<< Finn Lassen wrote:
Today I went to the airport after about a week of inactivity.
I turned the prop by hand and noticed something really odd. At one spot
it was really hard to move. I continued to rotate it and the after
several revolution the resistance was about the same all the way around.
Any ideas?
Finn
Stuck apex seal? Foreign object in rotor housing? Metal particle in
gear box? Drain the oil Finn. Cut the filter open. Check the compression.
Just a quick question. This Apex seal sticking appears to be real problem
with the rotary. I haven't seen one yet myself. Still have to take my 13B
apart. But has anyone experimented with milling shallow diagonal groves in
the sides of an Apex seal. Like /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ or XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXin the
sides. I know they do that to some machine guns bolts, so they function in
harsh sandy conditions. It gives the crude some place to go, kind of scrapes
the walls clean.
Rich Gillen
I would expect it to destroy the sealing ability. Stuck seals have never
happened to me either as far as I know. I suppose if the engine is
run over rich such as possible with carbs or a maladjusted EFI system
washing away all apex seal oil and not run for awhile the seals could
stick due to rust. This assumes an injection pump is used to inject
oil into the rotor housing and not into the carb as some early injection
pumps do. As I recall that is what happened to Ed Anderson. Also
if an apex seal oil is used that has volatile components that might evaporate
over time leaving a sticky residue the seal could also stick
Most high time auto engines that I have seen disassembled are very gunky
inside to say the least. Tracy says his was very clean after mixing two
cycle oil and MM with the fuel for 650 hours. Perry's 120K mile engine
was quite clean after disabling the EGR after only 200 hours. I suspect much
of the gunk is therefore due to the EGR.
Paul Lamar
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