the car was rebuilt about 3 months ago but it was driven until now. the crazy part is it dosent have a thermostat, so why would it be swollen?. the hose was swollen for about 3 days but the car dosent overheat. now i think i have a bigger problem. when we started it in the morning, it was smoking alot and i smelt antifreeze. do u think the water seals r bad? oh and the car is a 89gtu, please help!!!!!

 

well it sounds like you have a worn out upper hose, or a coolant seal is blown and your cooling system is being pressurized. time for a block test.

 

but he motor was only has about 50 mile on it since the rebuilt. it never smoked until now. i guess i didnt want to hear that. how do i test it?

 

well if it is a big leak you can take the rad cap off and start the engine. if the coolant blows out of the radiator then your coolant seal is blown. if it is a small leak you may see bubbles in the radiator.
you can also have a shop do a test for hydrocarbons in the coolant.

you can also drive it and if it starts to consume coolant.
good luck

 

Bad hose and/or Clogged rad.

Less likely, but open cap with engine cold, start it, and see if lots of bubbles come out (i.e. water seal bad).

*edit* You want the thermostat (a genuine Mazda one, search for why) in there, so coolant doesn't bypass the rad when hot.

 

i think the coolant seals must be blown than because yesterday when i pulled off the rad cap and started the engine, the coolant started to leak out. i didnt know that this meant the collant seals r blown. what kills me is the motor was just rebuilt with new everything. but the bigger problem is i just traded the car to my friend because he wanted a rx7 that was running. hes not gonna ever want another rx7 because he has had the worse luck with them. the first one he brought the guy didnt give him the title for it and he spent $2000 on it, then he brought one with a blown engine to get rebuilt and he couldnt find nobody to rebuild it, now this. he hasnt been driving for about 8 months all because he wanted an rx7. now i got to figure out what he wants to do because i feel bad that i persuaded him to get one in the beginning. he traded my car for the one with the blown engine, the rebuilt kit, and the one without the title, all because a running rx7.

 

the thing is that that there wasnt any bubbles when it was started without the rad cap, it just came out

 

No bubble, probably no rebuild needed. When there is no air hiding in the system (i.e. after changin coolant), lots of bubbles means pressure from the chambers is going into the coolant and oil areas. Any coolant in the oil? Oil in the coolant? Compression test to be sure.

edit: there's a youtube video of an FD with blown coolant seals.

 

you need your thermostat on there fo sho.