Rotary Engine FAQ 0311

Questions answered in the Rotary (Engine) FAQ:

1.How does a rotary engine work? 2.What's a boinger? 3.Why does a rotary engine make as much power as a boinger twice its size? 4.Why does a Renesis make so much more power than prior rotaries? 5.How reliable is a rotary engine? 6.Is the rotary engine dead? 7.What do the 10A, 12A, 13B & 20B Mazda engine designations mean? 8.Why two spark plugs for each rotor? 9.What spark plugs should I use? 10.Why does my rotary Mazda have an oil cooler? 11.What oil should I use? 12.Should I use synthetic oil? 13.Do oil brands matter? 14.How often should I change my rotary engine's oil? 15.Should I mix oil in the fuel? 16.What's the best fuel for my rotary car? 17.What gas mileage should a rotary get? 18.Does a rotary have any booby traps I need to watch out for? 19.Will removing my thermostat help my rotary run cooler or make more power? 20.When should I shift? 21.What is an apex seal? 22.How do I know if my engine's apex seals are OK? 23.What should my engine's compression be? 24.What are the differences between earlier & later Mazda rotaries? 25.What are the differences between 6-Port & 4-Port rotaries? 26.How do I tell a 12A from a 13B? 27.What is a thermal reactor? 28.What's the best way to test changes I make that affect my car's power? 29.What if I switch to a light flywheel? 30.How do I get the old flywheel off? 31.How hard is it to stop oil from leaking? 32.O-rings? What o-rings? 33.What's that foamy stuff under the oil fill cap & inside the filler tube? 34.Why does my engine smoke when I first start it? 35.Why does my engine smoke when I shift at high RPM? 36.Why won't my engine start? What can I do to start it? 37.Why is my engine locked up, and what do I do about it? 38.My engine just failed its emissions test. Now what do I do? 39.What's the best way to make my rotary car accelerate quicker? 40.How hard would it be for me to rebuild my rotary? 41.What is porting all about? 42.Can I add a turbo to my NA? 43.Why is rotary exhaust replacement or improvement so expensive? 44.Why not hollow out the cats? 45.How do I remove my air pump? 46.How do I stop the backfiring? 47.How can I tell if my car has a limited-slip differential? 48.Where can I race my rotary car? 49.Corvttes, Mustngs, Firbirds, Camros, Porches & RX7s? 50.What are the RX-7 "generations"? 51.Which model RX-7 do I have? How do the various RX-7 models differ? 52.What other regular production cars have had rotary engines? 53.Why did Mazda stop selling the RX-7 in the US? 54.How do I subscribe/unsubscribe to the mailing list? 55.Is there an RX-7 club I can join? 56.My question's not on this list. Where do I go from here?

Plus, links to the RX-7 generational FAQ; tech goodies, such as the "Rotary Parts Interchange" & "replacing 12A with 13B", in "The Garage"; links to information on upcoming rotary models and rotary history; acronymn dictionary; instructions for subscribing to mailing lists; links to vendors, like:

Gallery Group Mazda Mazda Auto Recycling Mazdaformance Mazdatrix Racing Beat Rotary Performance Online Yaw Power Products

and much more.

Just click on URL below to get to Felix's.

Reply to
Felix Miata
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Reply to
Leo Russ

Reply to
Leo Russ

Reply to
Leo Russ

Congratulations on being an idiot.

Kindly go suck a dick.

Reply to
Amur_
[Interesting comments snipped]

Well, thank you Leo. Unfortunately, you posted this interesting discussion of rotary engines to three newsgroups, only one of which is intended to *discuss* pros and cons of rotary engines.

It also did not help that you posted three copies of the same message to all three groups. But one out of nine is not bad.

Unfortunately, most of what you posted was a quoted FAQ, with the original information about a third of that. That does make it one out of about 27, I do feel.

Leon ;)

Reply to
Leon van Dommelen

LOL! So polite and nicely written, you have a way with words ;)

Reply to
methanol

That submission was thesaurus-free. :D

Reply to
Amur_

But we digress. Is there no longer a technical discussion here? Baiting and flaming seem to be the order of the day. Foo. Chuck

Reply to
Chuck Sterling

As does Felix Miata, on a regular basis. Miatas have never had rotary engines, yet he still feels compelled to post this drivel in the newsgroup. If I wanted to read about them, I'd read about them.

Reply to
tooloud

Since this is the only Mazda newsgroup, people looking for info on Mazda rotaries tend to look here. I do not see the big deal having a FAQ posted that is only 70 lines or so once a month.

Leon

Reply to
Leon van Dommelen

I agree with Leon.

Dana

Reply to
Dana Myers

Gad. The man's NAME is Miata (at least as far as the newsgroup is concerned). He drives an RX-7. Last I heard they DO have rotary engines. The rotary engine FAQ, drivel or not, is about rotary engines. Bunch of damn idiots. This is how newsgroups lose users. If you don't have something relevant to post, do it in alt.renault.losers or some other irrelevant newsgroup.

Chuck Sterling (This may do it for me, I'm getting tired...)

Reply to
Chuck Sterling

"Dana Myers" wrote

Shhh. Not so loud. You'll get a reputation.

Reply to
Ken Lyons

As I usually do, though this time you're both incorrect. How many automakers have made rotary engines? What do the words rec.autos.rotary mean to you? Is it OK to post questions about George Jones in the Nine Inch Nails newsgroup because George doesn't have his own? What is your line limit on off-topic posts in RAMMM? 75? 80?

Really, you're both intelligent people, so I think you both realize that it's incorrect for the information to be posted here but neither of you want to be the guy that says it. It's kind of like that guy at work that takes your pens all the time and it annoys you to no end but you'd never confront him about it, because that would make A Scene.

Reply to
tooloud

We had a guy like that. I just put him in my killfile. No more stolen pens.

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

Not that many. Only one that had some mainstream success in it.

Mazda RX-6 cars and Miatas with rotary conversions. Though those might be a subject here too.

Since I do not know either of these groups, I do not know possible relationships, so I cannot answer the question.

  1. But the FAQ is not off-topic. It addresses a group problem.

Your thinking is incorrect. People entering this group looking for rotary info is a rammm problem.

Actually, the FAQ does not annoy me. I prefer people being directed to the right place(s) by a FAQ than us countlessly having to say, implicitly, "what you are posting is off-topic, please go away."

However, I and all other perceptive rammm posters do agree with you that *I* am far too nice to confront people about their mistakes and run the danger of possibly creating a scene.

Leon

Reply to
Leon van Dommelen

Absolutely.

Dana

Reply to
Dana Myers

I have no clue why my mighty mind put that "6 " in there. It must have a good reason, of course.

Leon

Reply to
Leon van Dommelen

Sure, that would be a subject here, but then again, since it's theoretically possible to transplant a 2.3-liter 4-cylinder from a Ford Ranger pickup into a Miata, wouldn't it be a good idea to post a FAQ about that? What would everyone think if I did that?

OK, we'll try another one...uh, would it be OK to post questions about Cher in the Pink Floyd newsgroup? I mean, some of the fans might overlap, and Cher doesn't have her own newsgroup.

I'd be rather interested in seeing a show of hands of how many posters the FAQ has helped...and it doesn't count if it helped someone with a problem on the OTM.

Don't be so hard on yourself, Leon--you're a smart guy. ;)

Well, you own a Miata, and that's definitely a plus, but we'll still have to agree to disagree on that whole style bar issue.

Reply to
tooloud

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