Damn,

I can't believe it ! I was doing around 100km/h (was already dark here) when suddenly I spot a big hairy thing on the road - a VERY BIG dead dog, lying in the middle of my lane and with traffic on the other lane - I had to run off the road or hit it dead on. I chose the latter and I literally jumped over it - miracously not damaging the front lip or bumper (I heard the front lip - or something else in the front end hit the ground) , but seems like I have broken something on the cooling system as the cooling fluid broke out immediatly. I turned off the engine and called towing service to get the car home.

Now I'd like to know since I haven't been doing any work on my FD yet what could be broken down there ?
Radiator ? Maybe a hose came off (I pray for this option ) ? Anything else ?

Now is maybe a good time to put on a better radiator I think. How much do they cost ? I've seen a stock one going for about $200 new.

Thanks for any help,
Tadej

 

Hard to say what you did without looking at it but my guess is that the plastic end-tank on the radiator broke. You can get a Koyo or Fluidyne all-aliminum radiator for $350 - $400 US.
Just get out there and check it out, if the coolant came out pretty quickly it should be easy for you to spot the problem.

 

I would definitely check the bottom of the radiator and the lower hose. I hope you did not damage the A/C condenser also. You could probably find a used A/C condenser cheap though.

 

http:///cooling.html

 

Ahhh
gotto
/cooling.html

 

I hope your not trying to send him to rotor motor sports dot com? You know Slava's (the owner of that store) dissapeared leaving a lot of people without their parts or their money.

Check with Jason at www.rx7store.net for a replacement rad if that's what it needs. If it's just hoses try www.mazdaformance.com. Good luck.

 

Kiflin, can you post the whole URL ?
Which domain did you have in mind ?
I tried www.rx7club.com/cooling.html and it doesn't exist.

 

Tom93R1, can that plastic end-tank be bought separately or is it one with the radiator ?

The fluid came out pretty quickly yes, I drove on for like 200m and stopped, turning off the engine in about 45seconds, by the time most of the fluid poured out.

 

There is no way to know what you need without looking under the car. Put it up on some jack stands, and climb under there. Once you have had a look, you will have a pretty good idea of what is damaged. If you can, take a couple of pics, and post them. Then we can help if you need it.

I'm really glad this wasn't one of those "I'm young, stupid, and wrecked my car posts"!!

PS. Good job of getting off the road, and getting it towed

 

Ok, just got back from under the car. Here are my observations:

- There is some sort of a pin going out of the radiator at the bottom (one on each side), the right one broke away; the hole in the radiator is about 1cm tall and 2cm wide, don't know if it can be fixed (the pin and that rubber holding the pin, were still on the car).

- The holder (that metal thing with circles cut into it, going down from the chassis to the anti roll bar, to which the ARB and the pin of the radiator are attached) for the anti roll bar on the right side is bent - that's why the pin on the radiator got broken.

- The oil pan (I think it is - it's about 40cm X 40cm big, black box) is bent in, don't know if it was like that before or the roadkill caused that - we'll see what the insurance will say about it

- That big aluminium protection behind the oil pan is bent in.

- Rear bumper extension (that black plastic) is hanging off, but that is an easy fix.

If radiator could be fixed there isn't really much damage. I assume that metal holder and oil pan shouldn't be too expensive and that big aluminuim protection could be straightened. On the other hand, I may aswell dash out the dough (about $500) to get if fixed through insurance and get a new Koyo radiator and all other stuff + inspection at Mazda service (which isn't necessarily a good thing).

Is there anything else I should look at/for ?

 

The metal thing with circles is a swaybar mount. Look carefully at each side, since they both could be bent. Also check:
- the frame rails to which the mounts are attached, since they can be cracked and in need of repair
- the swaybar endlinks at both ends of the swaybar, since these often bend at the same time (possibly scraping the lower suspension arms)
- the swaybar itself, though it's likely to just spring back to its normal shape, even if it appears bent now

More than a few replacement choices are available for the mounts. David Breslau's Widefoot Racing mounts are my favorite.

 

The other swaybar mount is straight. Also the swaybar endlinks SEEM to be ok. The mount is bent just enough that it broke the cap. Had it bent for 1/5" less, the radiator would've been fine.

