Have i cooked new engine?

[CraigWWW]

Hi Folks...sorry for the long post but really worried here..please help!:confused:

I really thought after spending £7k on a new engine and installation that I wouldn\'t be back on this section asking for help diagnosing an engine problem but hey...**** happens!

The other day I was checking oil and coolant and when I opened the AST cap out spurted a load of coolant. I nipped up to local auto store and bought some Valvoline AF premix 50/50 as recommended by the dude in there. So topped  up the coolant and car seemed fine, ran it the next day for quite a while and no issues at all.

However, last night I took her out for a wash and cos it was only down the road, left the engine running while powerwashing fo about 8mins or so. When I climbed back in Water Temp on PFC showed 124c...****! A drove along the road and temp quickly dropped back down to 80c and stayed there.

Had to use the car for work today and joined the motorway to find 8mile of nose to tail traffic.. 2 mins in the traffic after about 7min total driving and the water temp guage on dash started heading skywards.. PFC only showed 37c though? I panicked but was stuck on outside lane at standstill.

A few mins later and PFC was still showing pretty normal temps, then suddenly shot up to 125c? I started to make my way to hard soulder but after about a min or so trying temps dropped back down to 80c and dash guage showed normal temp...

I was worried but continued to work 30mins and temps all normal. I did notice thought that revs were sitting pretty high..1300rpm dropping then climbing  again.

Heading home from work and same happened. Dash guage shot up but PFC indicating normal temps..max 92c. Parked up and let cool. Kept turning on at standstill and dash guage kept showing HOT then switching off to cool...PFC never rose above 92c???

Then when i pulled of dash guage dropped quickly back down to normal and stayed there whole way home.


Any ideas folks..have I fried my engine? Airlock after topping up?

Cheers

[interloper393]

the standard gauge isnt anything to go buy bud, there crap.. go by the pfc readings.. sounds a bit like an airlock tho..

[interloper393]

124 is damage levels tho, u may be lucky but id be carefull n keep checking the coolent ..

[CraigWWW]

Im praying to the Rotor God to let me off with this one..please?

Would a sniffer device tell me if the engine is a goner?

[adamk]

Airlock mate must be, look over the water system mate. Ive had this many time with my cars (not rotary I must add)!
Im for the air lock, spesh when the temp raised and lowered so quickly.
 
Man Im drunk LoL:bandit :bandit :bandit

[CraigWWW]

Cheers mate... how do I check for an airlock?

Just checked the coolant level and it seems a bit low, can see it when looking in but its a good 5inches below the cap.

[antnicuk]

air lock,    the hot air pockets sit by the sensors and read higher temps than the water.  That doesnt mean it doesnt harm your engine but the water temps arn\'t generally as hot as the readings.   Make sure you bleed it properly and try again.

[CraigWWW]

That sounds like semi-good news.

I think I remeber a thread on here about \'burping\' so will do that and fingers crossed!

[interloper393]

drain the system and before topping bck up remove the plenum coolent hose and fill until this pipe starts flowing water out, re-connect that pipe and top up.. this should remove any airlocks..

[CraigWWW]

Cheers mate..

Can anyone recommend coolant? Is premix better or just mix 60/40 with distilled water?

[Martiny]

Where is the sender for the PFC temp reading?

[CraigWWW]

er.... i dunno?

[rx7veilside]

tucked at the rear of the water fill up point

[chrisJDM]

make sure you get green or blue coolant, dont get the red/pink stuff.

[gsb876]

Bleed the system mate and see if any air bubbles surface,

turn car on and leave the coolant top up cap off and also the rad has a screw on it to release air pockets slowly open that and see if it bubbles.

124oC is very high as anything over 120oC is generally considered damage temps but fingers crossed for you, also i wonder if the actual temp sensor is reading wrong or damaged ??

Gurj