Blown Coolant Seal?
 

About a month ago I overheated very badly near the red. I wasn't able to catch it in time due to a broken coolant level sensor.

I am showing bubbles when I conducted a champagne test, coolant is disappearing on me with no trace, and I sometimes have trouble starting the car. Sometimes the car starts up fine, othertimes it'll crank for a long time while me giving it gas. Sometimes starts up sounding rather unhealthy (1 rotor?). I do not see a cloud of white smoke, nor do I smell coolant in the exhaust. I replaced all the coolant lines and replaced my throttle body (due to a broken tps and stripped stud holes). ISC was retained for better startup.

Sound like a bad coolant seal?

Would a compression test confirm a bad coolant seal?

Average cost of a rebuild (CA prices)?

Compression test wont show a coolant seal failure. You are experiencing the typical coolant seal failure issues. Some only smoke a tiny amount or none at all. If the coolant is disappearing and sometimes it is hard to start and fires up on one rotor it is almost definitely a coolant seal failure.

How long can you go between having to add coolant(mileage)?

I haven't really tested it that much to be positive. I was able to drive to and from work which was 40 miles. Basically I've been putting coolant in every time I drive the car no matter how near or far. I was thinking it was air in the system because I changed the rad and coolant lines, but this is expected with the massive overheating.

I think I might've reversed the lines from the AST from the overflow tank and thermostat housing. However, it does sound like a coolant seal issue.

What professional test might I be able to do to positively confirm? Or have I done enough?

Something similar was happening to my friends FD only it was pouring out the tank and the coolant needle when to the red line. I though it was coolant seal failure. I told him to replace the ast and the thermostat cap and i made him buy a new thermostat, i drilled 2 small holes on the thermostat`s flange and so far its been running good. maybe you want to try replacing all this before taking your engine out.

but with your car having trouble starting i drought that will help.

Yea, I replaced all the coolant lines and replaced the thermoswitch, thermostat, temperature sensor, and that stupid coolant level sensor. I was thinking maybe the mixed up coolant lines from the AST might be something. Seems not.

On average, how much am I looking to pay for this to be fixed?

Basically you are looking at a whole rebuild, anywhere from $3,000.00 to $7,000.00 depending on who and how much labor they charge you...

Damn. Well, it looks like it's time to pull some money aside!

About what I can do now, is it still safe enough to drive on the weekends? I've read some some threads about not letting the coolant sit in the housings. Would it be safe to say to run it once or twice a week timidly until I have the funds available for the overhaul?

I went awhile on a leaking coolant seal. Keep an eye on the coolant level. I would run the motor every couple of days to make sure that the seals don`t start to rust or stick. The last thing you want to do is have the rotors & such sitting for long periods of time in a pool of water in the housings. If you take the engine out yourself, load it up with Marvel Mystery oil or the like to prevent things from rusting while it is out. I was told to do this by an engine builder locally. Seemed like a good idea to me. You really don`t want rust to start forming on everything inside that motor.

Good luck.

Before taking your engine out, have the cooling system pressure tested. If the system does not hold pressure, check for leaks. If you don't see coolant leaking, pull your spark plugs out and crank the engine over. See if you have coolant spit out of the plug holes. If you do, you have a coolant seal failure.

Do the proper checks to verify you have a problem before going willy-nilly on pulling the motor.

if you end up needing a rebuild check out lucky7racing.net and contact Fris. they're located in Duarte, CA. right in the el monte/irwindale area. also when you have trouble starting the car is it only on hot starts?

I drove mine for nearly 6 years with a minor coolant seal leak before it got to the point where the car would no longer start. Agreed to get a pressure tester and test to see if it holds pressure. While pressure testing mine, it would drop a psi or two in the first half hour, then hold steady indefinitely. Tried caps, lines, everything, but eventually it got so bad that my spark plugs started fouling out. You'll know when that happens due to the white smoke and chugging on startup that sounds like the car is only running on 1 rotor (because it is) ;)

It sometimes has problems turning over, it's inconsistent. When it does happen it seems to happen randomly either cold or hot. Sometimes it starts strong and normally, others it sounds limp like on one rotor.

I'll do the pressure test and check the combustion chambers for fluid. Can I rent a Coolant Pressure Tester at Pepboys? Or is this something I need to purchase?

Like he said....coolant system pressure test will tell the tale



LAter

Make sure to confirm it is definitely a coolant seal failure before ripping out the engine. :) If it does turn out to be a coolant seal failure do not let the engine sit for more than a week without starting it up or atleast putting Marvel Mystery Oil or something similar into the rotor housings and turning them over by hand. If you decide you are no longer going to drive the car then drain the block of all coolant. There is a drain bolt on the intermediate iron on the driver side of the car that takes all of about 2 minutes to get to and safely drain the coolatn and prevent it from ruining your rotors and irons with rust.

There are several companies out there that offer great prices along with good work. Dont be fooled by the ones that charge a large amount, they replace the same stuff as the guys charging nearly 1/2 of what they charge. The biggest difference in price should be based upon if you are going to buy new rotor housings or not, all the internal seals are relatively cheap.

A coolant seal rebuild is the cheapest assuming you didnt warp the housings by constantly over heating the engine and you dont let the internals rust. My price starts at $1600.00 and shipping is about $125.00 each way from Cali to TN, however, I do have about a 6-8 week wait at the moment due to current orders.

Pull and install should cost somewhere between $1000-1500.00 anything more is just ridiculous, especially if your car is modded.