ok... so the story is.. i have a '84 SE with 215k orig miles. last week my motor started acting up... idled a little rougher than usual... backfired a bit more... kind of made me think a rotor was getting low compression..

so a forum member (thanks roger!) brought over a compression tester and i look at the numbers on the engine... a little low all around. 80-85ish... yeah it's an old engine...

so i decided to investigate further... pulled off the trailing plugs to inspect them and when i pulled of T2, my hand got soaked! coolant was pretty much gushing out of the plug hole.

my car wasn't smoking last time i drove it when i noticed the stumble, which would have been a warning sign of a coolant gasket leak... kind of confused here...

 

coolant out the spark plug hole canNOT be a good thing. I'mguessing coolant gasket leak.

My buddy and i are about to rebuild an engine for this very reason. We'll be able to tell you for sure if thats what it is.

 

yeah sould like a bad seal, was probly grounding out the plugs, keeping the smoke down

 

total bummer. the car was running like a champ a week ago. the only think i think that could have killed it was my 130mph run across lake washington..

at least she went out in a blaze of glory. kind of. i guess.

is this a common thing to have happen w/o any warning signs?

 

Is the threaded part of the plug hole cracked? If it is, you could put the plug back in and drive it a little if needed. Anway, get the engine torn down as soon as possible!

 

the ****; i also found out today that my mechanic (really good guy, excellent rotary mechanic), steve hayes, passed away. i'm so bummed right now.

however on the bright side, i'm looking at buying a running donor car (FC!) for $150.

 

130 mph in a 1st gen rx7? I doubt it. Having owned 2 prior to the one I have now I can tell you at speeds anywhere near that high the front end floats like it was full of helium and it is nearly impossible to control.

Got any bridges for sale?

 

When I was young and stupid (okay, younger and stupider) I took mine to 125 mph on the interstate and the front end felt okay... not great, but it had another 5 mph for sure.

 

How do you know you were going 125 when the speedo only goes to 85 or 100? I was young once too, and as with most I often stretched the truth concerning my fantastic automotive adventures

 

uhh. i think his speed goes to 140. I have an 84 and it does

 

my 83 only goes to 85????

 

Yeah. Only the 80-81-82 had 85 mph speedos. With those, you could always tell your speed by engine RPM.

I think it's more likely that the one you drove had a bad steering box or a weak suspension.

 

my 83 only goes to 85????

 

mine goes to 200km/h and I've got there before with ease. Its a 81.

 

I had my old 1st gen past 130mph and it felt quite stable. Can't remember the rpm exactly but I was well past redline in 5th with 4.44 gears. Of course, having lowered springs and worked suspension helps with the stability.

A certain forum member has had his turbo 1st gen up to 200mph as verified by the ecu's data logger. That's on a stock bodied 1st gen. with stock *based* suspension.

 

yeah. my speedometer reads about 10% fast. it was pegged on 140 as i tore *** down the hill to the floating bridge, so i figure it was about 125-135.. the top speed on the GSL-SE is about 130 iirc. hell i got my old '83 GSL up to 120 on the same spot.

opening the sunroof helps stability a bit at high speeds, but you're right, dblboinger, the front end of the car does get floaty. i certainly wouldn't try to turn the car at those speeds.

 

"A certain forum member has had his turbo 1st gen up to 200mph as verified by the ecu's data logger. That's on a stock bodied 1st gen. with stock *based* suspension."

WOW! That's SICK!

 

thats pretty hard to believe right there, id pay to see that on video. My car over 110mph feels like im floating on ice.

 

Yeah, I find that really hard to believe. At 200 mph, a minor bump in the road could turn you into the third Wright brother.

 

on a dyno?

 

If you want to try it, a guy I know who races his on track raised the rear of the hood a inch or two giving the air some place to escape. I haven't seen it since he put in his new 13b from 12a (from 200hp to 300hp ) but it seemed to help some.
But your best bet to keep the nose on the ground at those speeds is a front dam and lower suspension.

In my stock SE I've only got to around 115 and at that point it feels like the car is going up, up and way. In a stock car I would feel a little unsecured at anything +115 or so but what do I know... it seemed a little to light for me but I’m younger and try not to be to stupid. This car is my baby. I don’t want its and my last moments to be taking to the skies.

 

I've had my car up to 140-150, or whatever 8,000RPM in 5th gear is. Stock body, stock suspension, castor and camber is way off on front right wheel(toe's still good ). It didn't feel too bad, front end got light after 120, but it still felt good enough to me.

 

jebus what have you done to your engine?

 

When I did that it was a stock port 12a with 135kmiles on it. Blowthrough nikki turbo with a TII turbo running 14psi. It got to 8k in 5th fast Now it's a streetport 12a with a weber 48dco-sp, TII Turbo, still tuning. But it's as fast now with 6psi as it was with 10psi. Once I finish tuning I'll probably just plug the wastegate line It should have no problems running 12's.

 

haha i was about to call shenanigans if your motor was anywhere close to stock