3rd and final 7

iTrader: (9)

heres the problem my 84 se is over heating i ve already changed the t-stat (well it didnt have one when i had it) i added water wetter, the radiator seems to be fine, no leaks in the colling system i am runnning only one belt the one for my water pump and alt.

and heres my questions

1) is there a way a can tell if the water pump is bad

2) how can i find out if the radiator is cloged

3 and last whats the biggest e-fan that i can put mount on my radiator the reason why i ask is im in iraq and i cant go running around finding that fit.i have 2 e-fans on there now one pushing from outside of the engine bay and one pulling from the inside of the eng bay im lost i dont know what to do when i bought it it was like this.

i come home on R&R and i was limited to driving so much at a time this kinda sux and i got to drive it from gainesville fl to ft bragg nc when i come home from this place in the next month or so, so all help would be very much thanks guys in advance

edit: one fan is pushing the one from the outside is and the one insode is pulling

bliffle

There's a 'weep hole' on the water pump that starts leaking when the pump is worn. A new pump is $40 ($50 delivered) from www.rockauto.com (one just arrived here, it's a Beck Arnley and looks great). Only takes 2-3 days.

Start the car with the rad cap off and you should see water rushing past under the opening. A new radiator from www.radiators.com is about $110, 2-3 day delivery. Takes 1-2 hours to replace (be sure to put in a new top hose at least, tho usually I replace all hoses: they're cheap and you can even use generic, and those two pipes at the bottom are for the auto transmission you don't have so ignore them - they're on a separate water circuit).

Overheating is the big danger to a rotary, so it pays to use preventative medicine. When it starts to overheat the engine will be damaged very quickly. All my 7s have a Prestone plastic tee ($6 everywhere) installed in a heater hose (on the SE it is on the driver side, as low as possible) to simplify radiator draining and flushing. Then I just attach a garden hose (thru the yellow plastic anti-siphon Prestone supplies) open the hose bib enough to get a gentle bubbling stream out of the open rad cap tank opening, open the heater valve in the cockpit, let water dribble thru while I go get a beer, observe the exiting water 'til it gets pretty clear, turn on engine and let it idle while drinking beer and contemplating, in 10-15 minutes the heat gauge should have moved and hot water exiting from the open radiator, wait 'til that's pretty clear, check the cooler water on the ground between fingers to see that it's getting non-slippery (indicating diluted coolant) and turn everything off (water and engine). Wait an hour or so for water to cool, let a little out thru hat prestone Tee, put some rad flush stuff in rad tank, replace cap, run engine a while at idle, etc.

Usually overheating results in fried internal water seals, so that you use a cup of coolant every week and your exhaust emits white smoke when starting in the morning, and may be very difficult to start. In fact, you may mistake it for flooding. Then you hafta give it the 'temporary' fix with colloidally suspended copper which veteran rotary owners have discovered. I have to do this 'temporary' fix every year or two on my 83 and it works great. The 83 runs so good otherwise I don't want to overhaul it until something else is troublesome. It's pretty easy, just time-consuming, when you have that plastic tee installed. You can find instructions several places in this forum, for example, I reported my experiences and sources about January 2004 with 'prestone' in the title if you hafta search. I can do it in one day now, while fetching beers and swimming in the pool, and just running out back to start the next step once in a while.

Make sure the diddle rod on the T'stat is rightway around. I always have to check the book to see which way it goes.

I have no experience with electric fans, having always found the OEM fan sufficient. Others report using Taurus and Fiero fans, but always with some messing around with a thermo control. At highway speeds the fan seems unnecessary. My SE has the old mechanical fan and it seems fine even after 150k.

I guess that if I was you and didn't want to screw around solving problems when I got back for R&R I'd order the water pump and radiator and hoses so when I got back I'd take a halfday to replace them and then get on the road. I think all you need is like 10, 12 and 14 mm sockets. Being me, I'd probably pickup an old mechanical fan at the junkyard and put it in (while the putting is easy) in place of the inside electric fan, and maybe the shroud, too, if it's shot or gone. In fact, you can probably get everything at a JY, but I like the idea of putting in new pump and rad.

Hope this helps.

Hey man: Thanks for your service in Iraq.

B

3rd and final 7

iTrader: (9)

cool thanks i didnt see anything drippin from the water pump so i guess its not that im going do what you said change the hose i ll do the belts too flush or change the raditor and i ll chk my t-stat too i ll see about finding a clucht fan and shroud

charles

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Remove your rad cap and look inside. Even the little bit of the core that you can see through the filler neck will give you an idea of the condition of the rad, If it looks like the tubes are slightly clogged, try a flush and fill. If there is conciderable corrosion, have it cored or replace it.

Last week I put the oem fan and shroud back on my 2nd gen because the e-fan wasn't cutting it on 90*+ days. The oem system is really quite good. If one needs that extra 1-2 hp, find it somwhere else.

