Jonathan Hales

Good morning, everyone!

Just joined the site being as last night I came across an ad for two FB RX7's. Girlfriend got super interested, and we went down to look at them and purchased them. Both drove home last night without an issue.

Woke up this morning, cranked the girlfriends 13b 85' GSL-SE up and started driving a few minutes later, with her in the car. 5 minutes into the drive, car begins to come really close to overheating.


Found out where the leak is coming from; one of the return lines or exit lines coming from the thermostat housing seems to be either crimped or that the thermostat is blocking it off from flowing freely. Is it common for the thermostat to stick? It's got FRESH coolant in it and it doesn't appear to have any rust or gunk floating around.

Could anyone point me in the general direction as far as if there is a thread for common leaks/issues with the 13b's?

sandy_RE

if its the original thermostat its probably decided its had enough and wont open wich means the hot coolant isn't flowing to the radiator to stay at the proper temperature and making the car overheat.

you could test it by
removing the thermostat
putting it in a cooking pot/metal container making sure the thermostat is submerged in water and slowly bringing it to a boil and see if it opens to see if its working like it should.
id just get a new thermostat If you think that's the problem there fairly cheap for a piece of mind and also replace the hose that is leaking.

don't drive it either if its over heating or youll cook/warp the motor.

KansasCityREPU

iTrader: (9)

Get a factory thermostat from the dealer. Most of a aftermarket ones don't work as well. If you do go wit an aftermarket one, make sure it has the very small bypass hole. That hole should be oriented (top or bottom) when installing but I can't remember.

LongDuck

The air breather hole goes toward the top when you install the thermostat, this is to allow air in the system to vent.

As the other member said, overheating a rotary - even once - can cause irreparable damage to internal seals. How hot did it get?

Stop driving it until you get the cooling system worked out and pray the prior owner didn't overheat it previously.

DreamInRotary

iTrader: (49)

New thermostat, fresh coolant, report back with your findings and go from there!