Champagne Test - Fail Status?
#1
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Location: St. Petersburg Florida
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Champagne Test - Fail Status?
So...I have been having the issue of having to fill the coolant in my 1990 Vert on a regular basis due to a VERY annoying buzzer. I have checked my coolant overflow tank and it seems to be overflowing but never pulling the coolant back in. I don't seem to have any issues with the hose from the fill neck to the tank. The top on the tank is on tight. The hose inside the tank isn't against the bottom and isn't falling apart. I have recently performed a coolant flush. I made sure that when I filled the car back up and started the car that I had the heater running to make sure to cylce the coolant through the heater core. None of this seems to really help. I have read the many different articles on how to perform the champagne test to see if the coolant seal is blown. So I went to try this test, but I'm not even able to really do it because when I remove the cap just after startup I end up getting coolant just spewing out of the fill neck. Even if the car hasn't been running for much longer than 30 seconds. When I give it gas at the throttle body it does seem to suck it back in, but then it begins to spew out again. I've seen several videos where people tape some form of cone/gallon jug on the radiator fill neck to be able to do the champagne test, but then I've seen more where that wasn't necessary. I don't get any white smoke at startup and I know that's a tell-tale sign that there's a problem there. I only have like 100000 miles on the car, but the car did sit for quite a while, almost a year, until I purchased it to bring this baby back to life. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I scoured the forum but didn't really see anything directly pertaining to my issue. Any help is greatly appreciated. While I'm at it, does anyone know any good Rotary techs in the Tamp Bay area? I'm debating having a professional take a look as I am very new to rotary engines. Thanks.
#2
MECP Certified Installer
I have been through this before, and I can tell you right now you need a rebuild. What is going on is the front iron is cracked allowing exhaust gas into the coolant. My case was exactly like yours with no white smoke. My iron was cracked in three places allowing exhaust into the coolant but the coolant didnt push into the combustion chamber after the car was shut off.
#3
Smells like 2 stroke.
The bubble test has never worked for me. I had a 13B that consumed small amounts of coolant, but never emitted steam from the tail pipe... I couldn't remove the rad cap for the same reason though, coolant would go everywhere. I was able to smell the coolant in the exhaust before I could ever see it. I think a more precise test is the coolant system pressure test.
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