Hey guys just looking for a bit of advice, Ive got a 1990 TII that has 30000km on a stock rebuild but my coolant seals are leaking,I converted to and efan and overheated it once due to a bad relay.The car has a few mild mods but nothing wild(I do drive the hell out of it every chance I get).Just wondering what the chances would be or if its advisable to go after the seals only? or if I should do a complete rebuild?I havent yet done a compression test yet but I will before I re and re anything. Thanks for any help.Chad

 

If your going that far, may as well rebuild. Since you overheated you oil control rings coukd be weakened also. Might as well save pulling the motor twice possibly and just rebuild her

 

the mileage would border into the territory of rebuilding it completely with new seals. the intensive labor to tear apart the engine alone is enough to consider spending the extra money to do it right.

normally if the mileage was below 10k miles i would say you should be fine, but you are at nearly twice that and you may want to be prepared.

 

@rotaryevolution. car is on a fresh rebuild, just broke it in on base tune @600 miles on the motor, but it overheated 3 times total, once from cracking a radiator, 2nd from cracked radiator, and 3rd from cracked radiator….all three times the car was shutdown and waited to fully cool and towed. my overflow tank is very dark colored, what could that be? the car is running 10:1 stupid rich, but will be tuned obv now. but am i good or what do u think.

 

you won't really know until you open it up. you may wind up needing more than you think regardless. the iron walls holding the coolant seals aren't well known for holding up against overheating conditions.

 

even if each time it overheated, i immediately noticed and shut the car, the e6k wouldn't let me start it back up until it was cooled off, i would wait a while for it to cool off, and it happened 3 times. I'm worried because in the overflow tank its black in there so idk I'm hoping when my tuner finally works on my car monday that he doesn't tell me i need a rebuild when the car was just rebuilt and broken in (600 miles)

 

there's numerous coolant seal tests that can be done, the block check method with a Ph test liquid checking for hydrocarbons, the bubble test and the pressure test to check for internal/external leaks.

sludge in the reservoir doesn't necessarily mean anything, some rebuilders use non cooling system friendly procedures like vaseline or grease to hold the coolant seals in place. when the engine is torqued that all winds up in the cooling system, it also could swell the hoses if it is bad enough.

 

okay cool, thanks for the useful info! i will ask my tuner to make these checks and tests because if the block is needing a rebuild i may just sell the whole damn thing and look for an fd. :/

 

Hey just wondering because my seals are leaking should i be concerned about corrision in the housing?should I dump the coolant and flush the engine with some oil or tranny fluid?not gonna pull the engine till the spring.Thanx Chad

 

if it is leaking into the engine and you aren't planning on pulling the engine soon then yes. drain the block specifically followed by the radiator, start the engine and run it for a minute and shut it down. put a few ounces of oil into each lead plug hole and crank it for a few seconds with the EGI fuse out and plugs loosely reinstalled.

 

Cool thanks,when you say the block specifically,yank the lower hose at the block?and two stroke oil or?doesnt matter?thanx Chad

 

wehre the driverside engine mount bolts to the engine there should be a longerhex bolt that is a drain plug for the engine. only doing the lower radiator hose will still leave a bunch of coolent in the engine

 

this is an FD engine but the FC location is the same, it is just obscured slightly by the engine mount.



the oil type doesn't matter much, it is just for a protective layer. ATF would actually help soften up the carbon during storage, so that might be more recommended.

 

Ok guys thanks,I'm gonna get there by the weekend when this -35c weather lets up.Chad