Boingers

[Zack]

Alain,

Carbon deposits and the burning of the oil inside the engine 
have nothing to do with shortened longevity IMHO.  I have seen 
rotaries at 200,000 miles which ran just fine, which is pretty 
impressive for such a tiny, high revving engine.  (The hard driven 4 
banger in my old Honda was pretty much dead at 130).
	A very common (if not notorious) cause of premature rotary death 
(premature meaning, before the 200,000 that you would expect for a 
well cared for engine), is failure of the eccentric shaft oil bypass 
valve, which leads to insufficient oil flow through the rotors, 
overheating of the oil in the rotors (and the rotors themselves), 
leading to failure of the seals.  R&R of this item is recommended 
every 50-75k miles by those who know about it, but it is rarely done, 
probably as a result of ignorance.  This isn't really an engine 
design fault, it's a maintenance fault.  Just imagine the bad rap 
that piston engines would get if nobody ever replaced a timing belt, 
and if 95% of the mechanics who worked on them had no idea what a 
timing belt was or where it was and no idea why or when it should be 
replaced... 

Zack




> Alain Toussaint wrote:
> > 
> > here's my 1/50 of a buck,the thing hampering the durability of the wankel
> > engine is the oil,oil made for regular engine will not burn efficiently,
> > 4 stroke engine oil will leave carbon deposit on apex seal,the solution
> > Road & Track magazine did to their racing (don't know what class do they
> > race but it's not the quarter mile variety) is to put 2 stroke engine oil
> > in their motor,it's been a while since i read the report but i think they
> > said it did an amelioration of the durability of the motor,i think there
> > was also an article in Kitplanes (not sure),they reported having seen
> > carbon deposit in engine from 10 000 milles on up (even on heavily
> > pampered engine),the solution for these motor if they wanted to last is
> > that they would rely on 2 stroke engine oil.
> > 
> > any though on this ??
> > 
> > Alain Toussaint
> > 
> > > I am amazed that someone who is obviously not stupid should bad mouth
> > > the wankle rotary engine.. It is quite simply the proper design for an
> > > engine.  Yea alright the design is flawed due to the problem with the
> > > seals wearing, but in this day and age with ceramic technology there
> > > must be a way to make this problem go away.  I have always wanted a car
> > > engine that revs to 14,000 rpm with good efficiency.
> > >
> > > But thats my problem
> > >
> > > Rob Humphris
> > >
> > > >----------
> > > >From:        Frederic Breitwieser[SMTP:frederic.breitwieser at xephic.dynip.com]
> > > >Sent:        05 May 1998 05:44
> > > >To:  diy_efi at coulomb.eng.ohio-state.edu
> > > >Subject:     Boingers
> > > >
> > > >>Anyway, just wanted to put a slant on things.
> > > >
> > > >Okay Michael, short and sweet- my apologies for not including the wankel in
> > > >my suggestive list of inefficient antiquated technology :)
> > > >
> > > ><smile>
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >Frederic Breitwieser
> > > >Bridgeport, CT 06606
> > > >
> > > >Homebrew Automotive Website:
> > > >http://www.xephic.dynip.com/
> > > >
> > > >1993 Supercharged Lincoln Continental
> > > >1989 HMMWV
> > > >2000 Buick-Powered Mid-Engined Sports Car
> > > >
> > > >-
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> I know a lot of endurance racers run 100:1 2 stroke gas/oil mixture in
> their Mazdas for this very reason. The engines smoke a bit, but do not
> wear out.
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