DaveW

IMO, if it is the O-rings, an engine teardown and rebuild is the only proper and reliable solution.

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Could you tell from the videos if it is an o-ring?

Should I look at getting another reman or is replacing an o-ring something I could do?

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

If you want to know for sure, get a hydrocarbon test.

Replacing/repairing a coolant o-ring problem is an engine rebuild. If you can rebuild an engine, you can do it yourself. However, I would recommend talking to Kevin at RotaryResurrection.

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Thanks Mahjik. I will look around town to see if anybody can do a hydrocarbon test.

We don't have any emission regs here in SD, but I should be able to find somebody.

As for the engine, I don't know if I want to get that involved in a rebuild. I barely have enough room to work on my car the way it is.

I will check with Kevin about a rebuild.

In the meantime can I still drive the car and watch the fluid levels?

Can anything else be damaged and cost more money on a rebuild if I continue to drive it?

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Just about any shop that does coolant flushes should be able to do the test (Goodyear, Midas, etc).

As far as what could happen when driving a car with damaged o-rings: As long as the engine temps are in check, then you'll probably just have a little worse than normal gas mileage. Eventually, it would worsen and begin to have hot start problems as well smoking on startup.

If your temps are a problem, then you could warp the housing which wouldn't be a good idea.

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

I'll call around and see if anybody can do a hydrocarbon test.

I read some material on Rotary Resurrections site.

Is the Block Weld worth trying?

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

IMO, no.

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Thanks for the heads up.

Kevin @ Rotary Resurrection seems like he has some very reasonable prices.

I will probably give him a call and discuss a few things with him.

But before that happens I definately want to confirm that it is in fact an o-ring and not something stupid that I have possibly overlooked.

But from all of the posts that I have read here I am fairly certain its an o-ring.

I appreciate everyone's help. Thanks, Josh

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

Don't assume that until its proven.

Also, if you don't notice the coolant going below that level over time, then you really aren't loosing any coolant. Why don't you expand your testing period to a few weeks to see if the level stays constant and do another pressure test to see if there are any other leaks. Some will be hard to spot visually since some hoses are almost impossible to see.

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Well, I checked the coolant level at lunch and its at the same level as when I checked it this morning. This might be a good sign.

I won't mess with it today and check it again tomorrow morning.

Typically it would be down a couple of inches daily.

So, maybe something fixed it.

I'll keep you guys updated. Josh

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Update: I haven't driven or started the car since last sunday and the coolant level is still holding. Typically it would be down an inch or two.

So maybe its not an o-ring, but I don't want to count that out quite yet.

WaLieN

This is good advice from Mahjik. Really, keep an eye on your temps as warped housings are no joke. New housings will cost you into the 4 digit range, TIMES TWO.

Have you been topping off the coolant on a daily basis, by any chance?

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

I haven't touched the coolant in two days and the level is holding.

Before I flushed it, replaced t-stat, and deleted the throttle body coolant line I had to add about 1 cup every day or so.

But the level isn't moving now.

Tonight I will drain the radiator again to get all of the old anti-freeze out of it. Then I will fill it up again until I don't see any green anti-freeze.

I still haven't received my bottle of water wetter yet, so I am waiting for that before I finish up the flush and see how the car responds.

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Well, I checked the coolant level this morning before work and it was down about 1/2".

I still have the Lisle funnel in the filler neck with water in it to watch the level.

That much wouldn't have evaporated would it?

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

jhammerrx7,

The hydrocarbon test is the best way to know for sure. You can also do the pressure test again; this time if you see the pressure has been lost, pull the leading spark plugs and turn the engine over by hand. See if any liquid comes out of the open plug holes. If some does, see if it's coolant.

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Will do. Hopefully my Water Wetter shows up in the mail today and I can finish the coolant flush and top it off.

I will contact the garage that I did the pressure test with and see if they do any type of hydrocarbon test.

I am also going to check for leaks again tonight.

Thanks for the help, Josh

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Update:

I finally got my water wetter and completed the flush and refilled with distilled water and half a bottle of water wetter.

Got everything hooked up and took it for a cruise last Friday night.

Intake temps were from 45C to 50C and it was about 75-80 degrees out yet.

It hasn't been below 90F for the last week and a half here in Rapid City.


Anyway, the car temps were great around town. I was only showing about 83C for quite a while. After about 45 minutes of city driving I took it out on the highway up to about 60 mph up a hill for about 2 miles. The temp held pretty good at about 89C. This is when my temps usually started climbing.

Then I got back into town and hit a red light. While at the light my temps climbed up to about 94C and held there. Still a little hotter than I would like.

