IDONO

87 rx7 gxl NON TURBO
Intake, Headers, Magnaflows
When starting cold, runs very rough. Have to hold the revs at 2500 to 3k to keep it goin until it backfires a 5 to 10 times, then it kicks in and runs fine. When re-started hot, lots of blue smoke for a few seconds, then clear. Has new plugs (3 months), Platinum NGK's. Changed wires, tried different set of coil/ignitors from an 88, did the same start cold, and the coils from it worked fine on the 88. Any ideas would be helpful
Thanks - Ron

IDONO

backfired for about a minute this morning. This can't be good for anything.

IDONO

Additional information: I am losing coolant, but no drips on the ground. The sensor buzzer goes off regularly, but I can make it stop by revving a few times but to stop it for a few days, I have to fill it up.

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Time to check your coolant seals. Any overheating problems?

IDONO

No...Never overheats. But the clould of smoke on hot restart smells a bit like coolant.

Skippydog

Any bubbles in the radiator over flow tank?

IDONO

I'll refill and check for bubbles tonight. I'm trying to figure out where you and J-Rat are heading....Is there a "head gasket" type of seal between the rotors? could there be a crack that acts differently hot vs cold that could be responsible for all of these symptoms? That's a re-build...right?

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Yeah, thats pretty much where we are heading.

There is a pretty good test for that problem...Let me see if I can find it....

Basically, you fill the water system (cold). And pull your EGI fuses. Leave the water cap off. Crank motor. Geyeser out of the water neck = blown water seal. Same as a bad head gasket.

Jarrett

IDONO

Thanks Jarrett. I got a suggestion from Nemisis on Nopistons.com to do a compression test for low compression too...I'll pick the thread up when the tests are done
Cheers...Ron

SureShot

I had the same problem:
Hard to start.
Finally catches.
Runs rough on 1 rotor for a few seconds.
2nd rotor catches.
Steam out the back.
Runs OK, but spits coolant into the overflow.

These are classic signs of an internal O ring leak.

The temporary fix - Barrs leak - the brown powder type from Wal-Mart.
With the engine cold - add some.
Start it, warm it up good, let it cool, add some more, repeat.
If you're lucky - that will buy you some time.

I have been running on "pixie dust" over 3 months with no problems.
The limits are sustained 95MPH in 95% humidity with the AC blasting.

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

Coolant Seal Fix(Temporary)


If you're interested in what is to be considered a temporary fix, read on.
The recipe: two cans of Block Weld and some Purple Power degreaser from Pep Boys. The Block Weld is a clear liquid with copper granules blended in.
The process takes *hours* but can be very worthwhile! Step 1: Clean the heck out of the cooling system - drain the radiator, fill with water and degreaser, run the motor until warm. Step 2: Repeat 5 or 6 more times. Step 3: Drain the radiator, fill with water only and run the motor until warm. Step 4: Repeat 2 or 3 times. You must rinse the system with water until no degreaser is left inside, this is *very* important. Step 5: When you are sure that the cooling system is very clean inside, refill with water plus two cans of Block Weld (no anti-freeze). Run the motor until warm (about 30 minutes). This hardens the Block Weld where the water is leaking into the motor. Do not rev the motor into high RPM during this process!

hypntyz: Step 6: Leave the motor off for a minimum of three hours. Step 7: Drive for 20-30 minutes in the local area to make sure that the repair has worked. Keep the RPM down! If successful, drain a small amount of water from the radiator and add some anti-freeze. If it's still leaking water into the engine, add another bottle of Block Weld and run the engine for 20-30 minutes. Let stand for three hours again. Test drive again. Step 8: Drive the car around like you used to... assuming that the process worked!
This process can be a real pain to perform because you have to start the motor to accomplish the warm ups during the steps. Don't forget to pull the fuse when you turn the motor over to push out the water prior to each start up. Cups and cups of water came out of my motor throughout the process! I have been driving the car pretty hard since the temporary fix and it has held up well. It now starts easily, has plenty of power, and hasn't needed any water to be added to the system since I added the Block Weld (about two months ago). It was a lot easier to do this temporary fix than to go out and buy another motor/car, especially since my other one is almost done.
If your motor is shot (like mine was) you've got nothing to lose. If it works for you thank Paul Yaw at YawPower. His crappy little shop truck has been driven pretty hard for two years after this same kind of temporary fix. He claims that his truck's motor was blowing even more water out of it than mine was.
If you follow the directions on the can of Block Weld, it will not work for this type of repair! Follow the steps listed above. Be very aggressive in your efforts to clean the inside of the cooling system.

IDONO

I've done the geyser test and there was no geyser. I did discover that the linkeage that goes down the front of the motor to the oil pump was very sticky. I oiled it at the top where it connects to the throttle on the side of the intake housing and the car started better. I still have to rev to 4k immediately, but the roughness goes away after a few seconds now. It purrs after that.
Is it possible that this is all caused by a faulty oil pump or a sticky linkeage at the bottom?