SkullLeader

ok, so heres what i did.
Took passenger door apart to replace power moter, got as far as the door frame, and found out that the moter did work, and that the switch is broken, however while putting, the door back together the door light did not come back on (wrong connection that put the window down(cant get back up)), well car starts its about 1:30pm, get on freeway go about 3 miles car starts running hot(knew about this, a real pain) overheats, after about another mile, i manage to get into a church parking lot, before the car shuts off from the overheating, get picked up and go get some anti-freeze, car drinks a full gallon of this(surpises me). anyways come back moderatly to check on the engine temp, when the car is no longer reading any scale on the guage(almost 10 hours), car wont start, door lights and lights above head dont come on, stero and power antenea haven't worked since the battery died(2 weeks), the car just sits there tring to start but doesn't succeed, its the equivlent of not turning over, the battery and the starter are just fine, i'm thinking its somthing electrical because of the lights not working, the headlights, and the dash warning lights work just fine, i havn't had a chance to check the fuse boxes, i did however pull the spare 20 and replace it with the radio 20.

Any help is much appreciated
Thank you
-Jason

TRURX7

Sounds like a toughie. Let me ponder on this. Any more clues?

hypntyz7

IF you got it that hot, it is probably ruined. Anytime a rotary gets to, or even near, the H on the gage, it is dead from then on, or at least rapidly dying, adn will never stay cool or keep coolant again.

IF you battery truly is good, and not weak under load, then i cant explain teh electrical problems. It is possible to get an engien hot enough to warp housings and such, and make an engine really slow and hard to turn over, and fairly impossibhle to start. This means having driven it on H for about 15 minutes or more.

IF it turns over ok, but just doesnt fire, it probably has a bunch of coolant in the chambers. Youll have to go by the unflooding trick...pull EGI fuse from underhood, crank, replace fuse, crank, repeat. Pull plugs(if it doesnt work) blow out chambers by cranking car, dry and repalce plugs, crank.

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

You ran it till it quit running from overheating?!?!?!? That motor is deader then fried chicken...

Rat

The Ace

I think I'll disagree on that one. Everyone here thinks that an overheated rotary is a dead rotary. I just think that overheating an engine (any engine) just brings it closer to its "death". Only by keeping it running when its obviously at "H" (over 130 degrees) can you "kill" it completely...

As for the "never stay cool, keep coolant", I also have to disagree. My engine did overheat 2,3 times the past two months, obviously because of the various cracks around the manifold and turbo, and because my fan clutch is slipping like a wet hot bitch Coolant would overflow, cooling system would lose its cooling ability, and car would overheat.

After the last tune-up however, cooling system is air-tight, coolant stays where it's supposed to, temperature is always below the half-mark, and car does not "eat" coolant at all

SkullLeader

Tru, No More Clues That I Can Think Of
Hyp, I hope your wrong i dont really have the money for a new one or a rebuild, as for running it on H for 15 min, i cant actually do, 15 min would let me get from my house to my friends, i cant do that, i get 10 min of total running time

hypntyz7

Well, it has been my experience with many rotaries, and may friends who OH'd them.

]THe most recent, a friend had a rebuilt motor(not by me) with about 13k on it. HE burst a hose(unknown to him) while on the i-state, looked down and saw the gage *raising rapidly toward H*, shut the car down and called me.

We later replaced the hose and he was on his way with no apparent side effects. About a week later, he calls me back up. His car is getting hard to start. HIs uppre radiator host busted in half, very unusual considering it was in good shape. All his hoses(including the new UR hose) swell up as if underpressure after running for a little while. The car begins to lose coolant. As it does, it begins to run warm. Eventually(another week) he has to stop every 45 minutes and release the pressure int eh cooling system(air pressure) and add more coolant to control the temperature.

CLassic bad water seals. All brought on by getting hot one single time, on a like-new engine, which he said never even got *to the H* on the gage.

