after driving say down the street i start noticing steam come from my engine, shortly after u can start to see my temp gauge rise up and i turn the car off at that point. when i went to go look at the engine i could hear boiling and the radiator was really hot. i dont have a fan trail. is this what is causing the problem? or could it be attributed to anything else? other than that the car drives smoothly with a small 100-200 rpm fluxuation due to a vac leak.

 

What's a "fan trail"?

See http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/cooling.htm .

 

What's a "fan trail"?

See http://www.aaroncake.net/rx-7/cooling.htm .

 

the fan shroud, the part that lets the fan suck air thru the intercooler

 

There isnt a fan near the intercooler... But with the stock fan, no shroud has been said to cause heating problems.

 

We need some more info:

- did this just happen for the first time recently? Has it happened every time you've driven the car since you first noticed it (if you've driven it since)?

- have you checked to see if the fan clutch is okay (you have a stock, belt-driven fan, right?)

- when did you last change the coolant? What ratio did you mix the water/coolant to?


Not having a fan shroud isn't that big a deal. It does contribute to cooling, but not having one shouldn't leave your 7 overheating.

 

i just swapped the engine out. the first time i drove it it was overheating like i said. i used 50/50 mixture of water and coolant. although theres a slight leak somewhere... only drips once every hour or so, not a big deal. oh and above i meant sucks air thru the radiator not the intercooler.

 

How about your fan?

http://fc3s-pro.com/TECH/PROBLEMS/COOL/fanv.htm

 

the fan clutch is good

 

You need to get it flushed to rid the block of any air pockets. When they heat up they cause the coolant to turn to steam and overpressurize the system. Get the system flushed. Then you can go from there.

 

can anyone tell me how to get the air pockets out of the block? just by running the car, turning it off an topping the radiator off? repeating as necessary? thanks

 

With the car cold, take off the rad cap and squeeze each hose. Meaning grab a hose and squeeze and release is several times. You'll see the coolant level rise and fall as you do this. Stop after about 6 squeezes. Your coolant level should have dropped (you've just freed some air that was in the sys.)
Top up the level and start squeezing again. Keep working that hose until the level stops dropping, then move on to the next hose...

 

wait, you have a stock (mechanical) fan and no shroud? Put it back on and your problem should be solved. Without a shroud the stock fan doesn't pull any air through the radiator.