I was driving down 95 last night, and was about to pass, when the car suddenly lost power. it felt just like I let of the throttle and was decelerating. I gave it a little gas, to see if it would come back up, and revs dropped even faster. I had already slowed down to about 60mph, and went into the right lane. about 1/10 mi later, I noticed the temp gauge skyrocket up. Since I put the koyo in the car, the gauge has sat a little below the middle, and even hard driving, it didn't budge.

I then tried to downshift to 3rd, but as soon as I put the clutch in, the car just died....

ARRRUGH!!!!!

so I pulled to the shoulder, saw smoke coming out from everywhere, and popped the hood. It must have smoked for 20 minutes.

so about 3 hours later, I get towed home.....

this morning, I jacked the car up, thinking it was the lower radiator hose( I think they are prone to fail- especially at 110,000+ mi)

well, the hose, actually all the hoses are fine. unless it was a pinhole leak, the hoses look in good shape. They are firm, not brittle and I can't find a rip or tear anywhere.

The coolant resevior is dry, and I drained the rad, about 2 gallons came out.
So it wasn't bone dry, but it was damn low.

Funny thing is that the coolant buzzer never came on, but is connected, and I know it works.(about a month ago, it buzzed because I was about 1/4 gallon low)
.

So Did I fry my car's engine?

Where else can I lose coolant in big amounts (with no burst hose)

I've searched and searched for overheating issues, but I need a bit more help...

altough I really want to rebuild a rotary, right now I need the trans... dammit

|M|

 

For the tank to go dry, you had to be loosing coolant somewhere.
Something must have just happened for it to die that quickly.

Start with a compression test.
When you pull the trailing plugs, see if they show any coolant residue.

 

good idea, I guess a compression test would be in order before a coolant pressure test?

or do I have that backwards?
( I hope it's not my coolant seals)

 

Pull the plugs regardless. If you really lost that much coolant, you should be able to tell.

 

Having just done the same thing to a car...

How's the oil level? I ran a project car straight out of oil (stupid... low oil sensor wasn't working, pressure gauge was shot)... that's what it does. Smoke like a fogger, and as soon as you touch the clutch, rips down to 0 RPM & sits there.

The oil will be smoking out of anywhere it can get out of, and look like coolant fog, but smell different. If it's a cloud of coolant, you KNOW it - it's one of the most sickening smells I've ever experienced. Sweet, toxic smelling... etc.

Just a thought.

-=Russ=-

 

ok, I think I'm lookin at a rebuild...

I pulled the plugs, and they seemed like they were ok. Not wet at all, but it'd been a few days since it overheated.

I don't have a radiator/cooling system pressure tester(and the only ones I can find local are $150 or so).

so I decided to try to start it, see what it sounds like, see if there's any smoke.

I turn they key and it sounds like it's going to start, but there's also a pop/ air sound coming from the back(sounds like every turn of the rotor- pop pup pup pup pop pup )
so I stop cranking.
I figure I'll go get me compression tester and test the compression F&R.

I come back to the car, and before I unhook a damn thing, I hear drip drip drip.

Coolant coming out of my exaust.

So looks like I killed my car





any thoughts?

 

sorry to hear it, but i know from experience youll be more closely bonded to your car after an engine swap than after anything else. just save something from that engine, get a rotor powder coated or something, it will always be with you. get a bolt or something put on your keychain. its just something to remember by.
call me gay or stupid or emo, but its like a friend going when you lose an engine, it hurts, it really does...
sorry to hear it man

 

rebuild it

 

bolt on your keychain..thats awsomwe....ill remember that!

 

dammit, I already have a memento, it's 3000#, white and not going anywhere soon

and funny thing, this car was my DD

Dammit

I really don't have the time/funds to do this now.

(but I've wanted to do one for years).

looks like I'll be leasing a dd soon( this really means I need to finish my c-10 once and for all!)

 

sorry for the bad experience dude...time for a bad *** engine install!!!

good luck..

 

This is what happened to my car when my water pump died. I thought I had blown up but I never got any coolant from my exaust. I limped it home and when I started investgating during daylight I found cooland all around under the water pump.

But it does sound like you blew it up. Go buy the DVD and get busy. And while you have it apart, buy some templates and port that bitch. =)

 

^ heh, that's what I think I'll be doing actually.
I figure now's as good a time as any....


already bought the dvd, will get templates and master rebuild kit soon.

it's gonna be interesting...

 

I had that same problem a year ago, it ended up being a hose in the back of the engine bursted. So I limp it home constantly add water evry 5 min of driving. Found the hose and amazing she still runs. It scared me alot so I ended up getting a spare motor with only 56000 miles. I want to rebuild the spare but I dont have the energy to try it yet. Never did a rebuild before so im kinda skeptical about it. It sux that the spares just sitting around right now.