We have already told you before how rotaries work. In this post we will continue about the one thing everybody talks about when you start about rotaries. If you start a discussion then the first first thing you will get to hear is that these engines are not reliable at all. However rotary owners will say that it is just as reliable as any other engine. We know that the one group will have no experience and will just say what they have heard from someone else, while the other group loves the engines, so it is clear to say that both parties are biased. So where exactly is the truth?
However, there are some things you have to pay attention to if your want your wankel engine to last this long. There are two things that will make a rotary engine blow pretty soon. The one thing is people start to floor it without the engine being on regular temperature. The other one is that the engine overheats before the owners stop the car. Just like with any type of sports car you have people that like to show off all the time and think they are cool if they mash the gas all the time. You see this at the MR-2, Skyline, S2000 and also the RX-7 will have these types of owners more than the regular Fiat Multipla owners. As soon as the engine reaches the right temperature you can floor it without much problems.
As mentioned before there is a limit to it. Whereas the average engine does not really get affected if they overheat one or two times, the first time a rotary will overheat will also be the end of the engine. In case you are planning to buy a car like that then the first thing you should check is wether the engine has overheated or not. Some other problems for Rotary engine is that the wire loom is not that good and the fuel pump can die prematurely. This can also lead to several problems.
How can you solve these problems? In case you have found a nice wankel engine and you want it to last, then you should do several things. First of all give it some proper maintenance. Then also replace the engine wiring together with the ignition. To keep an eye out on the temperature you should install a better intercooler, radiator and some proper gauges. It is also a smart idea to replace your radiator fan by some electrical ones so you can have proper engine cooling in case you are planning to get sideways with it. Another thing you can do to increase its reliability and performance is installing a water injection kit.
So when we look at a Wankel engine from an objective point of view and compare it to engines of Mercedes, Honda en Toyota we can conclude that the rotary engines are not the most reliable engines ever built. However they are also not the super unreliable engines most haters talk about. The truth is in the middle of both stories. If you take the above mentioned aspects in mind and you make some adjustments to the engine then you can have a lot of fun with a rotary. And in case you think an engine is only good when you can start it and then directly drive away at full throttle then that probably sais more about you than the engine.
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