Small boys giggle.........Wankel

[The Great Pretender]

And no, I never new how it worked until I saw this.

[Bongo.Baz.tard]

I still remember the enormous radiator on the suzuki re5.
Bit like the bongo coolin system , Japanese and ''not the norm.''
Still got a Suzi TL. always liked them.

[steviebongo]

the mazda rx8 has this type of engine unit fitted although a bit bigger in real terms the high power 1 is 230 bhp not bad for a 1300cc unit although they can be a bit tempremental to say the least!

[Gaza69]

i looked at buying an rx-8 recently, i went on their forums to see if their community is as good as our.

Well it mainly contained arguements and debates about one thing and one thing only.

OIL

The rotary burns almost as much oil as it does fuel, even the modern equivelents arent much better. Suffice to say i wasnt prepared to pay for 2 kinds of fuel just to get to work and do the odd drive.

[steviebongo]

i work in a mazda/ford dealer and the amount of these that get towed in is surprizing,non start a very common fault and giventhat a set of plugs is a £140 is a lot!

[Gaza69]

i work in a mazda/ford dealer and the amount of these that get towed in is surprizing,non start a very common fault and giventhat a set of plugs is a £140 is a lot!

i also heard reports that its too easy to flud the engine on these aswell, is that true?

[steviebongo]

yes very much so,they even brung oot a upgraded starter and pcm update some even got plugs,most were dun under warranty and i would,nt wont to pay for that myself!

[Trouble at t'Mill]

Looking at that pic (nice one, by the way!), it strikes me that the main sealing problem must surely be between the actual top and bottom faces of the 'triangular' rotary part - ie: the face you are looking straight at in the photo, and ditto below. Never mind sealing the 'tips' of the rotor - how do they seal the sides?!

[Trouble at t'Mill]

Also reminds me of a classic motoring article heading in an auto-mag many years ago which compared the MX with a Porsche turbo. "Wankel - better than a blow job?"

[Trouble at t'Mill]

(Sorry if that's too rude, but it's true... )

[The Great Pretender]

Looking at that pic (nice one, by the way!), it strikes me that the main sealing problem must surely be between the actual top and bottom faces of the 'triangular' rotary part - ie: the face you are looking straight at in the photo, and ditto below. Never mind sealing the 'tips' of the rotor - how do they seal the sides?!

Great....another engineering mind, that thought hit me to. A 2 stroke engine needs seals in primary compression (crankcase) but only on the crankshaft faces.
Any one know how it seals each "cylinder"?

[missfixit70]

I think the apex seals are vanes (ideally ceramic) in slots with a sprung steel type arc behind it. The face seal is like a piston ring, sitting in the recess on the larger ring with the teeth on the inner face in your picture Mel. Of course, you've stil got the flat face area between the ring seal & the tip of the apex, can't see any other seal than it being a tight tolerance. Seems the sealing is one of the main issues with the Wankel type engine, either because of carbon particles jamming between seal & casing, or due to uneven thermal distribution & the very tight tolerances. Oil consumption is an accepted part of the design, maintaining a constant oil film & helping to balance the heat distribution from what I gather

[helen&tony]

Hi
TGP
Here's a poser for the Engineer in you..I have some plans for a V6 engine with onlyFIVE moving parts in total...guess how that works
Yes..it' true..absolutely true...FIVE moving parts
Cheers
Helen

[The Great Pretender]

Hi
TGP
Here's a poser for the Engineer in you..I have some plans for a V6 engine with onlyFIVE moving parts in total...guess how that works
Yes..it' true..absolutely true...FIVE moving parts
Cheers
Helen

The engineer in me asks as manufacturers are accountancy led, less parts, less cost, so why isn't it in production?
My guess is as it needs an output shaft then there are only 4 moving parts as the 2 banks need connecting unless there is a fluid drive. So it can't be a pump engine. If it works is fuel efficient and patented funding could be a possibility.

[helen&tony]

Hi TGP
Clue:
It's a pneumatic engine, and there is no output shaft, although 2 output shafts would be a breeze...I saw the plans 45 years ago....are you any closer...you need to forget all you know, and think outside the box on this
Cheers
Helen