Is there a problem if the oil pan is bent in a bit ? I find it hard to believe that a dog could bend it that much, while leaving the other surrounding hard metal intact.

But there seems to be hairline cracks on both round clamps which are holding the sway bar to the mount. I also suspect they were there before. I think I will go solve the problem through insurance and pay that $500. God knows what I missed down there and needs repair. Besides, I will not most likely get a better radiator, as I'm planning stage2 ugrade in the future.

 

hmmm....are you sure the dog was dead?

 

Maybe the poor thing was resting on my lane waiting for me ? Why wouldn't it be dead ?
It was there lying on the road, not moving, so I assume it was dead. It sure was after when police took pictures of it - they'll try to locate the owner so he will cover for the damage.

 

I can see it now knock knock yes officer, well son your dog is dead, kid sobbing, and the officer says to the kid he was hit by a rare sports car that mechanics over charge to work on and the parts are very expensive, now stop the crying kid and cough up the dough.
Sorry I just had to

 

ROFL that is some funny ****..

if that dog wasnt dead... its dead now. end of story... i was surprise you dint pop that animal and your front bumper at the same time... happend to me and my FD

was running on a long dark road vs a DSM. we were both going like 110.. and we floored it.. and i started pulling.. next thing.. i see is a racoon in the middle of the lane i am in... i was like fk it.. i cant avoid this or i will wreck..... POP... blood all over the place.. and my bumper has a new vent system happening.

oh well... when u got outta my car.. my red paint got a touch up... i totaly exploded that lil racoon in like 100 parts..

sad story ... now dont be flamming me here saying im a racoon killer!

 

Sorry about your car. I hit a dog once, actually a couple times.(not the same dog) I got out of the car, walked around to the front and just as I was bending down to see how far he was stuck under the car, he came flying out from underneith we hit heads, an he was gone.
It was about 2 miles down the road when I passed him, never seen a dog run that fast.
Eric

 

FYI here in California.. A dog owner is responsible for all damage doing buy a dog to a car. I know this because one of my dogs ran out in front of a mustang.. My home owners insurance ended up paying over 2k for the front end of the car..

Tekno62

So was the dog moving?

 

tekno62, it's same around here. Owner needs to cover your damage from house insurance.

The dog was already dead, and I'm pissed at someone not removing it from the road when he hit it (with obviously something bigger then RX7, or he'd be parked up by the road like me also).
I've only spotted the dog like 20meters before impact - not much I could do at 100km/h.

 

"all damage doing buy a dog to a car"

er....what the hell was that supposed to be?
Damn, I had a "monies will buy the head of a neck" flashback there!

Oh...you meant all damage DONE BY a dog to a car....sorry!

 

Thanks for the interpretation,I read that a few times and figured it was time for me to go to bed.

 

I ran over a masonry brick once that was in the middle of the road, must have fallen off a truck or something, ripped off one of my mufflers on my old FC, called the police they didnt do ****... A soup can and some speaker wire held my muffler up for about a week...

 

Seems like I'll be able to resolve the whole repair issue through insurance. With some luck I should have her up and running in a month or so with some upgraded stuff - Koyo radiator, some aftermarket swaybar mounts and new downpipe I also negotiated with insurance company for that plastic engine protection and tranny alu protection + some other minor stuff.

I'd have to do this stuff sometime in the future anyway.

Can anyone recommend an online store where I could get all of these things:

- Koyo radiator
- swaybar mounts (I'd prefer Widefoot ones)
- aluminium AST
- downpipe
- boost & water temp gauge with pods
- cooling piping

I checked the prices of original stuff at my local dealer today and he quoted $500 for new radiator, $460 for a pair of swaybar mounts, etc... (hehe, what a ripoff!)

 

Well, these are the places I have found:

http://www.rxecret7.com/ for the Koyo Radiator.

http://www.summitracing.com/ for the boost & water temp gauges and A-pillar pods.

http://www.pettitracing.com/ for the AST and you get a free chassis grounding kit with first order.

 

I purchased my Koyo radiator, aluminum AST, and downpipe from the RX7Store because they had the best prices for those items at the time. I purchased the Widefoot swaybar mounts directly from the designer, David Breslau [dbreslau@ContinuumPhotonics.com]. I also purchased boost and water temp gauges with pods from the RX7Store, but where you purchase those is determined by your needs and taste.


Petros