Ok so anyways....Leigh didnt really break my car, but I feel better being able to blame it on someone!

So just when we thought my coolant issues were solved...($800.00 and a new intake gasket later), we appear to be back to square one.

Car is once again puking coolant, seemingly from the expansion/overflow tank.

So possible theories.

a) Blown coolant o-ring (which would either mean the end of my season, or perhaps the end of my FD ownership, as I just cannot afford a rebuild at this time)

b) air leak in the coolant system somewhere (I'm not a doctor...I dont know what I'm talking about) which is not pulling enough vacuum to suck coolant back into the system after shutdown.

c) Faulty pressure cap.

d) simple busted pipe or expansion tank.

I cant see it being D, as the car is not steadily leaking coolant. Its only sometimes., under certain circumstances. I would assume, if there were a physical leak in a pipe, the rad, or the overflow bottle, it would constantly leak whether the engine was on or not?

For the same reason, I cant see it being the pressure cap, because it does not always happen. I drove around this morning, stopping every little while and looking under the car for leaks, and found none. Even when I parked at the mall, no puddle was there when i got back to the car.

The air leak thing makes a bit of sense, and its my only hope really. But given the next piece of information, seems less likely.

On Monday, I was on my way to my baseball game (it was still roughly 30 degrees out) and I stopped by to get a gatorade at a gas station near the ball diamond. (this was after roughly 20 minutes of driving.) I left the car on (turning the alarm on of course) and ran into to purchase my beverage. When I was walking back to my car, I see a stream of liquid on the ground from about 10 feet back and going under my car. As I had recently had this problem fixed (or so I thought) I assumed it was there before I got there. But as I backed out from the parking spot, there was a nice green puddle there, and I knew it was me.

As the diamond was only 2 minutes away, i drove it there. Halfway there, the add coolant buzzer came on. I pulled into the parking lot, and seeing my water temps were still normal at 86 degrees, I shut the car down. The front bottom right area of my bumper and front lip were covered in coolant. Which means it must have been gushing in order to get on the outside of my car...

So as this happened while my car was running, and not right after shutdown, I would assume it is not an air leak in the AST/Expansion tank system. To me, this sounds like exhaust gas forcing coolant out of the overflow tank...

Chris (Neo) came down all the way from Aurora to Scarborough to deliver some coolant. After topping it up (with a fair bit of coolant) we drove back to my place. (after stopping at C-tizzle to buy some more coolant) It continued to drip a little bit, but no more gushing.

After shutdown, nothing more purged.

Didnt drive the car yesterday at all. This morning, I checked under the car, and there were no puddles. A good sign. I thought it might have been a vapour lock from a poorly bled system and maybe all was ok now.

I topped it up with coolant (lost from the drive home) and went on my way. As stated above, the drive was uneventfull. No leaking, or signs of spray on the undertray at all. Shut down at the mall, no puddle. Drove to my parents, shut down there, no puddles or signs of leakage.

Drove home, opened the garage and looked under the car. Still no signs. Parked and shut down, and this time, it distributed a nice large green puddle on my garage floor (it must not like my garage for some reason...)

So now we have 2 large coolant purges, one while driving, and one after shut down. Now if it was an o-ring, would it not do this all the time? Why only these 2 instances?

Anyways, any corrections on my assumptions, new theories or ideas, and suggestions are welcome.

Leigh, you owe me a new FD!!!

PS - I will be in Vegas until Monday, so I will reply (if anyone posts) when i get back. Cheers.

 

Chris give me a call. Pm me if you don't have my number.

 

Four thoughts:

- your thermostat may be dying. Just b/c something doesn't malfunction 100% of the time, doesn't mean it's a-okay. Ditto for the rad cap (see below.)


- bum Neo's rad cap for a few hours (or days, if he won't miss it) and see what happens. If it's your own rad cap dying, this ought to help you be more certain about it, and it won't cost you anything.


- take the car to an emissions testing place and get them to stick the probe into either the overflow bottle or the filler neck while the car is running. Supposedly, if an o-ring is leaking and allowing exhaust gases into the water jackets, the probe will detect those exhaust gases. Dunno how difficult it will be to talk them into doing it, but it's not like the coolant will harm the wand...


- seeing any clouds of white vapour from the tailpipe the next time you start it after a "stop n' purge" episode? Even a little? If you do, hop out of the car and take a good whiff of it. You'll know if it's coolant immediately, and then you'll also know your probs are b/c of a failed o-ring...




What's your ratio of water to coolant in the mix? Consider using 75% water to 25% coolant (water 'moves' heat better than the antifreeze, which is there mainly to lube the water pump and keep the block from freezing in the winter.) Buy and add some Redline Water Wetter - Crappy Tire carries it.