3rd and final 7

iTrader: (9)

when i was at home i did take a look in the rad. and it look to ok but not perfect b4 i left to come back to the **** hole where i am now i did use 2 bottles of rad flush and they are sitting it as we speak so hopefully it will be ok when i get home i think that im also going to get some new belts and the yoohoo belt too in case the what water pump is slippin sense im only running one belt right now and im going to try and oreder a clutch fan from atlantarx7.com at least for now and if that dont work im going todo i dont know im going to other than get my *** back on this thread and ask some more q's

bliffle

The other day there was a post here somewhere and a guy needed a clutch fan and several guys volunteered to send him one. You might give it a try and post a forum topic asking for a clutch fan.

B

3rd and final 7

iTrader: (9)

AWESOME!! Thanks B !!! I ll Do That!

3rd and final 7

iTrader: (9)

oh and one more thing can i use a clutch fan from any yr and model or does it have to be and SE

charles

seanrot

iTrader: (2)

I didnt feel like reading all of bliffles post but there are two orings where the intake meet the engine. When those go bad your cooling system looses its effectiveness and you will over heat. check for coolant onto of the engine near the intake. I had two hat were really nasty but they didnt leak ontop of the engine so there is another place to check good luck.

K-Tune

iTrader: (26)

it's more than 1-2hp..proven on a dyno. more like 10-15.

what kind of t-stat did you put in? 2 10" elec fans worked great for me.

3rd and final 7

iTrader: (9)

i got a replacement fomr discount auto for it i think it was a 180 that i put in there i know i saw one the web for 160 i wish i could find it again but anyways could it also be that my pully for the water pump is slippin also. i dont no what kinda fans they are on there i got the car lie that when i was over here and it was the first time i drove it when i got home i come home in... well **** next month for good so yeah but anywho's i been lookin on ebay at some 16" e-fans but i also dont know if that is too big or not i dont know im lost. i got a buddy that had a bmw that he said he had to burp it b4 it would stop over heating anyone ever hear of that?

3rd and final 7

iTrader: (9)

seanrot: i do know the packing that you are talking about do to my stupid *** when i had my 1st 7 i some how droped one of the nuts from my nikki in the carb and i had to pull the LIM to get it out i was lucky it didnt go any further in there and the paclings looked like **** when i pulled it off so i ll go ahead and order some from some where and have them ship to my sisters so i have what i need when i get home. (sorry about the no periods)

i also was wondering when i got home and finally got her started it smoked like hell fo about 20 30 minutes what could that be? it did that on the 1st one i had bc it sat for over a yr but i never had this problem b4. could it be that like you were saying that its leaking from where the manifold meets the block or is there a God awful chance i need to get a soft seal kit and replace all the packing and gaskets but if im going to do that im porting it so i would need more than that huh.

sorry to blab on guys but i wanna make sure that there isnt anything left out when i go to FL next month when i get back so i can troubleshoot and spend time with the family i got a 5 month old neice that needs some spoiling so i want to get it done and working the first day you know what i mean

thanks again guys

bliffle

If you have the manifold off replace those two neoprene Orings. Might try finding some better material: I don't know what.

What color is the smoke? White=water/coolant, black=oil.

B

3rd and final 7

iTrader: (9)

the smoke is white is all day!! is there a way to pin point where its at. i was talkin to my brother inlaw he starts and drived it and everythign for me while im gone he started it for the fisrt time this last weekend after it sat sense the 27 of last month and it didnt stop smoking till got about an 1/8 of a mile so yeah

bliffle

White is water, so you've got fried internal water seals. Try the Famous Temporary Internal Water Seal Fix.

http://rotaryresurrection.com/coolantfix.html

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

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...light=prestone

B

seanrot

iTrader: (2)

if your having an overheating problem and white smoke is it possible that the intake Orings are leaking internally instead of ontop of the LIM? That I hope would be the easiest to fix first. It would also not show up as bubbles in the radiator as i think an internal water seal would. Forgive the piston term a blown headgasket type deal. I pulled an engine that was running to hot. Changed everything from hoses to the waterpump. Dissasembled the engine and had little to nothing left of those little annoying O rings. I now use freeze plugs and forget it. Course I have an aftermarket intake too so, it's easier for me.

Good luck

3rd and final 7

iTrader: (9)

does anyone know where i can order online the o-rings and the gasket for where the LIM meets the block ??? im going to start there and if it doesnt work im going to spring for a rebuild kit and hurley apex seals but that means that i have to get my S5 rotors and counter weights and light weight flywheel.

i just rememberd that im not blowing hot air out when i turn my heat on in the car would that be a prob if i wanna do the o-ring seal trick

bliffle

Wow! That's a lot. You're sure about this? You saw the slip?

B

3rd and final 7

iTrader: (9)

i was shopping around for the orings but 84 to 86 13b's didnt have the o-rings so am i pretty much screwd on this one and im going to have to do the o-ring temp seal trick or a rebulid?????

3rd and final 7

iTrader: (9)

bump!