Curiosity Question,

Since noone here has an FC and the closest thing would be an old Series 1 in the area, how does your FC take on a mountain pass? I am talking about a rise up the mountain on a highway that may last 30 minutes or so.

Reason I ask this is I live across the ranges and to get to the coast its all downhill and coming back is mostly uphill and it gets kinda hot here, about 32 Degrees C (90 Farenheit) or so average and I have to crawl.

I just returned from one of those trips and this is what usually happens: I start the mountain at around 45 MPH or so, keep that up for about 3-5MINS and the little arrow on the temp gauge comes up to halfway, I then stop, let it idle and cool down and continue the rest of the mountain at 35MPH and keeping it under 3000RPM at all times till I get to some level ground or else I practically blow my engine.

Engine Specs: 88' N/A Fresh Rebuild Under 3000 Miles, No real Mods worth noting, pretty stock.

How do your cars handle the heat and a mountain pass and is this normal?

 

get a koyo radiator. i had the same problem it would overheat easily on the uphills. make sure your undertray and all ducting is in place too

 

+1 for upgraded radiator. My last 2 rx7s also wanted to overheat uphills.

 

Mountain passes are not an issue with my car. Last fall I went across the state through 5 passes and didn't even come close to overheating. I was pushing the car pretty hard on the way back on the interstate and was going uphill at 7% grade at 85 miles a hour at 4500 rpm. Granted the temperature was in the 50's ant not 90.

 

i took my 7 up to bakersfield one time, took Interstate 5 North (for all you california guys) going through that pass through pyramid lake. I was going about 80 in 90 degree weather for a good 30 min... I was prolly elevating from 1500 above sea level to about 3000 or so. Made it fine

 

i run them all the time (its where i live 2500-7000ft) and they do great just make sure it running tip top.

 

Make sure your cooling system is up to the task. That's all I have to say.

 

flush the radiator and system, then refil with more water then anti-freeze and put in a bottle of water-wetter. It really works.

That should help in the short term/if you don't want to change radiators.

 

My RX is an '87TII with 200,000+ miles. Recently my job was on the opposite side of the state (Colorado), so I had to drive over the Continental Divide twice a week. Did that for two years.
Anyway, I went over two 11,000 foot passes in sun, rain and snow. The grade was never a problem. No slugging and no overheating.
I would suspect that radiator clog is contributing. My TII had overheating problems just before I took that job which I solved by replacing the radiator with a new one. After that and a block flush, the problem was gone and I had absolutely no problems after that.
FWIW, I crossed the Divide in the TII nearly 200 times.

- k -

 

try a new fan clutch, your fan could be wearing out and at those speeds you are not gettng enough air through the radiator. Try go faster and in a higher gear or get a new fan.

 

agreed.

 

Ok Sweet.

Radiator

Flan Clutch.

On It for the next service.

Cheers.

 

mine always stayed cool, but when i went to big bear, the elevation was so high, that my turbo wasnt even boosting. You could still hear it spinning but the I felt no boost. My car sucks in high elevation mountains

 

great thread, I have the same problems when "climbing"

 

Basic cooling system stuff should be enough: OEM thermostat, undertray, etc. My needle gets high on mountains or long hill climbs but I keep going and I'm fine. The 1986-1988 temp gauges are sensitive. They span about 175-215ish. 1/2 isn't too high. Even 3/4 won't overheat you, though it's not the greatest. But if you do overheat (not just get hot) then pull over fast. I haven't had any real trouble myself but I hear that'll pop a motor after not very long.

 

You don't need to stop the car when the temp gauge is halfway. I bet you'd make it up just fine.

 

I went on an rx7 meet the other day, and we were all cruising fast up a hill. I was at the very back in an 87 t2 with the stock gauge halfway, in 4th gear and 5k rpm. It's pretty much a given though I had the gas to the floor maxed out at 120km/h not going any faster. I don't even want to know what the real temperature was if the stock gauge went from 1/4 of the way to 1/2, considering the stock gauge blows the sack.