champagne filler kneck... rebuild?
 

so its probably rebuild time... im getting the infamous champagne bubbles in the coolant filler kneck, and im constantly getting a low coolant buzzer (im assuming exhaust gases are ejecting my coolant every time i fill it up). before i get into a rebuild i wanted to try some block weld/head gasket repair stuff from kragen. has anyone used this stuff on their rotary? will it do any damage to my brand new koyo) and has anyone successfully used this stuff to fix a leak on their rotary? if this doesnt work (or im discouraged from using it by you lovely people) that will be the final nail in the coffin. :( -heath

it will work for a while. previous owner did it on mine and it drove i for 10k.. but had coolant flooding into the rotor areas every 1-2k. so in 10k i went through maybe 6 sets of plugs for coolant deflooding. i heard it will clog up your radiator, heater core, coolant lines..

if u have to use it get a stock radiator to do it with and save the koyo until you rebuild. personally i would never have used the block weld.. :)

Before you jump to the coolant seal failure conclusion, you should know that there are only 2 ways to be absolutely sure that the coolant seals are your problem:

1. Hydrocarbon test. Any shop should be able to perform this test quickly and cheaply.
2. Coolant system pressure test. Any shop should be able to do this as well.

With that being said, have you visually inspected the car for leaks?



As far as the "block weld" treatment, I guess I will be the first to try and discourage you from using it. There are many threads about the use of this product (a search will reveal them), and for the most part, it causes more trouble than its worth. Your only delaying the inevitable (engine R&R), and in the process your potentially creating clogging issues with your radiator and heater core. Not only are these parts expensive to replace, the heater core is not an easy install.


*edit* I guess I wasn't the first to discourage you. :)

yeah the only leaks i have are out of the overflow tank... if i park the car after driving it its spits out a good amount of coolant. other than that i dont have any leaks whatsoever. nothing coming out of the tail pipe (but i wouldnt expect it since im getting bubbles in the filler kneck). im guessing the leak is somewhere around the combustion area. other than the coolant buzzer and having to add water whenever i take it out its business as usual. well.... i do get some hesitation/stumbling at startup until i give it a few revs but im assuming i have a fouled plug from the rotor thats seeing the leak :( .

ill be the first to encourage you. heater cores arent that hard to replace haha. but in reality as with most products if you follow the directions - or just the ones on fd3s.net you shouldn't have problems. I know people who have done this thousands of miles ago. Unless you have the money and plan to do stuff during the build or have the down time avaible for a build.

hmm fd3s.net describes my symptoms to the T. this car is my weekend car but i have so many other project cars at the moment, that i really dont want to divert my time/funds to something that can be patched, and from what i read there is a good possibility that it may work (knock on wood). hmmmmmm..............

i had the same problem with a brand new engine from mazda north america and it happened after 250 miles no leaks but it was hard to start i had champaign bubles and the overflow would overflow all the time after the thermostat opened it was a bad block i was there when i took it back and they pulled it apart b4 they shipped it off