Rebuild o\'clock

[Prof]

Well - it\'s happened - engine has water seal failure.
 
Flooded it this morning and it would restart - so this evening I pulled the plugs and did the deflood - put new plugs in and started up straight off, but wouldn\'t hold a steady fast idle (cold) without some help from the right foot.
 
Water temps got up to 51-53 degrees - rad was still cold, but the cap when released revealed a lot of pressure.
 
Would probably explain why the rad was leaking, and my fix of the rad with chemical metal has been so good, its pushed the problem into the engine - as the coolant is pressurizing.
 
It means the housings / rotors and probably a few other bits and bobs are reusable - but I am going to be doing my first engine build over the winter - deepest joy.
 
Given the issues with missing front cover gasket and oil sump fitting - I can only summise the engine was rebuilt with non Mazda water seals - would probably have lasted a long time for a weekend only car - but for a daily driver running 1 bar - na
 
Will change / update a few things on the rebuild
 

• wiring loom to be done properly in the engine bay
• Will use AN fittings on the fuel lines in the engine bay - had 2 leaks with the clamps - so getting shot of those
• Will clean and paint the engine bay when the engine is out
• Engine getting a paint job
• Might anodize some stuff - if I can get it cleaned up and find someone who can do it local to me.
• Flywheel / carbo metalic clutch to be done
• Drill and tap an oil temp sender
• Koyo Rad and multi electic fan with controller / warning feedback
• My own ignition amp system to go in

[BinoX]

Sorry to hear about the engine trouble
 
Hope the rebuild goes well...
 
When dismantling could you do me a favour and make a note of where all the wiring loom connectors plug in \'cause I accidently put my notebook through the wash \'cause it was in my overalls and I can\'t remember where any of the plugs go!
 
I\'ll probably be getting on with my rebuild during the winter, although I\'m doing mine slowly \'cause it\'s not essential that it is running soon...
 
I wish you the best of luck

[L18M]

sorry to hear that prof!
i thought u had bens old engine in there which had not covered many miles?
hope ur rebuild goes well
own ignition amp?? sounds interesting!

[mpk490p]

bugger feel for you buddy....... bigger and stronger!

[Prof]

Yep - onwards and upwards
 
I\'ll try and take photos of the loom - although I\'ve already hacked it about a bit when eliminating all the solenoids on the last engine swap.
 
Engine was low mileage from the previous owners rebuild - but I\'ve put another 14,000 on it (21,000 total) and it\'s had 2 leaking radiators, a leaky injector and a bad oil leak to contend with - although it\'s never overheated, never run short of oil.
 
Ignition amp - yep - been working on some designs for this - inspired by the damage I\'ve seen on bish\'s Microtec ones, and the cost of the HKS Twin power, and the possibility of multi spark - at the end of the day though - the stock igniters and coils aren\'t bad, and I will be designing this thing to work with a number of different modern coils or the stock ones, but replacing the igniters only.  The reasoning behind this is the advance in components since these were designed, and the cheapness of fast robust microcontrollers that will tolerate engine bay temps

[TiddlesRX7]

Sorry to hear about this Dave. Hope all goes well with the strip down and rebuild. Like you say you should be able to re-use most parts. Keeps us updated.

Ade.

[Archbish]

Blimey - good luck dude!  If you need any of the stuff in the garage or a hand, please do shout...  I was thinking how well yours was idling when you brought it over - sorry it\'s turned on you!

[Prof]

Blimey - good luck dude! If you need any of the stuff in the garage or a hand, please do shout... I was thinking how well yours was idling when you brought it over - sorry it\'s turned on you!

Guess I shouldn\'t have fixed the rad :spank :Giggle

[HaywardRotary]

Maybe your thermostat needs changing,maybe the motor is still ok.
There maybe other way\'s of possibly sorting this without resorting to a rebuild.
Give me a call if you like.
Regards
Carl

[Prof]

Maybe your thermostat needs changing,maybe the motor is still ok.
There maybe other way\'s of possibly sorting this without resorting to a rebuild.
Give me a call if you like.
Regards
Carl

It\'s pressurizing the cooland big time - with it only running for about 2 mins, and water temps not even at 50 degrees, when I let it die as it wouldn\'t hold fast idle the water in the rad was under a lot of pressure.  The thermostat wouldn\'t even have been open.

[grinder]

bloody hell dave - is this your 4th engine now ??

i like your plan for the rebuild and upgrade though

[Prof]

bloody hell dave - is this your 4th engine now ??
 
i like your plan for the rebuild and upgrade though

Higher :Giggle
 
To be fair this engine was a bit of an unknown, and it\'s been at the highest power outputs in the car so far (it made just shy of 300 at the rear wheels).  I had planned to rebuild my other engine in readiness for this one\'s replacement - but didn\'t get chance to do that - so I am after a cheap runabout and will do the rebuild at my leisure - hoping to have it back on the road before Brooklands Meet.
 
So far the engine failures have been:
 
Original engine - died at 77,000 miles - water jacket cracked / ice damage
1st rebuild - died at 12,000 miles - overboost/ancillary failures - repaired under warranty
2nd rebuild - died at 27,000 miles - waterpump failure / overheated but \'died\' 6 months later of low compression
3rd rebuild - died at 16,000 miles - possibly detonation - lost compression (this engine was rebuilt with a new rear iron due to oil leak - but did not actually fail that time - so in effect was rebuilt twice)
replacement - died at 21,000 miles - suspected water seal failure - but compression still good ??!! (I did a partial rebuild - oil sump and front cover as the gaskets were missing and it had a big big oil leak)

[grinder]

i think most people would have given up at this point Dave !!

[dthebuk]

sorry to hear about the engine, i had no idea you\'d got through so many!

you going to be replacing all the ancillaries with the rebuild?

[Prof]

Most if not all the ancillaries have been sorted from the last builds, but I test what I can before it goes back on these days.
 
It\'s a sad fact that these can take out the engine as it gives the rotary an unfair reputation.
 
And as for giving up - I think I became hooked about 2 builds ago, and can no longer find boingers as addictive a drive as a rotary.
 
As long as you learn from the previous issues experienced, you can build in reliability, but obviously that\'s offset against pushing the engine for more power.