Topic

After a sprint meet a couple of weeks ago (a year to the week where I over reved and snapped a valve) my car developed a slight miss now and again. As I had been so carefull not to do the same as last year again, I felt that it was more fuel related. A quick compresion test was ok.
Last weekend I entered a hill climb but found I was down on power from 4000RPM up.
After running out of my limited knowledge, took it to my workshop where they think it's a snapped valve spring an easyfix BUT as they had only done an oil change just prior to the sprints they just decidede to check my oil level (the engine just a little bit noisey compared to normal ) they found it had used two litres in 250 KM, a ring job might be on the cards.................

AndrewR;15713 wrote: wrote:

After a sprint meet a couple of weeks ago (a year to the week where I over reved and snapped a valve) my car developed a slight miss now and again. As I had been so carefull not to do the same as last year again, I felt that it was more fuel related. A quick compresion test was ok.
Last weekend I entered a hill climb but found I was down on power from 4000RPM up.
After running out of my limited knowledge, took it to my workshop where they think it's a snapped valve spring an easyfix BUT as they had only done an oil change just prior to the sprints they just decidede to check my oil level (the engine just a little bit noisey compared to normal ) they found it had used two litres in 250 KM, a ring job might be on the cards.................

2 litres in 250km is a helluva lot of oil. Does it run smoky? Or do you have a leak somewhere?

No leaks, just a bit puffy when reving past 5000, say the people folowing me..............

Two litres in 250km sounds like the world's first rotary powered F
I looked at an RX-8 before I got my TF and the shocking fuel consumption combined with an extreme appetite for oil makes you realise why they are selling so cheaply secondhand.

Well went to inspect the F today. The head neaded on number on cylinder a new valve spring but on some of the others the collets were very worn and ready to seperate from the valves. Also the cylinders were showing signs of slight gouging as the top rings on two were broken, so two new/second hand linners have been sourced and all four pistons are getting new rings. My engine has done 172000km and the last 100000 very hard including some 100 speed events be it hill climbs, sprints, autokhanas and the such over the past eight years. The engine is producing approx or rather was 175HP instead of the original 140 and this is the first items attended to for wear and tear. So over all a cheap car to run. As i'm doing fewer road miles this should last another ten years of speed events!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well I have just collected my car from the workshop. With the damage done due to failed rings I now have a secondhand set of sleeves which were honned. New big end bearings, rings were fitted and the head had to have a new exhaust valve, new stem seals, collets and caps along with new springs so every thing was re ground so once more the head has been reconditioned and yet another headgasket kit. Well i'm using using the max of 4000RPM whilst every thing beds but for every 200km, I will increse the revs by 500 so by the time the next hill climb in a few weeks I will be back up to max power. So far the car feels back to full power and is pulling crisply. The cost some AUD$3700. Over the past eight years the running costs have totalled excluding fuel almost $10000 BUT that includes this latest work, two clutches, the modding of my cylinder head, rebuilding the rear suspension turrets when they ripped apart, roll cage, harness, LSD, exhaust, suspension, upgrade brakes and have travelled some 100000km. Value for money a big YES coupled to the fun and the friends I have made, 10c a KM a bargin.

AndrewR;15813 wrote: wrote:

Well I have just collected my car from the workshop. With the damage done due to failed rings I now have a secondhand set of sleeves which were honned. New big end bearings, rings were fitted and the head had to have a new exhaust valve, new stem seals, collets and caps along with new springs so every thing was re ground so once more the head has been reconditioned and yet another headgasket kit. Well i'm using using the max of 4000RPM whilst every thing beds but for every 200km, I will increse the revs by 500 so by the time the next hill climb in a few weeks I will be back up to max power. So far the car feels back to full power and is pulling crisply. The cost some AUD$3700. Over the past eight years the running costs have totalled excluding fuel almost $10000 BUT that includes this latest work, two clutches, the modding of my cylinder head, rebuilding the rear suspension turrets when they ripped apart, roll cage, harness, LSD, exhaust, suspension, upgrade brakes and have travelled some 100000km. Value for money a big YES coupled to the fun and the friends I have made, 10c a KM a bargin.

Glad it's all back together and working well, expensive repair, but looked at in cents per kilometre, it sounds a real bargain.