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Chris, regarding possible crack in side wall of "O"
ring groove. The only other thing I could think to try is the "dye crack"
approach. You know the old tested and tried method of finding cracks in
ferrious metal. You might find some of the dye at your local A&P
shop. Would certainly be easier than putting it all back
together.
Regarding Alternative Plugs - they may be referring to
machining away the boss that sticks up around the spark plug holes which makes
it difficult to put in anything but a stock Mazda plug.
Ed
----- Original Message -----
From: Christopher Barber
To:
Rotary motors in aircraft
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 12:45 AM
Subject:
[FlyRotary] Various Possible solutions to coolant in housing
I have
been inspecting and re-inspecting the plates (front, center and rear) and the
housing over the last few days...over and over with trusted second set of eyes
helping with the process. I have taken a straight edge to the plates and
with a .0015 feeler gage (the smallest I could find...the spec is 0016 IIRC )
could not get it to even think about going under the straight edge. The
plates seem solid, straight and in damn good shape.
I have taken a
dental pick and "ticked" it around the oil seal grooves and it seems solid all
around. However, after viewing the Mazdatrix website, it shows where the
side of the O-ring groves may give way. They state it is hard to diagnose
but can be a way coolant gets into the combustion chamber
(http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/sidehsgs.htm photo's 4 and 5). They had to use
very high pressure over an extended period to make the bad area actually VISIBLY
fail. IS THERE A WAY to determine if these groove side walls are
solid without the high pressure, long term pressure test process....which is
beyond my ability? I hate the idea of putting these back together and
continue to have a problem......I also hate the idea of the about $400.00 ish
each for new plates :-( I really thing the side plates are ok IF these
grooves are good. Any ideas?
Next, when we have meticulously
inspected the housings, we seem to see a couple of EXTREMELY slight
irregularities around the edge where the water seal would lay between it and the
side seals. My buddy...a VERY trusted resource, feels this could be enough
to cause a problem. Also, when I broke out the digital calipers I measured
several places around the housings and it seems the thickness around the
diameter I am getting is reading slightly out of spec for differences in
thickness around the housings.
Is it proper or even possible to take
these to a machine shop and have them machined smooth and flat? Or is it
better to just suck it up and buy new housings? I am about a "wild hair"
away from just giving in and buying two new housing just to get going again and
end all question of them being a future problem....at least for the current
reasons. I hate the idea of throwing money at something that may be
perfectly fine (after all I am not the government) What are y'all's
thoughts?
As to the O-rings that came out of the engine for the inner
rings there does seem to be some roughness along a couple of areas on the
O-rings. The areas are about 1.5 inches long, give are take, and seem to
be on a couple of the rings and in about the same area on the various
plates. This would seem to be indicative to over heating......Yes,
No....?????
Also, the price for new housings from Pineapple Racing
(558.00) does not seem too bad (Mazdatrix are 571.78 w/ cash discount).
One of the "features" Pineapple Racing promotes on their site is that they have
"machined spark plug holes" so as to accept alternative plugs. What the
heck is this? I hope to get a chance to call them on the morrow but what
say Ye?
I tend to kick around the various ideas before I decide, but as a
rule do not knee jerk react to things even though it may seem this way. I
do not want to drop a grand+ for new housings, but that may be inevitable.
More so, I don't want to toss an additional $1400 on new side
plates......however, I also want some piece of mind that at least these issues
are addressed.
Will love to get your opinions. TIA.
All the
best,
Chris
Velocity SE
Houston
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