jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

I am also not sure why I can't get any hot air to blow on defrost.
It almost seems like its air locked before or after the heater core.
But just earlier this week, before I flushed the coolant this weekend, I had hot air blowing on defrost and the vents just fine.

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Bump?

RCCAZ 1

iTrader: (10)

Not sure what else I can do to help? If your confident that the thermostat is opening and that your caps are GOOD, then I'd vote that the motor is toast. I've never see a "good" motor bubble like yours is currently, plus the coolant changing color has really got me baffled. If you cycle it several times with the Lisle funnel attached, do the bubbles greatly dimish or stay about the same as shown in your video?? I guess you could try a new water pump before pulling the motor to see if that helps. If you have the Power FC programmed to come on at 87C and you're still getting runaway temps, those are tell-tale signs of a coolant o-ring failure OR a huge air bubble in the system. Do you have a local radiator shop with an exhaust gas analyzer. Might be worth it to take a coolant sample to them for hydrocarbon testing?

Any other comments? What does everyone else think??

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Bubbles stay the same every time I have used the funnel. I didn't get a chance to work on the car again today. I might try the water pump just for ***** and giggles.

I called around today and couldn't locate a shop with a sniffer. Since we don't have emissions here in SD there aren't too many shops with a sniffer.
I'm gonna call around tomorrow some more and see if I can locate someone.

I tried the Napa Block Tester kit, but didn't get any definitive results.
The liquid didn't change from blue to yellow, but there wasn't much bubbles coming through it on a cold start. Only when the coolant starts to expand is when I get the bubbles. And when it expands it mixes with the blue liquid in the tester and then you can't tell if its yellow, green, or blue.

The temps last week were actually fine driving around town and a little highway driving. But, the system wasn't pulling back any coolant from the overfill.
I would be a guess that it would be a matter of time before it did overheat because of displacing the coolant into the overfill.

I really appreciate your help. I am just at a total loss.
I may try the water pump and see what happens.

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Ordered a water pump from RX7.com today.
Should be here Thursday.

Also found a shop in town, Bargain Barn Tire, that has a sniffer.
Gonna try to get over there in a day or so.
Still need to get the system fully burped so I can drive over there.

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Received the new water pump today.
Got working on the car after work.

Take a look at the water pump that came off the car.
One blade was pretty beat up. Looks like it almost hit something.
The shaft had a little side to side play, but it wasn't leaking through the weep hole.
The deposits on the water pump feel like rust. Its hard and you can barely scrape it off. Have any of you ever seen a water pump in this condition?

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Anyone?

DaveW

Looking at that pump, it seems obvious to me that at some time it sat for a long time w/o moving half immersed in coolant (probably the long-life type - with this type the system corrodes rapidly when it's not completely full). You can see the level of the coolant on the pump (brown line). The rusty part was exposed to air.

RCCAZ 1

iTrader: (10)

Wow... you've had some nasty contamination in their at one time. Was this the first pump that you've changed since owning the car? I'm still very concerned that your coolant turns an extremely dark color upon warmup. Not sure what could be causing that. Any results from the coolant exhaust gas analysis yet??

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

I finally have some time today at lunch so I am going to get the car checked.

This is the first time I have ever changed the water pump since I have owned the car.
I never had a reason to remove it since I purchased the car and put in the reman back in 2001.

The coolant does not turn dark any more since I flused the system again.
I am curious if the corrosion off the water pump was churning up and changing the color of the coolant.

After I did another complete flush, I drove around for about an hour on Sunday.
Car ran great and had plenty of heat through my vents inside the car.
I had the level of the coolant four lines below "F" in the overfill.
After parking the car I checked the overfill level and it rose to almost the very top of the dip stick.
There were only two lines that did not show coolant.
Then next day at lunch (about 17 hours later) I checked the overfill level again and not a single drop was pulled back into the engine. Engine should have definitely been completely cool at this point.

Hopefully the sniffer test today confirms something. This is driving me nuts.
If its time for a rebuild that's ok. I would just like to know exactly what is causing the symptoms and tearing the block down may be the only way to verify at this point.

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Sniffer test was positive.
Time to start a rebuild.

RCCAZ 1

iTrader: (10)

Sorry dude. Based on the corrosion on the water pump, I'd guess that you could have had some galvanic corrosion going on inside the engine. Do you disconnect the battery during the winter months while in storage? Just curious. I think if I still lived in the midwest (originally from Minnesota) I would definitely remove the battery during winter storage.

Again, sorry on the prognosis, but at least now you know. Keep us posted on the rebuild.

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Like you mentioned, at least I know now for sure.
I was almost 100% sure that it was a coolant o-ring when it started acting goofy.
The car still runs fine. I drove it out to my buddy's last night to help him work on his house and drove it to work today also. I suppose its a matter of time before it really opens up and becomes undriveable. But, I don't want to warp or do any more damage to the rotor housings or plates.

I typically remove the battery and make sure all fluids are topped off.
But I got about 20,000 miles on the reman. I'm actually not too pissed.
I'm kinda excited about a rebuild. I'm trying to decide if I want to give it a go myself or send it off. The reman was ported by Atkins back in 2001, so I am curious to open it up and take a look at the porting. I also definitely want to be able to reuse the housings and plates.

I have the Atkins and Rotary Aviation vids and have watched them several times.
Looks like it would be fun and challenging. I have always wanted to tear into a short block.
I have been reading as many threads as I can find about rebuilds.