ok so im takin off my radiator today to get it fixed, do i just put some rags in the hoses to keep stuff out?
also when i put it back on, how much coolant do i need to put in? its an 85 gsl in south texas so i assume i dont need much antifreeze at all unless it does something else i never heard of. thanks in advance for the help
gamble

 

If I were you I'd drain the whole coolant system so you are going to have to take the "block" drain screw out. This will drain almost all of the antifreeze out of the rad and all of it out of the block. The screw is on the drivers side right in the middle bottom, watch out she'll come out fast if you have the rad cap off. This way you can get all of the old crap out of the bottom of the housings out of there and it will make less of a mess when you take the rad out.

I woulden't worry about putting rags in the hoses unless you plan on leaving it outside with no hood on it.

I'd just get a gal of coolant and and fill the rest of the system with water since it never gets below freezing there anyways.

 

any special filling procedures i need to do?

 

ok thanks man, i got it off. Kerry is going to fis it all up for me. I'll tell you how it turns out.

 

Just fill it up untill it comes out of the rad then run the engine till it gets to operating temp at the same time adding coolant. Then put the rad cap on and fill the overflow resiviour to "full". Drive it around fo ra while and check the overflow, should be a little lower than full if you had any air still in the rad.

 

You should use soft (demineralized) water.

 

how does soft water help? maybe the fact that it has less impurities to get caught in the engine. maybe i just answered my own question

 

I think it just helps to prevent corrosion.

 

Tap water has minerals in it which will adhere to the surfaces inside the cooling system. Just look at your bathroom water fixtures, it does the same thing there. Soft water is better, distilled is best.

Kerry

Gamble, let me know how it worked out.

 

looks good, im gonna go put it on this morning now that i can see the car in daylight. i guess i'll pick up some water on my back from school and fill it up then.

 

dayam it fits like a glove, and i painted the parts black so itd look the same, and it looks good. sprayed a few other little spots while i was at it, i'll tell you guys how it works after i get back from class

 

You mean Distilled (Pure)n water, and yes, there is a difference.

Minerals will cause build up in your engine and promote corrosion. You can buy bottled distilled water, or if you have a de-humidifier, the water is collects is distilled.

Do you have A/C? If so, you want a 20/80 anti-freeze to water ratio. And just for the record, anti-freeze does do more than just keep coolantg from freezing. It also has rust-inhibiting ingredients, and also *slightly* increases the poining point of the coolant water. However, neither of those benifits is really too important. You can also add WaterWetter to your coolant. It'll help keeo things from overheating, plus also helps prevent rust. If you don't have A/C, and it NEVER, EVEER, gets below freezing, then you can forget the anti-freeze altogether.

-Spencer

 

Pointing point??? Huh?

 

I meant boiling point... I'm an idiot

 

Hi guys, I'm new to rotary eng's and new to this site. I'm searching for overheating problems so here I am... Just bought this 83 le with no fan, fan clutch or shroud, so I got the stuff put it all in along with a new thermostat, coolant water etc. and heres what happened, started up with the cap off, water gushed from radiator so I thought" well the water pumps working" and put the cap on. Went for a spin to warm it up and it got real warm, had the heater on but felt no heat. Back in the garage, pop the hood and theres coolant all over the radiator and shroud, overflow resovour is full, and I'm puzzled now...
Water shouldn't have gushed from the rad right?
What does that mean? Its a brand new thermostat.
Do these things have a habit of loosing heater control cables?
Any suggestions out there?
Advice?
Heard any good jokes lately?
Thanks alot

 

Could have a blown water seal inside the engine, friends 87 had this problem.

 

sounds like a shot water seal. What happens is exhaust gets into the cooling system, causing it to pressurize MAJORLY and forces the coolant out of the system any way it can. When you start the car cold water should not gush out of anywhere (I have a leak in the rad. and I top it off almost every morning when I drive it, and I can have the car running with the rad cap off no problem). Basically it seems you have the "previous owner overheated it and warped one of the housings" syndrome. The only real solution is, I'm afraid, a rebuild Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

--matt

 

Replace the radiator cap as the spring is unable to handle the pressure.

 

yeah id go for the simple stuff first.

 

There's really no point, since the water gushed out the filler neck. That is exhaust in the cooling system. A new radiator cap won't exactly help that.

 

once the engine is fully warmed up, the coolant will gushed out of the radiator if there is no cap or cap not sealing correctly. Another thing is clogged radiator. Since u still have a t-stat, you will need to wait until engine is warm, then remove the cap and see if coolant is circulating. If not, then get it rod out. Flushing the radiator will not remove the debris inside. If the engine overheated, usually, ck the dip stick for any sign of coolant. With my daily driver RX, my t-stat is gutted out to at least give a restriction on the flow to allow the coolant to absorb the heat during traffic. Otherwise, the coolant will flow too fast.

 

That is likely a blown water seal. No sense in buying stuff you don't need.

 

So...
The water seal is between the housing and the rotor?
How about a good dose of stop leak just to buy some time? Or would that be a waste of time?
I'm good but i'm not sure I can get my honey to swallow a new engine for this thing.
Are there any other options?
Thanks guys for all the advice.
Steve

 

I tried the stop leak in my second gen. All it did was stop up the radiator.

Try and hunt down a used engine, 12A's are reasonbly cheap

 

No, the problem is that a housing warped causing the seal to not mate with the surface on the other housing. Stop leak will not do anything to fix that. It might cause more damage by leaking into the combustion chamber. The only solution is a rebuild, or replacing the engine as a unit. 12A's are pretty cheap. You might beable to get a front clip real cheap w/ a good motor from a junkyard.

Try thepartstrader.com there's usually shortblocks on there.

--matt