Adviced needed ASAP: serious engine movement / cooling / steering issues

[FlikstRR]

Ive just got back from an eventfull weekend at norfolk arena where the 4th round of the BDC was held. Unfortunately, multiple issues with cooling and the engine itself caused me nightmares on the saturday.. finishing a dissapointing 13th but that was then overcome with a 3rd place podium  finish in the team event..:Kingbut that wasnt without more of the same issues...


power steering belt breaking:
- i had a powersteering belt fail twice, mid lap!!.. (not snap but fray very badly then come off), once nearly causing an accident and both times the belt was brand new..:2Mad  clearance with the intercooler pipework was the obvious culprit so we sorted that...  with a good half an inch clearance while engine is off.. but this meant we had to raise my bonnet..
but SOMEHOW its still catching it :confused:

this means the engine has some SERIOUS travel. I mean i know they shake alot, hell my entire car  rocks side to side quite violently.. but thats mad. :2Confused

- so we are now thinking perhaps the enigne mounts are broken/shot/missing..  has anyone had simular issues?

- does anyone know where to get an engine dampener/brace?
- anyone know somewhere to get engine mounts/GB mounts?? other than MMR?


steering noise/spongey response:
after the event and at some points during the sterring started to whine badly.. the initial thought was  a re-emmergance of my power-steering overheating problem.. but on the way home casual driving it did it worse.. and made a much more \'metalic grinding\' noise when turning right only. when goign left it made the more classic \'drone\' or \'whine\'.  

- we thinking maybe its done another pump, or perhaps some kind of rack bushing? or a steering rack issue itself??

 we are unsure as myself and most of my mates are used to working on SR/CA engines from nissans. So any advice is appreciated.


cooling:

• average motorway casual driving water temps: 85-88 degrees
  
• one lap (3-6 corners) on full load drifting: 90-97degrees depending on agression.
  
• 2/3 continuous laps (as needed during qualification) 99-110 degrees
  
• if left on idle, with no electric aftermarket fans running it reaches 105 degrees (at which point i paniced and put fans on and did slow laps of the pits).

- can someone tell me the standard or average temps.. as i fear these are extremely hot and are damaging the engine.. it also make me drive \'less commited\' as i fear for the rotary reliability?
- can someone give me some advice on how to increase the cooling?...

I currently run a V-mount setup with a haywards rotary IC and rad.. (unknown make), twin electric fans with dash-switch operation (pretty much on from engine start)

[AtomicRex]

I have a water to oil cooler that you can use on your steering rack....that would keep that cooler.  Which I think is the problem with your steering noise.
 
Your water may not be the problem you think it is, depending on the type of seals Carl used when rebuilding your engine.  Remember the engine cooling system is pressurised so 110 deg isn\'t actually 110 degs....if that makes sense!
 
Also depends on where you have your temp sensor.  The standard one in the water filler neck is useless, as most of the time it is in steam so will give you a false reading.  I fitted a sensor boss in the water pipe, and that way it is always in the water.
 
The V-mount set up is supplied by Radtec.  Make sure the ducting is sufficient around the radiator...it needs to be!  Air will take the path of least resistance, so if there are any gaps it wont go through your rad!

[dthebuk]

Afraid i can\'t really offer any help.

though, seeing as the top of your engine is FD, you should be able to get away with an FD engine torque damper, not sure where these are sold.

Other than that, i\'d say give hayward a call seeing as they built it!

Also congrats on the team event, looked awesome!

[m1tch]

What engine mount bushes do you have, a bridgeported engine does rock a lot if the bushes are shot!

[monterx7]

these are the mounts i use and like alot
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RX7-Rx-7-Solid-FC-FC3S-Motor-Engine-Tranny-Mounts_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem19b61e145dQQitemZ110429607005QQptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories#ht_1182wt_1167

[FlikstRR]

hmm interesting link...

was about to buy the \'complete drivetrain setup\' and at the same time buy the camber links to finally sort my camber out..now i dunno which to get.


Cheers for the Advice Atomic..  I\'ve dropped Carl an email too so  I\'m sure he\'ll get back to me. I\'ve jsut wired up all the electric side of all my new gauges (oil/water temp, oil pressure and boost) and the senders are next on the list.. need to find out what size sandwich plate to get or where to tap the temp sender in. Again ill prob speak to Carl about it. didnt realised the pressurised system would effect  temp reading accuracy?

[Jit]

Remember the engine cooling system is pressurised so 110 deg isn\'t actually 110 degs....if that makes sense!
 

Could you elaborate on this please Jon

[FlikstRR]

sorry just realised i didnt mention in last post that the complete drivetrain setup os from MMR:
http://www.mmr-direct.com/catalog1/RX7FC/

really not sure which to get.. being a drift car im swaying towards the  solid CNC\'d set from ebay... but i loose out on the diff mounts.. although the complete set is not ally. so not sure which to go with..

[m4drx]

Could you elaborate on this please Jon

water doesnt behave the same, eg. it doesnt boil at 100 deg

[FlikstRR]

though, seeing as the top of your engine is FD, you should be able to get away with an FD engine torque damper, not sure where these are sold.

Other than that, i\'d say give hayward a call seeing as they built it!

Also congrats on the team event, looked awesome!

cheers dude. team event was great. I\'ve been looking into dampeners with no luck so far.

What engine mount bushes do you have, a bridgeported engine does rock a lot if the bushes are shot!

erm.. standard i guess... probably he same ones that were on it in its first yr of use back in 1989 lol. Thats what made me think the excessive rubbing is down to the crazy amount of movement.. therefor mounts

water doesnt behave the same, eg. it doesnt boil at 100 deg

Thats kidna what I guessed...

so that raises the question.. at hat temps should i begin to think \'oh .... shes gonna pop\' :confused:

[Jit]

Also depends on where you have your temp sensor.  The standard one in the water filler neck is useless, as most of the time it is in steam so will give you a false reading.  I fitted a sensor boss in the water pipe, and that way it is always in the water.

Thats not quite correct. The gauge isnt in steam. At 1.9 bar (or 0.9 bar above atmospheric which is what you are basically pressurizing the system to with a 0.9 bar cap) the boiling point of pure water is 120. So the gauge isnt in steam until 120 degC

[Jit]

water doesnt behave the same, eg. it doesnt boil at 100 deg

I know that. But 110 degs is 110 degs.

[Jit]

Also can you clarify Phil, you said on idle, it reaches 105 without the electric fans. Do you mean there are no fans on the rad running and it hits 105.
If thats the case, then im not bloody surprised. Without fans, it dont matter what rad youve got, its gonna overheat when stationary!

[Brett]

If you\'re still running the stock mounts then they won\'t poke up with the abuse for long. Iirc you can still get competition mounts from MazdaSpeed USA.

[Prof]

Also can you clarify Phil, you said on idle, it reaches 105 without the electric fans. Do you mean there are no fans on the rad running and it hits 105.
If thats the case, then im not bloody surprised. Without fans, it dont matter what rad youve got, its gonna overheat when stationary!

I think he means when they are switched off - he mentioned somewhere that he had a switch in the cabin to turn them on and off.
 
I can\'t help thinking that part of the problem is drift cars tend to push high output powers and generate a lot of heat, without necessarily going very fast through the air -  so rads and intercoolers need to be that much bigger to get rid of the heat generated.
 
How big is the rad ?  Also, there are different flow patterns through radiators - some have an N pattern that provides a longer path through the rad to allow more cooling time (Koyo for example)