white smoke

[rsx858]

i decided today to fireup the motor (2nd gen) which has been sitting all winter. a continuous white smoke with a sweet smell comes out of the exhaust. The motor is pretty new and i dont recal seeing this smoke before. i recently installed a new header, exhaust, and plug wires. i thought maybe the smoke was just residue burning off the new exhaust but thats not the case. Iv heard some bad things about white smoke.. what do you guys think?

thanks
-matt

[dickita15]

assuming we do not have a new pope it sounds like a water seal. i assume you have antifreeze in it. that would be the sweet smell.

[MaxEnergy]

Originally posted by dickita15@Jan 19 2006, 11:37 PM
assuming we do not have a new pope it sounds like a water seal. i assume you have antifreeze in it. that would be the sweet smell.

[snapback]71329[/snapback]

And if it was fine when you put it up unfortunately you may not have had sufficient coolant in the engine during the hard December freeze which could have freeze cracked a coolant passage and it is now sending coolant into the combustion chamber.

When it runs does it pressurize the coolant system?

Jamie

[rsx858]

i drained the whole system and filled with antifreeze before winter so it didnt freeze and it does pressurize the system.

unfortunatley i know very little about this engine. if the water seal is the problem, am i damaging anything when i run the engine? and also what am i looking at as far as repairs? cost? can i do it myself?
thanks for the help

[benspeed]

Hey Matt - I just looked at your website - very nice! I'll be cheering for you to make NNJR proud in ITS!

See you at the track.

[rsx858]

Originally posted by benspeed@Jan 20 2006, 02:05 AM
Hey Matt - I just looked at your website - very nice! I'll be cheering for you to make NNJR proud in ITS!

See you at the track.

[snapback]71338[/snapback]

Hey Ben, i'll do my best! congrats on the points championship last year.

[MaxEnergy]

Originally posted by rsx858@Jan 20 2006, 02:03 AM
i drained the whole system and filled with antifreeze before winter so it didnt freeze and it does pressurize the system.

unfortunatley i know very little about this engine. if the water seal is the problem, am i damaging anything when i run the engine? and also what am i looking at as far as repairs? cost? can i do it myself?
thanks for the help

[snapback]71337[/snapback]

Did you run it after you put in the antifreeze? If not the block most likely stayed full of water and freeze cracked.

In any event if it's a bad seal it means a complete disassembly and rebuild. Yes you can do it yourself but at least get the Rotary rebuild video, but seals and gaskets are expensive and you'll probably need replacement parts from a core motor if something froze. A stock reman will cost about $2000 but you can often find a parts car with a decent engine for much less, but you won't be sure what you are getting.

[C. Ludwig]

Sure sounds like a coolant o-ring. What ever you get it done soon. I just disassembled an engine that had a bad seal and had sat for an extended time. The rotor housings would of been in excellent shape except for the damage the coolant had done to the chrome surface from sitting on it for so long. There was very little to salvage from the engine.

[rsx858]

Im going nuts over this because i had a stock remaned motor put in at the end of last season! As much as I'd like to save money, I dont think i stand a chance at doing a rebuild myself. does anyone know any shops in the northern New Jersey area where i could get this checked out for a resonable price?
thanks

[jcmotorsports]

Originally posted by rsx858@Jan 25 2006, 03:12 AM
Im going nuts over this because i had a stock remaned motor put in at the end of last season! As much as I'd like to save money, I dont think i stand a chance at doing a rebuild myself. does anyone know any shops in the northern New Jersey area where i could get this checked out for a resonable price?
thanks

[snapback]72005[/snapback]

I don't know of any in NNJ, but I use KD Rotary(www.kdrotary.com or (610)562-5004)in Shoemakersville PA. Great guys that do excellent work. Ben can attest to that also. I only run a limited ITS schedule due to national requirements, but looking forward to running with you (if I don't sell my car)!!!!

[Mike Spencer]

Originally posted by rsx858@Jan 20 2006, 02:03 AM
i drained the whole system and filled with antifreeze before winter so it didnt freeze and it does pressurize the system. <snip>

[snapback]71337[/snapback]

I was just wondering what exactly you meant by "filled it with antifreeze". Pure 100% antifreeze actually doesn&#39;t lower the freezing point all that much. You get the best protection from 50/50. I&#39;ve seen antifreeze pre-mixed 50/50 with water for sale lately, and maybe that&#39;s what you meant.

In any case I wish you luck, &#39;cause it sure sounds like you&#39;re going to need it!

[benracin]

In an attempt to maybe find some good news, you said you replaced the header? Did you happen to pull off the intake as well? I&#39;m only familiar with the 12A, but I know if you get one of the 2 o-rings messed up when you put the intake back coolant can start to leak either out of the intake or maybe, never happened to me, but maybe into the combustion chamber?

Just trying to find something that doesn&#39;t mean complete rebuild. Don&#39;t be to worried about a junk yard motor though. I found one for $500 that actually seems faster then the built motor that came with the car. These engines take careful care and feeding.

[rsx858]

yes i did use 50/50 thanks for clarifying. i didnt remove the whole intake- just recently replaced the filter but thats it. this probably is the same problem but now i notice very small drops of water spitting out the exhaust instead of the smoke and small amounts of the white smoke coming out of the header to front exhaust section flange.

[RP Performance]

[quote]
In an attempt to maybe find some good news, you said you replaced the header? Did you happen to pull off the intake as well? I&#39;m only familiar with the 12A, but I know if you get one of the 2 o-rings messed up when you put the intake back coolant can start to leak either out of the intake or maybe, never happened to me, but maybe into the combustion chamber?



The 2nd gen N/A&#39;s do not have the o-rings on the intake manifold. Matt have you let the car run and get up to temperature to see if the smoke clears up? When you put in the coolant did you warm it up all of the way also? You can build up a lot of condensation from sitting so that might need to burn off.

[rsx858]

thats a good point and it might explain why the severity of the problem lessened the second time i ran the car. i didnt bring the car up to temp when i put the antifreeze in initially and same goes for when i ran it recently so hopfully ill see improvement when i get a chance to bring it up to temp. sadley im away at school at the moment so ill have to wait before i can test this theory. thanks for the help

[Eagle7]

If you didn&#39;t bring it up to temp when you filled with antifreeze you may not have mixed the water that was already in there and the added antifreeze.

[Andy Bettencourt]

As an aside, I find it&#39;s VERY important to bring these engines up to temp EVERY time you start it. It can be a pain but fouled plugs will start to haunt you and make cold starts problematic if you have the race plugs in .

AB

[alberto_mg]

andy is correct.

if you need info on a rotary builder/mechanic in NNJ, there are some listed in the NE section at RX7club.com. I have used J&R on Long Island with good results for street cars. I&#39;ve also seen a few race prepped 2nd gen cars there getting motors.