Babbs

Hello All;

My first post here. I tried the search engine but didn't see anything that fit exactly. My problem is a fumey smell (not fuelly) in my interior at cold startup. I checked under the hood and with my bloodhound nose tracked the smell to the vent on the thermo water valve (back side of TB). I will check the valve in a day or two but has anyone encountered this smell/problem before. By pressing recirc, the smell disappears.

A bit of my history with RX's. I started with an RX3 followed by an RX2 and then several more RX3's, and now own an '88 RX7. My eyes are now set on the RX8, but my purchase date is usually several years behind the introduction of the model. I've always hopped up my cars to some extent usually doing some Racing Beat thing to them. Great engines and cars.

Babbs

HeffBoost

Welcome aboard. My first car was an R100 with a GLC engine in it.

Can you describe what you're smelling? Antifreeze? A leaky heater core would do that but I would think just on cold startup. And the recirc. thing would lead you to think it's outside. Where does it draw fresh air from?

That valve wasn't leaking was it? Maybe it only does it when it's cold.

Sorry but I'm just shooting from the hip. Have you checked out the downloadable Factory Service Manual? Sorry, that's just a reflex.

Cheers

Babbs

It's definitely not antifreeze, the best I can describe it is like the exhaust of an overly rich mixture. The recirc does suggest the stink is coming from outside. The vent on the thermo water valve is located directly in front of the rear hood seal and my shnoze confirms the odour and it's source. I have the factory manual and also the Haynes one. Testing instructions for the valve are straight forward. I think that I'll have some time tonight to do the test.

A lot of people dumped the rotary for the standard piston engine in the R100. The seals seemed to be very prone to breaking back then. My RX2 and 3's never had a problem and I put over 130000 miles on each one. I regularly raced the RX3's at the drag strip and the engine never missed a beat. Thanks for the interest.

Babbs