The Ace

****, I suppose some of us are lucky, and some are just struck by lightning in the middle of New York (think about it for a second )

At least my engine shows no signs of bad water seals...........yet

SkullLeader

Update, car still no start, i dont think the engine has gone though, it is however turning over, but it will not spark, i pulled the egi fuse, and cranked the engine, mutiple times yet nothing, i havn't had the opertunity to pull the sparks yet to see if there is coolant.

this sucks i have a new CATCO Catalytic Converter, just sitting here waiting to be installed, i'm getting free body work, paint job, and performance parts, all if the engine would just stop overheating

right now i need somthing to get it started, i dunno how much longer i can just leave it sitting there in the parking lot *cry*

rxse7en

Get it towed to your house.

The Ace

Good idea

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

From what I gathered, its been overheated more then once... Its only a matter of time.

Rat

SkullLeader

Confirmed, Head Gaskets Blown, Rebuild Required

Looks Like I'll Be Talking To You More hypntyz7

autocrash

IMHO thats what it all comes down too... luck... in some cases, I'm sure that a rotary has been overheated multiple times, with no significant damage. but I think this is a rarity...

BTW, Ace, sorry about your engine going...

(maybe it all adds up though?)

autocrash

Didn't know we had Head gaskets

jimmyv13

Who told you the headgaskets were blown?

hypntyz7

Probably a radiator shop that pressure tested his system, or an older mechanic not knowing he was workng on a rotary, ran a pressur etest and that's what comes to mind for piston engine cars, which does cover 99% of all cars on the road.

Regardless if you call it headgasket or coolant seals, it means the same thing, coolant leaking into the chambers. On a rotary, this means a full rebuild, as there are more like 4 headgaskets(coolant seal sets) than 1 on a piston motor.

Sniper_X

1)
If the car keeps losing charge while sitting, I think that your electrical problem might be realted to the door issue you had earlier.
Locate the harness to the door and unplug it ot remove the door panel and find the short and/or unplug all the motos and lights and switches there.

Will it hold charge now?

2) compression test the motor, change your oil, and prepare your savings account for about $1200 outlay of cash for a motor & install in the near future. and that price is if you get a motor from Hypnotiz and get a freind to help you install it. (orp pay Hypno to do it 4 u)

SkullLeader

would love to pay hyp to install it, one problem though, i live in las vegas, i dont think they want to take a trip down here to install it for me, and i know i cant make it up there to get it installed

as for the head gasket thing, i really ment coolant seal

yea what ever thats what the guy who looked at it said

SkullLeader

now time for sleep as i just got back from the track

and now time for an interesting story
Friend: Hey Nice FD
Girl: Huh?
Friend: I Said Hey Nice FD
Girl:Huh? *Gets In Car Drives Away*

End result, girls people skills and car knowledge are both pretty low, go figure.

good night

RX-7Impreza

underneath the door panel there are sensors and switches going from the lights, pow win, and multiple other places. they all have separate power sources but the grounds all splice into the black wire on the power window switch, this may be the cause of your problem. i dont know why it would cause your car to overheat but one of these wires may be crossed or screwed in some other way..

Just a guess
Justin

Funklord

check for corrosion on your battery terminals. one time my car just woudlnt start, i could get it started with a boost, and it would run off the alternator, but thats it. then i cleaned my battery posts and stuff, and it worked fine again.

SkullLeader

i'll try, but its not looking to good at the moment

cars getting towed back to my house today

SkullLeader

why doesn't las vegas have very many places that will work on rotery?

i've called about 15 different places, one wont do a core swap, but will rebuild for 3k, 2 are calling me back on monday, and the rest dont work on rotery

any help?

Sniper_X

If you cant find a shop to do it, PM me and well talk about me flying out there to do it for you.

I'd be happy to do the core swap and I'll coordinate the engine with Hyp. if i have to.

Im sure we can keep under the price of other shops in the area when its all said and done.

So many hard luck cases, so little time.