So, long story short - I have an e-fan connected to a switch in the cockpit (stupid, I know) and forgot to turn it on while the car was idling in the driveway for about 15-20min last nite in the 75 degree weather. In addition, I had a water pump of marginal quality that was slated for replacement (just hadn't done it yet)

I turned around and noticed steam coming from under the headlights so I quick ran over to the car and popped the hood, turned off teh car and turned ON the fan. This was when I noticed coolant shooting out of the coolant reservoir like vomit from a binge-drinking college student. As I continued to watch, coolant also started pulsing out from under the fill cap on the radiator - this is right about the time that I think the radiator blew up.. A bulge appeared on the upper part of teh radiator and it split apart showering the windshield (and most of the engine) with coolant.

After the show, I pushed the car into the garage and let it cool down overnight. I went out this AM and the engine turns over. Haven't had a chance to check compression/coolant on plugs/etc.

Anyone have any idea what the odds are that I'm going to have to do a rebuild, and if I do have to do one - what would be the best way to go considering that I'm in Seattle?

Please help. It would be appreciated.

 

I'd say there is a solid chance it will survive. My fan clutch went out on my Turbo II and water temps got over 250F and it ran just fine afterwards. When I tore the engine down though I noticed a chip in a coolant passageway that could have failed at any time. I'm not sure if that's related or not.

Do you know what coolant seals were used in the engine? The teflon ones (RA, Pineapple Racing, McMaster Carr) do seem to hold up better.

 

hey, im quite new to this forum but I have been a rotor head for 4 years owning an rx8.

ever since then I've been researching/studying rotary engines.

and I gotta say just drain and refill the coolant first, restart ur motor, if it doesn't smoke, u will be fine. just don't do it again (the fan thing)

 

I'm sure you'll be fine. Just fill it up with anti freeze and water you'll be good to go. Unless it keeps spitting out coolant in the reservoir canister, then your seal is gone.

^^ No need to drain, just fill.

 

Based on your description of the event, I'd say there is a better than even chance that you fubared the engine. Do a compression test and a coolant pressure test to be sure.

 

You should not be turning that engine over again until you have a proper fan controller.

Period...End of story.

 

Considering the radiator blew up it might be best just to drain it all, install a new radiator, install a actual fan controller and go from there.

 

+1, I heard you can prevent something like that by installing some sort of fan controller. Could just be me though.

 

expensive lesson! a simple fan controller can be more reliable than the human mind! hahah

Yeah just grab a new rad and fill it up and try again.. and monitor the fluid levels for a while.

 

As others have stated, you should probably replace the failed cooling system parts first and then check to see if your engine needs a rebuild. My guess is that your engine is toast.

I don't understand your question about rebuilding. If you do not have the mechanical background to fix it yourself, you are pretty much stuck with paying somebody else to fix it or shipping it off for a rebuild. It sounds like your engine was not in such great shape to start with, and heat usually ruins a lot of parts, so your rebuild may end up rather expensive.

The electric fan should be operated by a thermal switch of some type.

You can get something fancy like the Spal controller...
http://www.spal-usa.com/fans/automat...es/fanpwm.html

or you can get anything from a simple pre-set thermal on/off switch to a user-configurable thermal fan controller with features like variable temperatures, variable speeds, and/or AC sensing...
http://store.summitracing.com/egnsea...115+4294860934

or you can even hook it up to a standalone EMS. But whatever you do, a manual switch is a really bad idea.