my new project,

[RobMatthews]

Hey people i have bought a project 1992 (j plate) fd3s -auto which i thought might have been an easy fix it looks like it may have taken a nose dive today!

Ok so the problem was it was loosing water but not too badly (about 100-200 mls every 80 odd miles)so at first i thought even if it turns out to be water seals the engine has not been cooked so should be a faily economical fix! My mate who i bought the car off had been using it but keeping a close eye on the water level with the buzzer never coming on, finaly today i had a chance to check everything over and found that the inside rad was leaking-unfortunatly i think i got prematurly excited as i bypassed that and filled back up with water and done a pressure test it held nicely:D now comes the downer as when i went to start the car (with a flat battery) i managed to turn it over a few times but not have enough power to start, then i thought i would check water levels befor leaving it for the night,as i undid the filler cap there was a lot of pressure there.
 Now you know the story heres the question; The pressure i had at the filler neck should not have been there? am i going to answer my own question in thinking it is water seals leaking combustion gas into the cooling system?
Is there any other explanation? hints on what else to check?
heres some pics too:)
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Thanks rob

[Jit]

did you actually start the car after filling the water? Or are you saying the pressure cam purely from cranking?

[RobMatthews]

never started, battery was too flat pressure came from on just turned over

[ianelvar]

Hmmm. Sounds suspiciously like what mine was doingwith knackered seals. It depends where the break is in the seals I suppose. If it\'s in the compression area, you could end up with pressure build up even if it doesn\'t fire.
Easy way to test - Take the plugs out, disconnect the normal de-flooding fuses and the igniter, take the coolant filler cap off, put your hand over the neck, get your mate to turn the ignition and feel if you get a pressure buildup. If you do, then your seals are blown. Fingers crossed tho!

[DC-TYPER]

take the cap off the AST AND START IT(IF YOU CAN) if there are bubbles, these are exhaust gasses

[RobMatthews]

Well just an update on this one its defo the seals:(  never mind, i did put some new plugs in as the olds ones were blacker than a black thing in a hole with a bit of 2 stroke and she fired right up and idles perrrrr-fectly although i never let the coolent system pressurise(put a bottle where the coolant cap is and cut the top off alowing the coolant to expand into that).so i think it will be back up for sale again as a non runner:2Rolleyes as i have too many vehicals to worry about-currently standing at 3x fd3s 1xtoyota hilux and a seat ibiza cupra(208bhp)not to mention a van for work and an american astrovan.

[chrisJDM]

looks good, keep us updated, nice interior hehe

[RobMatthews]

Im taking my styling of the interior cue from "the just got outta bed/untidy look" just to be different altough there\'s not much room in there anymore.

[mjwebb48]

hey Rob, would you sell the rear spoiler seperately?

[RobMatthews]

which spoiler look here they are both up for sale:-)
http://www.mazdarotaryclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45455

[chrisJDM]

Im taking my styling of the interior cue from "the just got outta bed/untidy look" just to be different altough there\'s not much room in there anymore.

hehe i dont think you would be getting to far with the steering wheel in that position, would have to have very very thin legs :chat

[RobMatthews]

na the steering wheel is fully adjustable and not fixed so you can move it wherever you want lol