Then Saturday night I went out for another drive. I added about a cup of water before leaving (coolant was a little low, but I figured it would take a couple of days to get the system competely full). Temps were a little higher around town on Saturday night. Intake temps were about the same but the coolant was about 89C while driving around town. After parking it and talking to some other drivers for about 30 minutes the engine heat soaked pretty good and when I started it back up the PFC read 110C but quickly dropped right as I started it up. It came down to about 95C and stayed there the rest of the night.

Both Friday and Saturday outside temps were in the low 80's to the high 70's.

Then Sunday I went out a little earlier. Again it took about 1/2 cup to get it up to the top of the filler neck. It was quite a bit warmer outside this time. Probably low 90's at about 5PM.

The car ran about 96-98C while driving around town and then I was going to run out to my buddies place just outside of town. This drive went up a pretty good hill for about 1 mile and the speed limit was 50MPH. I was in 5th gear doing about 55 up the hill and the temps started climbing. Started at about 96 then 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104 until I reached the top of the hill and they came back down to around 100C. Fans were on the whole time.

Another note is on the last time I filled topped off the coolant with the Lisle filler there were no little bubbles coming from the coolant.

Any more thoughts or any more ideas on what I can try to do next to get the temps down?

Thanks, Josh

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Ttt

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Your temps are fine. If you see it going over 110C and not stopping, then you have a problem. The part that you needed to add some more coolant isn't necessarily a good thing. However, if you temps keep where you posted, and you don't have the "ADD COOLANT" buzzer, just drive the car.

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Thanks, maybe I got lucky and there is no internal damage.

I didn't get a chance to check my coolant level this morning, but I went for a drive last night and the car didn't want to start. It felt like it was very flooded.

It barely started and seemed like it was running on one rotor to start with and it was smoking. It was kinda backfiring and popping and took a little bit of time to get running right. This has happened a couple of times since the rebuild.

The way it was backfiring makes me think excess fuel.

So, in two weeks I am going up to Ramsey MN to get it tuned. It needs it bad.

Next weekend I am planning on making a better shroud for my radiator also. Hopefully that will help out. I have an aluminum belly pan on right now, but nothing around the sides or top of the radiator.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Forcing air into the radiator and not allowing it to escape around the sides will help. That's something you should whether or not you have temp issues.

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Are there any other cooling mods that I can do to help the longevity of the engine?

I was reading a little into water injection. Is that more so for cooling the intake temps? Does that help at all with water/coolant temps?

Any other ideas on what I can do to increase the perfomance of my cooling system?

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Something odd happened today. Yesterday my brother stopped by and we were going to go for a quick drive, but didn't end up going. My car was really flooded and it took a while to start. It shook and seemed like it was running on one rotor for a while and just spitting fuel out of the exhaust.

So I let the car idle for about 10 minutes (I didn't want to just shut it down and flood it even worse). Temps held fine.

So today I went into the garage and was going to remove the cap on the filler neck to check the coolant level. The car had not been started for over 20 hours since yesterday. So I crack the cap and it was under pressure. Coolant actually started spraying out the side of the cap.

Is that normal? Seemed really strange to me?

Why would it be under pressure like that after sitting for almost a day without being started?

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

This car absolutely hates me.

I was going to run over to Deadwood and hang out with my brother tonight.

So I jumped in the 7, coolant was still "under pressure" as I cracked the cap, so I didn't take it completely off and check the level.

I started making my way towards Deadwood through the hills taking it nice and easy. The ambient temp was about 75 outside. Temps started out at about 83C until I started up a large hill in 5th gear doing about 55 then they started slowly rising. They topped off at about 104C when I reached the top of the hill. It just stayed in that range for a while and then started rising. All of a sudden they jumped up to 120C and kept rising. So I pulled over and opened the hood to try and let it breathe a little. Temps were still climbing, so I shut down the engine and let the fans run while the hood was open. The PFC Commander showed 130C until it stopped rising. Coolant was spitting out of the overfill tank.


I let it sit about 30 min until I could crack the t-stat cap and I was lucky enough to have a guy stop who had an entire case of water. It took about 4 - 20oz bottles of water until it was topped off.

I started up the car again and the PFC showed 83C. I figured I better get my *** back to Rapid City so I started making my way back. By this time it was about 60-60F outside.

I drove the car back to Rapid (about 20 miles) and it didn't rise over 84C the entire way back and I drove it just as hard as I did before it overheated.

In all honestly I wasn't racing the car or anything. I didn't even boost over 4 psi while climbing up hills.

What the hell should I do? Could the overheating problem be caused by tuning?
Too much spark and not enough fuel?

As a recap I just installed a factory t-stat from Malloy, flushed the coolant system and replaced with distilled water and water wetter, and replace the radiator hoses.

130C is not good. If I didn't have o-ring issues before I am guessing I have them now. I am just banging my head against the wall because I have no F'n clue what to do!

jhammerrx7

iTrader: (5)

Ttt