I have a 86 n/a, compression is good, no white smoke, but overheats at idle within 5 mins. I did the check where you put a clear bottle at radiator cap location, and it bubbles up like malt when thermostat opens. Water pump is good and is a new thermostat. Changing coolant seals is a rebuild?

 

sounds like it has an aftermarket thermostat which in itself is a bad thing firstly which could have caused your current condition.

the stock thermostat has an air bleed passage built in so if it was a bad coolant seal it wouldn't push air out like a switch once it warms up. water flowing through a freshly opened t-stat does look like a malt shake so i'm not convinced that you have a problem aside from the wrong thermostat or bad radiator cap. 5 mins is a quick overheat though so it may have a combination of issues such as a blockage in the airflow through the radiator/faulty fan clutch along with thermostat issues.

 

Thanks for positive thinking, but this car sat for 3 years, so i am kind of leary. It overheats just as fast with the thermostat out. Will try a radiator flush. I didn`t mention about the coolant boiling over into the reservoir. Have about $800 tied up in it so far, a bad coolant seal= get rid of it i think, car really isn`t all that clean.

 

Well guess its time to sell out third time is the charm, 86 blown coolant seal for sale, 87 low compression for sale, 85 runs good needs paint for sale, i`m done, rotary`s = hard lesson learned $$$

 

shame ur like 1500 miles away or i would get 1 just for parts

 

may part out two 2nd gens, try craigs list first

 

Did you verify its a blown coolant seal?

 

Have you thought of all your options?

If you fix it you maybe able to make a little off the car or break even.

You may be able to find a good engine for 300 to 500. You could do a budget rebuild and only replace the soft seals you may have blown out the water seal on the iron itself.

 

would a pressure check on the radiator verify blown coolant seal? Seems like you would have too much pressure due to exhaust pushing coolant. How much are soft seals anyone know?

 

You can Bettye soft seals for ~ 150 buck. Depends on who you buy them thru
http://www.rotaryaviation.com/o-ring_kits.htm

 

is like a head gasket seal?

 

lol head gasket.. srry had to lol at that. not really. if it is a coolant seal it sounds like one that pumps exaust into ur cooling system. and since u say the overflow pisses coolant thats exactly what i think it might be. u can try 1 of the magic in a bottle they sometimes work with flying colors. but it might also **** up other ****. in order to fix it the right way u need to tear down the entire engine and buy the kit that thejallenator linked

 

yeah was thinking coolalant seals = ports, so majic in a bottle is what? need help here

 

those stop leak things like barsleak rad fix the silver stuff they mostly work on the seals that are going the opposite way dumping coolant into the rotor but i personally used it on the kind u have and it worked for a while. then i got over confident and was beating on it a little and it blew out best bet is just to fix it the right way

 

well car sat for 3 years maybe was bad coolant seals that sent it to its resting place, not sure. So they probally tried that i bet. sad thing is i just put new tranny in it, because they broke it using tow truck, compression was good so i thought i was ok, thought maybe overheating would clear out= maybe i can walk on the moon also, dont think that`s gonna happen. freaking bonded title cost me $400

 

costs about $500 in parts to rebuild it yourself as a starting point and about 60 hours for an experienced tech, several months for the inexperienced DIYer.

 

did a coolant flush, and changed radiator cap, gonna put plastic fan shield back in maybe that will help

 

The fan shroud wasn't in? That sure as hell didn't help the problem. Might even fix it....maybe.

 

u know i was gonna say something about the fan shroud last night but i was like naa he wouldn't have that off

 

well i have exhaust going into my coolant, must be, i have tons of small bubbles coming out cap location,kinda like a soda or a malt, shield is on now, no joy

 

the think that i saw when my seal went / was going was overflo was full to all hell and would have smoke coming out of it if i popped the top

 

yeah gonna try some block seal, (majic bottle), nothing to loose at this point, either it fixes or is gonna be a tear down try changing seals on the irons, if they are obviously bad. Car sat for 3 years without anti freeze who knows

 

well majic in a bottle seems to be working, no over flow into coolant tank, but was only 15 minutes, we will see

 

do NOT high rev your motor. you will possibly screw up the effect of the magic bottle. that is my exp 2x

 

well motor idles about 1200-1300, other issue altogether probally, ran the car today for 20 mins idling, and gauge never went to hot, but when i shut the car off it bubbled into coolant tank, and overflowed a little and continued bubbling another 10 mins, was fine while motor was turning, still haven`t drained majic bottle yet