Just found this from someone who had the same problem:

https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...2&postcount=11



And check this out:

https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...44&postcount=8

 

Ok new developement...

Went to get gas today.
No problems.
Turned the car off at the gas station.
No problems.

Start the car after filling up.
Rough idle, as if car is having a hard time burning the gas.
Look in mirror.
Huge plume of white smoke...(and the guy at the pump behind me running away hehe)

So I figure, small crack in o-ring seal, only opens up when engine is up to temp and metal expands (or something like that) and when car was turned off at gas station, coolant pooled in the engine. Start it up, and voila...burning coolant.

Anyone disagree?
Anyone want to offer me one last glimmer of hope?

Sorry for not getting back to you guys (Mike and Rich) I've been rather tied up...
We going to whiskey tonight?

 

Lets go!

haha...

ANyhoo, we can come by to check it out for you...

 

But did he kick your dog?

 

Sorry bud...motor is toast. Well, O rings are. Time for a rebuild.

 

Yeah I figured as much.
Anyone know of any good part-time jobs that pay say...$1000.00 per hour?
I guess Derek could pimp me out, but he would take like 75% on me...that bastard!

Ok so I was thinking either we hit whiskey, or play poker at my place.

Any preferences?

Or of course, we can play poker and THEN go to whiskey

If we play poker, we need someone to bring the chips...cuz I still havent bought my own (other than those 99 cent ones !!!)

Later

 

We'll take a look dude...

I'll also bring the poker chips..

Lates,

 

Hang on for a month or so. My situation may be rapidly changing. Might be able to hook you up by the fall...

 

"a) Blown coolant o-ring (which would either mean the end of my season, or perhaps the end of my FD ownership, as I just cannot afford a rebuild at this time)"

So when can we expect it to go up fs?? I call dibs if it's not pre dibed.. :P

 

Doubt I will actually sell it.
Too much invested in it already.
Plus, no one is going to give me a good price on a car which needs a new engine...

Jamie, whatchu talkin bout? (you back now? how was it?)

 

chris, I pm'd you

 

dude, that sucks. I'm sure out of all the old timers who have replied to this thread there should be enough intellectual knowledge to rebuild your car if necessary. I'm certingly willing to help.

 

Checking on a possible lead...

 

Last glimmer of hope:

Atkins block seal "trick"

 

Indeed.

Well its doing the old, rough idle and white smoke puff on start up every time now, and people tell me they smell coolant when driving behind me, so....

Its at Mazdee's right now, and I am gonna talk to Dave about a rebuild.

For sure not the cheapest route to take, but likely the most solid.

Of course, now I am never going to scrape together that downpayment

 

I'd try the block weld once BEFORE rebuilding, some people have been lucky enough to have it last for years!

and if it doesn't work, at least you're not out anything.

 

The coolant seal fix: http://www.rotaryresurrection.com/ro...oolantfix.html


http://www.scuderiaciriani.com/rx7/o-ring_fix.html

 

So I guess that's the general concesus then?

Does crappy tire carry the necessary items for the job? (since we have no pep boys here)

And we are further sure that this wont clog the rad (seems to be ok from what the poster has said). Perhaps I should re-install the stock rad while doing the procedure?

Anyone else have an opinion on this?

 

Btw, this procedure *isn't* what I was referring to in the SMS. I'll try to call ya today.

 

There is no real band-aid solution to this... I was there at Mazdee's with pd_day checking out a Montego Blue FD...

Charr's car was being rolled in and I asked Dave "That definately needs an engine, huh?" Dave just said "Oh yeah! You can smell it! The rear o-ring has had it... "

Sorry Charr... but you knew it was inevitable... Start saving up buddy...

Lates,

 

I used the organic based prestone stop leak on an engine in the past. It bought me about 2 months of time with no real repurcusions. I was not willing to try the metallic based stuff because it can cause problems and really make the rebuild a pain.

 

Don't do that band-aid solution! It just makes a mess of the engine. There's a reason it's spitting coolant out the exhaust pipe. It's broken.

I'm w/Neo on this. Start saving your bucks and get a solid rebuild done.

Neo/Derek: what's with you guys coming out to Pickering/Oshawa and not calling me.. :P

 

MyRxBad,

It's not like we planned it... the idea was to stop by the Markham area to check out this RE FD in some shop... That was in bad condition (or a condition not worthy of spending money on...). We had to catch the movie for 8:30pm... At the last mintue pd_day decides to go to Mazdee's...
I left my car at the shop and I hitched a ride with him to Mazdee's... We weren't there very long... but long enough to check out the FD...

You know we would give you a shout if we were in the area...

Lates,