I will grab a new rad cap on Monday though.... Cheap enough.

 

Ya..I just saw the video..
a cap is cheap and knowing you have a good New one will help..a bit.(one less part to reassure you if the engine is shot and you gotta rebuild it.).

All that Sex toy does..(chuckle) is,through vacuum,inhale the coolant into that tube and analyze the coolant for exhaust gases.If it is present then the fluid changes color.
If you can get your money back then do so.
IF you can't get your money back then you can always use it to import cocaine..(Hooop..ouch..)

 

Well, I'll probably need the money

 

Hand pump styles of the combustion testers are easier to use and absolutely better than the bubble test. The bubble test is unreliable at best when you have a system you know has air in it.

If it was pumping into the resevoir to the point it overfilled it you were likely boiling and will have air in the block making the bubble test impossible to be certain with.

Lisle funnels make coolant bleeding a breeze and also easier to use the combustion tester with.

 

Also I would second the proper coolant bleed and new cap first as this is dirt cheap and you need it properly bleed to test anyways.

A bad cap not holding pressure will cause the same reservoir filling and make it easier for the coolant to boil.

 

Well, new cap is on. Tried to get one of those awesome lisle funnels, but I would have to order it.

Have an appointment with my mechanic tomorrow anyways, so I will know for sure once he pressurizes my cooling system, cranks it over, and pulls my plugs.

At least if he tells me I need a rebuild, I wouldn't be surprised and will maintain a calm and cool composure. If he tells me it's fine.... well, I won't even think about it potentially being fine (don't want to get my hopes up).

Can't thank you all enough for the feedback and advice. Likely will get a pro to rebuild if necessary... haven't worked on cars much, so I'm sure pulling the engine and then *gasp* putting it back in, will be a high enough degree of difficulty for me and my semi-competent friends.

Can't believe I'm actually thinking about being all-in with this project. Even more unbelievable is that my wife might actually be supportive... I think she sees me all forlorn in the driveway looking at my car. I'm definitely attached to this weird contraption of an engine mixed with it's sexy lines.

I'll keep you posted with the official results.

 

If it turns out to be bad drain the coolant out and start the engine up to burn out any residual coolant, the use fogging oil on the engine. Itll give you the best chance of all hard parts being in the best possible shape for a rebuild, and with only 100,000km they should be decent.

 

Well, swapped out the thermostat, gasket, and rad cap. Bled the bejebus out of it, pulled a lot of air out of it, and things are *fingers crossed*, looking OK.

Will keep you updated if I get the buzzer again. Mechanic mentioned that the thermostat seemed to be opening late (around 195).

Here's hoping my RX-7 is good to go. I will at least start working on those cold solder joints to get my idiot lights and horn working again (hopefully).

Thanks for all your advice. Would you still recommend fogging oil if I'm putting it away for a long period of time (I will be garaging it over the winter)?

 

It certainly wouldnt hurt anything.

 

The OEM thermostat begins opening at 180° and is fully open at 193° (or so).

 

I open up after about 6 beers..lol!..that reminds me..one day while walking though the forest....Hickup..................and that's why I always look at Teddy bears funny....

 

Things are looking good and my reservoir is filling and lowering more normally now. Ordered up a spill free funnel though, and replacing the thermostat created a leak in my upper rad hose, so just waiting for parts again!

Fingers still crossed though.

 

Buy the oem hoses worth the extra pennies over the aftermarket radiator hoses.

Can't speak for the aftermarket silicone hoses as I have never used one.

 

As a "little Trick" If I feel that the rad hose doesn't want to sit correctly or feels loose,I grab some teflon tape and wrap it around the flange of whatever the hose is going on.
A couple good wraps will do wonders to allow the hose not to slip and you get a nice seal on the hose and whatever the hose is being attached to.
I had to do it with some of those fancy Silicone rad hoses...BUT the stuff held up and no leaks what so ever.

 

Well.... No dice.

Issue remains, so it looks like it's rebuild time. Probably just going to garage it for the winter, fire it up once a week to keep the rust out, save some money, and fix it in the spring.

As much as I'm bummed, I'm kind of excited to pull an engine. It will put my labelling and organization skills to the test.

 

Use your Phone(camera) to document everything.Snap pics of wire location,hoses,routing..etc.
Since your phone is always near you or on you it is like a Personal catalog that you can carry around.

 

If it does have an internal coolant leak, a better approach would be to drain the system of all coolant for the winter. Then spray a liberal helping of WD-40 (remember, the "WD" stands for "Water Displacement") through the spark plug holes while rolling over the engine by hand to flush out any water which may have settled in the chambers. Then apply fogging oil.

Running it every week is just going to cause water build up in the oil and draw more coolant into the engine every time it cools down.

Or pull the engine before the winter so you have all winter to work on it.

 

So I'm still getting air in the system somehow, but the good news is it passed the combustion leak test. Had my mechanic do it because he had a hand vacuum pump and I didn't want to start unplugging vacuum hoses.

Baffled.... but happy. Unless of course it is still very early in a coolant seal leak and it's not registering enough to trip the test

 

It would also depend on WHERE the coolant seal/iron is broke, if its up high on the housings, you won't get exhaust gases in the anti-freeze. Have you ran the engine up to op temp (with the rad cap off of course) THEN pressure tested it? I wouldn't be surprised if you lose pressure hot, not cold

years ago i had a cavalier with a 2.2 4 banger, and i kept losing freeze, i pressure tested the block and wouldn't lose pressure, then i started it and let it warm up, then did it again, wouldn't hold pressure at all, and finally found my leak at my head gasket on the outside corner of the head

aka, don't rule out a bad seal/iron yet