WHAT ARE ROTARY ENGINES AND HOW DO THEY DIFFER FROM PISTON ENGINES

Chi spare parts had a client this week. He drives a mazda rx 8 and was having lots of problems with his engine so i sent my mechanic to go and check it out and he comes back and tells me he will not touch that car with a ten foot pole. The mazda rx 8 is a very great car, quite sporty and very good for drifting but the only downside is that its fitted with a rotary engine. I then asked my mechanic why he would not touch the car and he tells me the engine is strange and he has never seen anything like that.

The majority of cars you see on Nigerian roads will have one thing in common, a traditional 4 cylinder engine with anything between 1.6 litres to 2.0 litres in displacement. Luxurious and performance cars will likely feature more powerful engines in a variety of cofigurations from inline 6 to V8s and W16s. The piston engine works on the same principle with every engine, Air is sucked into the engine then compressed with a fuel mixture then the fuel is ignited with a spark and then the burnt air fuel mixture is expelled. In petrol engines this is done with the aid of a spark plug and in diesel engines it is done with the aid of compressed air.

The rotary engine works in the same way as a piston except that in the rotary engine, there are no cylinders or pistons so the rotor does all the work. The rotary engine has 5 main components which include the front plate, rotor housing, rotor and the rear plate and the eccentric shaft. The rotor housing consists of two spark plugs and an intake and exhaust port. As the rotor spins, it creates a vacuum over the intake port then as it continues rotating it covers the intake port and the air is compressed with the fuel. At the equivalent of TDC in a piston engine, two spark plugs fire and then the burnt fuel and air mixture is sent out the exhaust port. The piston engine has been tried and tested and so far the only disadvanatage is that they are a lot of moving parts and they could be very large which make them unsuitable for use FWD cars.

Rotary engines on the other hand have very few moving parts and should be more reliable however they arent. Rotary engines consume a lot of oil to keep the moving parts well lubricated. Oil is injected directly into the rotor housing to keep the parts well lubricated so if you are the type who hates periodic maintenance or you use the wrong oil, be ready for trouble. Blown apex seals are also another problem with rotary engines and this is caused by the rotor coming into contact constantly with the rotor housing and due to cracking, the rotary engines lose compression which always results in misfiring and power reduction. They also have poor fuel economy and lots of emissions compared to piston engines. The upside to it is that they spit out flames from their exhaust so that is cool.

Bottomline is rotary engines are flawed in their design thanks to seals which easily wear out and also the fact that they consume so much oil.

This post is brought to you by chi spare parts and car throttle. Chi spare parts, we deliver quality auto parts to you wherever you are. Dont hesitate to call us today.

CHISPAREPARTS:
WHAT ARE ROTARY ENGINES AND HOW DO THEY DIFFER FROM PISTON ENGINES

Chi spare parts had a client this week. He drives a mazda rx 8 and was having lots of problems with his engine so i sent my mechanic to go and check it out and he comes back and tells me he will not touch that car with a ten foot pole. The mazda rx 8 is a very great car, quite sporty and very good for drifting but the only downside is that its fitted with a rotary engine. I then asked my mechanic why he would not touch the car and he tells me the engine is strange and he has never seen anything like that.

The majority of cars you see on Nigerian roads will have one thing in common, a traditional 4 cylinder engine with anything between 1.6 litres to 2.0 litres in displacement. Luxurious and performance cars will likely feature more powerful engines in a variety of cofigurations from inline 6 to V8s and W16s. The piston engine works on the same principle with every engine, Air is sucked into the engine then compressed with a fuel mixture then the fuel is ignited with a spark and then the burnt air fuel mixture is expelled. In petrol engines this is done with the aid of a spark plug and in diesel engines it is done with the aid of compressed air.

The rotary engine works in the same way as a piston except that in the rotary engine, there are no cylinders or pistons so the rotor does all the work. The rotary engine has 5 main components which include the front plate, rotor housing, rotor and the rear plate and the eccentric shaft. The rotor housing consists of two spark plugs and an intake and exhaust port. As the rotor spins, it creates a vacuum over the intake port then as it continues rotating it covers the intake port and the air is compressed with the fuel. At the equivalent of TDC in a piston engine, two spark plugs fire and then the burnt fuel and air mixture is sent out the exhaust port. The piston engine has been tried and tested and so far the only disadvanatage is that they are a lot of moving parts and they could be very large which make them unsuitable for use FWD cars.

Rotary engines on the other hand have very few moving parts and should be more reliable however they arent. Rotary engines consume a lot of oil to keep the moving parts well lubricated. Oil is injected directly into the rotor housing to keep the parts well lubricated so if you are the type who hates periodic maintenance or you use the wrong oil, be ready for trouble. Blown apex seals are also another problem with rotary engines and this is caused by the rotor coming into contact constantly with the rotor housing and due to cracking, the rotary engines lose compression which always results in misfiring and power reduction. They also have poor fuel economy and lots of emissions compared to piston engines. The upside to it is that they spit out flames from their exhaust so that is cool.

Bottomline is rotary engines are flawed in their design thanks to seals which easily wear out and also the fact that they consume so much oil.

This post is brought to you by chi spare parts and car throttle. Chi spare parts, we deliver quality auto parts to you wherever you are. Dont hesitate to call us today.

Interesting..so what happened to the clients car? Was it fixed..

captainking:

Interesting..so what happened to the clients car? Was it fixed..

Still a work in progress but it will be fixed.

CHISPAREPARTS:

Still a work in progress but it will be fixed.

That's cool..