Recent RX7 Purchase

clive · July 22, 2015, 08:53:31 PM

Was one cap plain and the other with a spring under it?

if so swap em back also have a good look at the rubber seals up inside the cap, if these look worn or cracked it would be best to renew anyway

cknott94 · July 22, 2015, 09:44:59 PM

Just took it for a drive to see if It was sorted and it isn't! I rev'd it and it was stopping and popping through the whole rev range! No idea what the problem is now, it feels more and more like it's going to be a rebuild. But the video shows I have no bubbles I get a little puff of white smoke when I start the car first thing and it's cold but it's literally the first second then nothing.

Hopefully when I see Neil he can shed some light!

Thank you for the reply Clive, Yeah one had a plain and one had a spring I put them on the way they are on the picture boosted put up for me so hopefully they are fine now (:

cknott94 · July 22, 2015, 10:16:12 PM

Okay this could be the problem, it said add coolant so when I got home straight away popped the hood to steaming from the left hand side I was confused at first since it wasn't the usual overflow tank steaming. Instead it was coming from here, which to me is even worse and I'm more worried now than ever because this has never happened yet.

Anyone shed any light?

boosted · July 22, 2015, 10:18:29 PM

So its not losing coolant now? But not running right? Bad misfire?

boosted · July 22, 2015, 10:21:51 PM

Bottom rad hose is down there....think ic gotta come out and check that hose and bottom of rad.

boosted · July 22, 2015, 10:27:25 PM

On the AST the plastic reservoir with the sprung cap. If the spring is lifting then coolant will be flowing from AST in the small pipe....need to see that this little pipe is feeding onto plastic overflow....and not flowing down where your leak is.
Ic out AST out and inspect not crack...bottom rad hose and rad core need to be checked.

cknott94 · July 22, 2015, 11:26:59 PM

It wasn't losing coolant but then the light came on so it must be getting out somehow because I was only driving and it was definitely full up. Not running right still doing my head in, yeah I think it was bad misfiring as well! Haha I knew it would be an ongoing project!

Okay I'll check the IC (Intercooler) and Rad (Radiator) hoses tomorrow, it's fine going slow and not pushing but as soon as I push it started to misfire but that was the first time.

AST (Air separation tank)?

Correct me if I'm wrong with the abbreviations still learning!!!

neil_jdmr · July 22, 2015, 11:57:51 PM

The plastic ASTs are renowned for cracking as are the plastic end tanks on the standard radiator. A bit of white smoke on first start up in no problem as it will be condensation in the exhaust. in the cold months mine pumps out white smoke for the first minute and always has.

First things first check your hoses are on tight and have no small cracks, coolant gets to around a bar of pressure when hot so it will easy push through loose clamps or tiny cracks in the end tanks and/or the AST.

From your video it looks like you have a crack somewhere in your radiator which is easy done by a stone because of how its mounted diagonally below your ic.

AST - air sep tank mate
if your light came on your losing coolant somewhere mate, either into the overflow, on the road, or worse into the block.

cknott94 · July 23, 2015, 12:07:56 AM

I know and my gut is telling me it'll be the block because I have had the worst patch of luck in my life for the past month and I thought things could only get better.. How wrong I was!

Yeah sorry I missed tank off the end of that so thanks!

Yeah must be a crack somewhere I'll have a good look tomorrow but I need to drive to work it's only 8 miles there and back so I'll take a 2l bottle of water with me incase I need to refill for the coolant. The amount of water I'm adding could be diluting the mixture to much so when I have it all sorted I'll bleed and refill the system properly if I can find somewhere to get the car off the floor!

Not sure if it's a standard radiator but I will look in the receipts pile and see when hoses and the radiator were checked or changed. I have the receipts back to purchase of car in 1993 so I'll find something haha!

neil_jdmr · July 23, 2015, 12:19:57 AM

Quote from: cknott94 on July 23, 2015, 12:07:56 AM
I know and my gut is telling me it'll be the block

Thats hopefully just rotary paranoia pal, we have all been there. even the slightest thing wrong can make these cars look like immenent doom. Ask anyone that has had the map sensor pipe blow off, or a dead spark plug and it feels very much like an apex seal has gone.

cknott94 · July 23, 2015, 12:21:53 AM

Haha, well I'll have a good look over it. Meant to drive it to York next Monday for a work course and if I can't find a problem by then I don't know what I'll be doing! Bugger it all haha! Sleep time now up at 6 for work, this car won't beat me though I'll make it run right even if it kills me!!

boosted · July 23, 2015, 10:13:48 AM

The leak is right by the eccentic shaft position sensor....this runs the engine.( bottom engine pully with timing indexes on sensor at 2 oclock ) Id check this for water in the plug also. Give it a good clean up and spray out with electric cleaner or wd40.
This could be your misfire if only doing when leaking....i would not recommend driving mate til sorted could lose the engine.

cknott94 · July 23, 2015, 01:39:13 PM

No misfire this morning, but I didn't take it above about 3k rpm as I needed it for work. It seems to be as it gets further up the range

cknott94 · July 23, 2015, 04:34:34 PM

Okay, so drove back from work. 50 the whole way back in cruise control and no problems. I pulled up and could hear steam again so I've investigated it seems that the water was coming from the power steering plastic bottle to start with.

But then I looked further and what I could see made my gut totally drop the water is coming from underneath the engine block I think. It's just hissing and spitting from that area not really leaking but changing the caps did stop the water leaking from the overflow so that problem is solved. I don't think anything I loose but I will wait until it cools down to start touching things again.

Neil, is there anyone around here that deals with rotaries just that I can take to have a look at it this weekend sometime. Instead of my trial and error approach at the moment.

Thing is, as long as I'm not pushing the car past 4k it has no problems driving, I'm thinking I don't have enough money for a rebuild right now so maybe buy a reconditioned engine to see me okay for a year or so if the block is the problem. I blew what I had saved up on this car, in hopes that I would have 6-8 months as my pay has went up now and that would get me 3-4k cash saved to fix it in future but at this rate it's going to be gone before August is out by the looks of it

here comes a bank loan!

Thanks for the help guys I really do appreciate it, maybe getting an RX7 as a daily driver wasn't my best move

boosted · July 23, 2015, 05:39:20 PM

Hi mate so its on the passenger side? Difficult to see....just remove the ic you can get down there for a decent look.....the waterpump entry and bottom rad hose is down there.
Off boost your not generating heat. With heat comes pressure....this looks like a split hose to me . Your gonna kill it bud if you continue to drive it....start stripping tonight and get a taxi to work tomoz ?