Hello,
Thank you in advance for any help you can give me. I have a 1988 RX7 GTU that I really love. In the past few months it has begun to make noise from an area below my stick shift. It has gradually increased in volume, and occurs most brutally, when I am on the freeway over 50 mph. Does that seem like a transmission issue? If so, does anyone know where I can find a replacement that is not too costly? Manual 5 speed.
In addition, I get water leaking from the passenger side underneath the dash board. It is most likely a broken heater core. Does that sound correct? I could not find any information on this issue in the factory service manual.
And one last thing, I can't open the driver side door from the outside. Is anyone familiar with what I need to do to get that operational again?
Thank you for any guidence you might offer. Just like most of the people in the Bay Area, I don't have a reserve cash flow available to dump into my car. Your creative thoughts, on how I can wing getting my car back 100% will be greatly appreciated.
Gregory

 

Is it in any particular gear all the time? Or just after it gets past 50?

I'm thinking driveshaft, probably the front U-joint, especially if the car begins vibrating at speed as well..

Is it hard to shift into any particular gear?

As for the water, yeah, it's almost definitely the heater core, and it's a major PITA to remove. But, you gotta do it or your car is going to smell like a swamp soon.

Door handle, probably a broken outer handle, not much you can do but remove it and replace with a used or new piece. Somehwat of a common problem..

PaulC

 

The door handle problem can be as simple as a rod that came out/off/bent. Before you buy a diffrent handle take off your door panel and see what's going inside. Something will surely not appear right. Hopefully it's just a quick fix. Even if the handle is broken beyond your repair, swapping in a new handle is easy.

 

My guesses for your problems are:

re: shifter noise:

*Pull the shifter boot and cover off - see if the rubber is all eaten away underneat, does the handle feel loose? If so, I think you may need new shifter bushings and rubber boots = about 50 bucks.

*Like gfari said, try downshifting to 4th or 3rd when you're about 50mph, if the noise goes away then its definitely your tranny( probably 5th gear going out ) any grinding on shifting could mean the synchros are gone.

*If you are feeling alot of vibration above 50mph along with the noise, try pushing in the clutch in and coasting and put the tranny in nuetral, If the noise goes away probably tranny if the noise persists probably driveshaft or differential. (check your tranny and differential fluid levels )

re: water under dash:

*Most definitely heater core( yes as gfari said a P.I.T.A. to change).

If you're tight budgeted you can BYPASS THE HEATER CORE under the hood until you have the time and money to fix it. This is easy.

a) Get some extra heater hose about 2-3 feet. Then remove the hose from the firewall on the passenger side of the engine.

b) Use a splicer kit (Plastic Tube and 2 clamps) to join the new hose to the old hose. Run the hose over the back of the engine to the driver side of the engine.

c)Disconnect the heater hose from the driver side of the engine ( below oil filter ) and connect the new hose to the engine.

Pros and Cons:
Pros - simple cheap to do
Con - no heater in winter time - poor defrosting on cold mornings ( workaround can use a rag or blow cold air with windows down or get electric defrost unit from kmart )

_ANOTHER OPTION_ you might consider trying before bypassing the core is adding leak stop to your cooling system. A popular brand it Copper Seal or Block Seal brands. They can be found at Kragens or Napa usually. The leak stop can fix leaks in heater cores too because the heater core is connected to the engine cooling system. Use 1-2 bottles. 1 for minor leak 2 for bigger leak.

NOTE: Be sure to follow the instructions. YOU MUST DRAIN THE COOLING SYSTEM after you use Block Seal because if left in the engine for a long time it can freeze your water pump.

Pros and Cons:
Pro - simple and cheap anyone can do it themselves.
Con - some people feel it leaves a sludgey residue in their cooling passages and say on rebuild it looks nasty but it all depends on your plans for the car( you decide ).

Good Luck!
Dave

 

that's all the advise you need... said even more than i was going to thanx to avrfan lol
good luck!

 

Yes please provide more info the tranny noise.