds like there could be the start of the engine going, as if it was on one rotor it could be the water seal(i think?) leaking water into one of the housings therefore not allowing that rotor to fire until it has been chucked out etc.

this has only happened 2-3 times and it has normally been when it has not been started for 2+ days.  as it is my daily driver at present, it is run everyday so i assume it never has long enough for the water to bulid up, therefore does not always cause me the problem.

i have no proof of engine rebuild so it is probably due.

anyone know if this sound correct etc.  or if there are any tests i can do to find out more.

i was going to get my new apexi fitted and mapped this week, if it sounds like this is engine.  would you agree there doesnt seem much point as it would be a bit of a waste as it would just have to be remapped after rebuild etc.  seems an expensive thing to do if the engine is only going to last weeks or a month etc

if it is as above, will it get worse or will it just not get better.  eg as long as it  is started daily might the engine live for a while yet?

cheers for reading/helping etc
sam

[nikp]

Ok, first of all, yes, coolant seal failure can cause the engine to start on one rotor. But this is not necassarily the case. You haven\'t mentioned that you\'ve lost any coolant: its impossible for you to lose coolant into your rotor chambers without losing coolant overall.

However, if you are concerned that you may be experiencing coolant seal failure, it is possible to get it checked. You can have a garage perform a coolant pressure test - this identifies whether your coolant system loses pressure, thereby identifying that you have a leak in your system. If you do lose pressure, but cannot see any external loss of coolant, then it\'s likely that it\'s the coolant seals.

Ok, if you do determine that your coolant seals have gone, then there\'s probably not much point in getting it mapped as when you get your engine rebuilt, you may as well get it ported too. If you don\'t want to have it ported, you can still have it mapped before it\'s rebuilt.

Oh, and if your coolant seals have gone, then over time it\'ll get worse and worse.

But it\'s not necassarily your coolant seals. As soon as there\'s a problem with a rotary, most people assume the worst!

Hope that helps.

[Martiny]

D1, how old are the sparkplugs? Maybe one of them is fouling occasionally.

[D1 WTF]

cheers
however i have recentlyish blown a small hole in the top hose going to the rad.  i therefore replaced this.  since then i have a number of time been topping up the water when the car is completely cold.  i thought it was kind of just the air bubbles coming to the top kind of like bleeding it.  but i have been doing this for a good 3 weeks now.  i dont always need to top it up but most time i check every 3-4 days it does require a little water.  

if i get a rebuild done, i prob will port it etc.  so will prob cancel the appointment until i know more.  

i will try and get a presure test done early week.  in doing the pressure test i cant in anyway speed up the process can i or even cause the seal to fail completely?

[D1 WTF]

D1, how old are the sparkplugs? Maybe one of them is fouling occasionally.

full service including plugs and all fluids about 4k ago.  almost as soon as i bought it.  so 3 months maybe just over.

[D1 WTF]

anyone else got any ideas?

[Bobfish]

I havent read any of this, but does white smoke accompany the 1 rotor on startup? do you keep topping up coolant?

if you have both of the above symptoms, coolant seal failure. I notice your in St albands - i had a coolant seal go on my car, pop down to watford with it if you like and ill have a look. 07977 015 912.

[Bobfish]

oh, and doa champagne test

[nikp]

mmmmm.....champagne!

[Kevin]

Sounds exactly like what has happened to mine.  As nikp says it will only get worse with time.  I could smell coolant in the exhaust fumes at first, I then did a spark plug change and you could see/smell coolant on the end of the plugs, then finally a nice collection of mayonaise under the oil cap.... and even traces of oil in the coolant!!!

I\'d get it checked out as you may find the car will soon spit its dumby out and overheat... Like mine did

[Ricco_04]

This is basicially what everyone else has said but I would do this in this order....

I would say do the champagne test (which you can do yourself)

Have a look in the oil filler neck and under the cap for any signs of mayo.  You may also find you can see traces of \'water\' here which you can get on your fingers and see the colour and smell, which could also tell you it\'s coolant.

Look at the level check (dipstick?) in the header tank to see if you can find any oil deposits on there (they will be reasonably small)

You may not necessarially find that the level has dropped as the system will pressureise and may actually increase the level in the tank!  (I think I have got that correct?)

Good luck and I hope you are wrong but at least you have caught it very early if it is indeed water seal failure.

[D1 WTF]

champagne test?

[nikp]

Take filler cap off filler neck, and run engine. If you see little tiny bubbles (like those seen in champagne) then it\'s almost certainly water seals.

If the water keeps bubbling over the top, then i believe it is also screwed (At least, that\'s what mine did!!)

[davegttph1]

Take filler cap off filler neck, and run engine. If you see little tiny bubbles (like those seen in champagne) then it\'s almost certainly water seals.

If the water keeps bubbling over the top, then i believe it is also screwed (At least, that\'s what mine did!!)

Do you do this from cold?

[Kevin]

Wait till the car has run up to operating temperatures.