mmmmmRevs

Hi, I have a 1989 RX-7 GXL with 150k on the clock, bone stock except the 6pi/VDI doesn't function, and it could do with a tune up. I replaced the water pump and belts 7-9 months ago. It has been giving me trouble warm starting for maybe 3-4 months, possibly more. Yesterday, I was driving home when the strangest thing happened: I stalled. Now, I know its normal to stall every now and again, but I don't think I stalled because of me, as the car felt like it lost power down low. It seemed fine while moving, but I nearly stalled it again at the next light. Just a few minutes later, the temp gauge started rising. I killed the car before it could rise very far. When I popped the hood there was steam coming out of the engine, below the upper intake manifold. I also heard a bubbling/boiling sound. I was close to home so I got a small tow home from a friendly stranger. Today, I topped off the coolant (it was low) and started it up. I went for a drive to the auto parts store (btw the low down power loss seems to have gone away, maybe it was just me?) and bought more coolant, on the drive back it started overheating again, so I shut it off and pulled over. Steam coming from the same place, same sound ect, but it hadn't used any coolant that I could see (I wasn't about to remove the rad cap lol). I started it back up and the temp was fine for a bit, but every now and again it would go up a little and then back down to normal. It wasn't very much, maybe 5mm over the normal warm position. I drove home with a close eye on it and it never really went super hot. I am trying to sell it anyways. I just want some thoughts on what it could be. Should I go out and get some alumaseal?

Thank You!

erick31876

iTrader: (8)

First you need to find the coolant leak, it could be a intake o-ring, or a hose.if it was a coolant seal, you might have white smoke coming out of the tailpipe. Try taking the radiator cap off after sitting overnight and start the car and look for bubbles, if you are getting a lot of them, you probably have a bad coolant seal

mmmmmRevs

I will check it tomorrow. I have looked under the car for any leaks and I am unable to find any. As for the intake o rings, what is the part number and how many would I need? I looked it up and those can cause ingestion of coolant as well.
Thank you!

Aaron Cake

iTrader: (1)

Unfortunately, the S5 temperature gauge is not accurate. 5MM over the normal condition (middle) is VERY, VERY HOT.

There are some hose which run in the manifold area to carry coolant to the throttle body and BAC valve. Check them for leaks before determining the worse.

But to help check for a damaged coolant seal, you can perform a simple test. If you want to find out if there is an internal leak, just do the bubble test. With the engine dead cold, remove the coolant filler cap. Start the car. Do you see a steady stream of bubbles from inside the engine? Rev the engine using the throttle body. Do the bubbles increase significantly? If so, then you are probably looking at a failed coolant o-ring or a cracked iron (S4 issue mostly).

mmmmmRevs

I always heard it was inaccurate, but I thought if I didn't let it rise much then I'd be ok, oh well :/ good news is, I did the bubble test and there were no bubbles coming up at all. so I guess its a leak that hits something hot and steams up. Any thoughts on what hose it might be?

Thanks a bunch!

mmmmmRevs

I may have fixed it.... I used a cooling system pressure testing tool from autozone and I found the gasket for the waterpump housing was leaking, spewing water everywhere and because of its location it was hitting something hot and steaming up. It was also on the top of the engine so it wasn't hitting the ground leaving a trail. Unfortunately I don't have the time or money to tear it all apart and truly fix it, so I put a band-aid on it... Yay.

Thanks for everyone's help! I'll give you a heads up if it works tomorrow or tuesday.