HMC- Live- collecting 1929 austin 12 “heavy”

[SiC]

Take the existing ones out and inspect first.

[dave j]

Can you bump it when it doesn't hot start? I guess you parked at the top of a hill just in case!

[DodgeRover]

Got to be worth trying a set of plugs

[Skizzer]

£80 = double or quits.

 

May your god go with you.

[cobblers]

Iridium ones might be needed if you want the plugs to last 20k, but any old cheapo ones should last a few months, surely?

[dollywobbler]

Iridium ones might be needed if you want the plugs to last 20k, but any old cheapo ones should last a few months, surely?

 

It's not a bad shout, if they're easy to access (I can't recall offhand). If it improves things, THEN spend extra. 

[DodgeRover]

Iridium ones might be needed if you want the plugs to last 20k, but any old cheapo ones should last a few months, surely?

I don't know the reason for that recommendation of plug - I would guess seeing what the older rotaries used and seeing if they are the correct dimensions to physically fit wouldnt be a bad idea to try the theory out. They probably do have a hard life though.

[Asimo]

Not your everyday spark plug at all.

Each chamber has two plugs which look quite different from each other. Obviously they must be fitted in the correct position. They don't spark at the same time either.

 

 

Because these cars are low mileage as a rule and rather disposable I wouldn't be surprised if the plugs were well past there use by state.

[DaveDorson]

take em out, get them red hot with a blow torch and get the crap off them, try again.  If that fixes it, buy plugs.

[PhillipM]

What Dave said, get them hot.
 If it's still on original leads too, change them, they're shit.

Double check the coils are decent replacements, lots of cheap copies around that don't work properly, and the ignition system has to be top notch on these.

I know it's against the autoshite guidelines but....I'd fork out for for a set of D585 coils, magnecor leads and new plugs if I was you. If it goes tits up they'll sell on for nearly what you paid for them anyway as they sell well secondhand - if you're certain the coils are good, then at least swap the leads and check/burn the crap off the plugs as above

[Rover414]

I've had my R3 for 16 months now and has never given me any issues, my older 192 had it's share of issues but nothing that left me stranded. If you do your homework when you buy them then you should be ok, of course the R3s have a fair few issues ironed out but are rare in the UK (about 700 odd sold here I think). The only downside to me for my R3 is the tax (£50 a month, compared with £20 for those before 2006) and the frequent visits for fuel. That said I'd never consider anything else. I bought my red one at the lower end of the scale but the R3 cost me 5k...!

[HMC]

^ by any chance were you the chap featured as an owner in the PC buyers guide?

[Rover414]

Not guilty! I think I have seen that one though, was it a grey one? Mine is blue, worth posting a pic of the two of them together again:

 

 

I am part of the owners club, it has some decent information and the like, though now it is mostly about what mods you have done etc. I just like them standard, I was averaging 200 miles to a tank which is awful, puts my MPG somewhere in the low teens I think and I use it every day for work so it certainly racks the miles up, its nearly on 80k now.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

£50 a month on tax!!!! Owch!!!

[HMC]

^ march 2006 is the breakpoint into mental territory. As all such higher emission vehicles become cheap to buy I keep that date at the back of my mind. Not a deal breaker but the idea of almost double the Tax for a registration date a month later is a right kick in the b0110x!!!!

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

Remind me - what was wrong with a conventional four stroke engine again?

 

Doesn't start hot unless you fit spark plugs hand crafted by NASA and do a backwards River Dance whilst quoting McBeth.

 

What a load of shit. 

[D Spares & Tyres]

Dislike RX8

 

Want to see Wartburg

[LessThanEqual]

Remind me - what was wrong with a conventional four stroke engine again?

 

Doesn't start hot unless you fit spark plugs hand crafted by NASA and do a backwards River Dance whilst quoting McBeth.

 

What a load of shit.

Rolls Royce were developing a diesel rotary. How gr8 would that be?

 

I love the RX8, but also want to see the Wartburg

[dollywobbler]

Remind me - what was wrong with a conventional four stroke engine again?

 

Doesn't start hot unless you fit spark plugs hand crafted by NASA and do a backwards River Dance whilst quoting McBeth.

 

What a load of shit. 

 

What's wrong with a conventional engine? Reciprocal motion. Up, stop, down, stop etc. Wankel's ideas were to create something with more of a turbine flavour, for smoothness and (it turns out) a lot more punch for its size. Ultimately flawed, but no less impressive for that. They can be made to produce staggering amounts of power too.

[SiC]

It's not like a 4 stroke petrol never floods either...

[HMC]

Contemplating a £50 uprated starter (from 1.3 to 2.2kw apparently) to see if it helps with hot starting. First I'll inspect the plugs and see if last years new coil packs were genuine items. Obviously if it turns out the issue is low compression when hot it will only mask the underlying problem.

 

At the moment I don't necessarily see it as a long termer (what's one of those again?) so compression test/ query rebuild isn't on the plan. If it makes it more usable that's the aim for the present time.

[SherpaMog]

I had a full fat 231 bhp one of these, it was six years old and a fucking great thing to drive. It was 100% reliable, until I fucked it by crashing hard into a wall (backwards, obvs).

I think they are great for the coin, if you get a non rusty one.

[PhillipM]

it took me 3 engines before I gave up on them

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

What's wrong with a conventional engine? Reciprocal motion. Up, stop, down, stop etc. 

 

 

They start well from hot though. Kinda useful I find.

[xtriple]

I love Wankel engines! There, I said it. Once you have driven a good one you get the point, they are simply fab! I had an RX7 (FD - FC?) and it was addictive to thrash the knackers off it, the old warning buzzer for engine revs got a lot of excercise! They really are supremely smooth and don't 'feel' like an engine at all, sort of like magic stuff going on under the bonnet.

 

I nearly bought a RO80 back in the day but was put off when I was told about the £12 plugs and this was when 4 plugs were about a quid for a normal motor. I did love the car though.

 

I don't believe the rotary engines in the Mazda are too complicated to rebuild?

[HMC]

The c180 comes into its own against the ambitiously designed and engineered ornaments (the rx8 when hot at least) No new boundaries have been pushed in any area. Some would describe this as dull but it has a valuable place in my fleet exactly for these unremarkable qualities. It functions. All except the coolant thermostat.

 

On these engines the ECU holds the gears of the automatic gearbox to aid getting the car and cat up to temperature to help with emissions. With a knackered thermostat it was revving its tits off around town as it was permenantly overcooled. A new stat means it warms up quickly and the transmission shifts in sensible places shortly after starting once more.

 

I ordered a set of nexen blue 4season tyres for the trip to Germany in January and got them bunged on this afternoon....

 

Sorted!

 

Also just had confirmation from my transport guy- rendez-vous with a wartburg is officially on for tomorrow evening!

[dollywobbler]

They start well from hot though. Kinda useful I find.

 

Mazda rotaries start well from hot. Unless there's a problem. Funnily enough, conventional engines can suffer hot start problems too.

[Angrydicky]

Warty pls.

[egg]

The recommended iridium plugs are about £80 for a set of 4. Worth a punt maybe?

 

NGK (OE?) Iridium plugs imported from USA are £47.77 from rockauto.co.uk

 

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/mazda,2006,rx-8,1.3l+r2,1432723,ignition,spark+plug,7212

[The Moog]

Does a little warty dance...

 

 

Counting down days till I can buy one