Why not starting a warm and nice Sunday with some tech nerd stuff. For today: The apex seals of the Mazda 13b engine.
The weakest link in a rotary engine are the outer seals of its rotors, called the „apex seals“.
In a stock 13b engine there is a seal pack consisting of three pieces and two springs per rotor tip (and that’s a three per rotor). This setup performs best in sealing effectiveness, but is prone to fail in high boost applications.
The picture above shows what the seals can look like, after serious abuse. The piece at the bottom is broken.
This always ends in a complete engine rebuild, as the rotor, housing and seals are f***ed.
Above you can see, what the failure can do to the rotor…
As you have two rotors, you need to replace at least the following: All the apex seals (stronger 2-piece seals), 1 rotor, two rotor housings (pic above). Due to the engines no more being built in turbo version since 2002, the parts start to get rare and expensive.
So if you plan to get an FC or FD, be prepared… 🙂
-Chris
Why not starting a warm and nice Sunday with some tech nerd stuff. For today: The apex seals of the Mazda 13b engine.
The weakest link in a rotary engine are the outer seals of its rotors, called the „apex seals“.
In a stock 13b engine there is a seal pack consisting of three pieces and two springs per rotor tip (and that’s a three per rotor). This setup performs best in sealing effectiveness, but is prone to fail in high boost applications.
The picture above shows what the seals can look like, after serious abuse. The piece at the bottom is broken.
This always ends in a complete engine rebuild, as the rotor, housing and seals are f***ed.
Above you can see, what the failure can do to the rotor…
As you have two rotors, you need to replace at least the following: All the apex seals (stronger 2-piece seals), 1 rotor, two rotor housings (pic above). Due to the engines no more being built in turbo version since 2002, the parts start to get rare and expensive.
So if you plan to get an FC or FD, be prepared… 🙂
-Chris