Paul,
I removed the turbo 13b from the Glass Goose and replaced it with a
2005
Renesis. I was running the engine during fuel mixture adjustments
when
it
suddenly started to run rough. The manifold pressure jumped to about
20"
at
idle, naturally the mixture became too rich because the engine
controller
was reading the 20" manifold pressure. Just before that, the
manifold
pressure at idle was between 11" and 12".
I cannot find the source of this problem. I removed the intake
manifold
to
check for leaks, the gasket was ok, I replaced it, reinstalled the
manifold,
same problem. The lowest manifold pressure I can get at idle is
between
18"
and 20". There is a leak somewhere but where? Or is there another
reason
that I am not aware of?
Rino Lacombe
Now, Renesis powered Glass Goose
I did fly about 10 hours last spring (in June) with the turbo 13b.
I have no idea. Can you take a picture of the manifold you are using?
Is the turbo still OK?
Perhaps you have a leak in the hose going to the manifold pressure
gage. Get one of these hand pumps from the auto parts store and check
it out. It is a real handy thing to have around.
Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
Thanks Paul,
I have that vacuum pump, also have an automotive intake gauge. I get
a
reading of about 10" on the auto gauge and get about 20" on the EM2
gauge
(Tracy's monitor) at idle which should be about the same.
With the vacuum pump I tested each of the hoses that connect to the
manifold. 2 hoses to the engine controller (EC2), it held the vacuum.
I
tested the hose to the fuel pressure regulator, it also held the
vacuum.
This is a mistery to me, I ran out of options.
I tested the manifold for leaks and checked the gasket.
Rino
Take the manifold off and bolt it down to a thick peice of plywood
with some inner tube rubber as a gasket. Clamp something over the
throttle body and see if it will hold a vac. Perhaps it is leaking
around the TB shaft. There should be some O-rings in there.
--
Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
I did that on a board of hardwood, I bolted it with its gasket, no
leak
there. I pluged the injector holes and filled the manifold with water
up to
the top of the throttle body. That is how I found a couple of pin
holes
in
the weldings, also had a leak at one side of the throttle body shaft,
corrected that.
I will do some more testing today. I will apply about 11" vacuum to
the
engine controller to see how it will react to that but that does not
solve
the leak.
Rino
You might be getting some pulsations in the vac signal going to the
controller.
It looks like you are tapping off the vac right behind the throttle.
Tracy does not
average the intake manifold vac.
Paul Lamar
Rino. Try a vac can to smooth the pulses. I'll be gone for the
next 12 hours.
--
Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
It was running nicely before it suddenly started doing that, I will try
the
vacuum can and I just realized that I did NOT change the O rings on the
bottom of the fuel injectors, I will put new O rings on Monday.
Rino
Hey this sorta rings a bell. Years ago when I changed an engine out (13B,
the Renesis might be different) the car ran like a top. I drove like an
old
man for a few weeks to break the engine in. Then back to normal driving
habits and after a few days she wouldn't idle at all. Vaccuum leak, tough
to
find but then I found the injector o-rings were leaking. New rings and
everything was fine. A week later same problem, fix, problem, fix,
problem.
Got a little boring. I looked at the old block and noticed there was a
little plastic cage in the injector hole that supported the o-ring. I put
these in the new engine and the problem went away. Under gentle driving
there was no problem but under heavy decelration the o-rings would suck
out
of place. Might not be your problem but it sure brought home to me how
important those o-ring seals are.
John Gibbons
Changed all 6 fuel injector O-rings, no improvement.
Now the problem is intermittent. After changing the o-rings, started the
engine, vacuum at about 18", after about a minute it started running
smooth,
vacuum at about 11", it ran ok for a few minutes then went bad, vacuum
about
24". It runs ok for a while and bad for a while.
Rino
Have you checked your injectors? Kind of hard to do with out proper
test equipment. Place a long screw driver tip on them and the other
end on your ear. See if you can hear all of them clicking when the engine
is running. Might be hard to do if the engine is very noisy.
Even if they are clicking the fuel nozzle might be plugged.
Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
Rino,
Troubleshooting checklist below:
1. Using a handheld digital pyrometer, check the temperature of both
exhaust
ports. You are looking to see if this is a single rotor issue or is the
problem effecting both rotors. It does sound like you are dropping one
rotor. In normal operation, both pipes will read near the same.
2. With it running in the poor mode, spray carb cleaner looking for a
vacuum
leak. It can be as simple as a split hose.
3. Use a timing light to verify spark at all plugs. You can also visually
inspect the plugs to see they are all firing. Spark plug coils can fail
intermittent. Also inspect the plug wires.
4. A squirt bottle with fuel can be used to richen the mixture when it is
running rough. If it smooths out, there is a mixture problem caused by too
much air or not enough fuel. Do this carefully.... this stuff burns!
Remember the three things required to run (assuming there is good
compression):
Air
Fuel
Spark
Larry
Is it possible that one apex seal is sticking sometimes?
When it runs rough it gets too much fuel. I have the control full lean and
it is still too much fuel. When it runs ok the intake vacuum is between 11
and 12" and when it runs rough the intake vacuum is between 18 and 24". At
that vacuum the engine controller sends too much fuel for the engine speed,
it is at idle, below 1500 rpm.
Rino
That is a possibility. Usually it clears up after running for awhile.
Unfortunately you cannot visually inspect the apex seals with a finger
or screw driver in the RX8 engine. Run some WD 40 in there and turn it over
a couple of times. Let it soak over night and then run it. It should clear
up. It could also be an intermittent failure in the injector driver transistor
perhaps. I am not sure of the failure mode. Tracy might know. Is it always the same
rotor. Clicking will stop on the offending injector.
Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.
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