Broken09

iTrader: (1)

Ok so I got my car running again. Turned out the engine was just flooded. So anyway I get her started and she's still idling rough, but not as badly as before. I notice some white smoke coming up the left side of the engine, this doesn't trigger me right away I figure hey I just filled my coolant up so maybe I dripped some and the engine heat is burning it off from somewhere I might have dripped it over. In the meantime I check the rest of the engine out and let it continue to warm up. After she hits normal operating temperature I take her out. She seems to be running better, like I said still idles a bit rough but better. I head home after about 10 minutes and when as I'm pulling into my subdivision I notice the temp gauge is rising pretty high (I'm measuring this off of the stock gauge so I'm sure it was even higher) So I pull into the garage and let the car idle. (the idle is now jumping between 500-800 rpm) More white smoke and it's also very noticeable out of the exhaust) Smells like burning coolant too.
So the conclusion I've come to from searching on here and reading other information from Robs site and the others is I have a bad coolant seal.... meaning it's time to rebuild. Is this conclusion correct or am I maybe overlooking something? I just did the vac job and I double and tripled checked my coolant lines to make sure they were all reconnected. The engine/car has 95k on it so I expected it to happen soon I was just hoping it wouldn't be this soon after purchasing the car. Any info you guys could provide would be great. Thanks
-Nic

Snook

iTrader: (12)

Wow. Yes it sure does sound like the coolant seals have failed on you. If the coolant is coming from the exhaust it has to be the coolant seals. 95k is very very good for them to last from what I have seen. Mine failed at 67,800 miles and the car was very well maintained. There's not much you can do but if you don't have the money right now and you still want to drive the car try the coolant seal fix which fills the grooves where the seals fit into and stops the coolant from entering the motor and being used as fuel!

Sorry to hear about it but there wasn't much you could have done. Make sure to get an aftermarket water tamperature gauge, air seperator tank and either do the miata thermoswitch or get the fan mod on the next motor. Also get a new radiator or have yours cleaned out and the fins straightened if it is worth it and possible.

good luck
-Snook

Broken09

iTrader: (1)

Thanks a lot Snook! I had the money set aside for the rebuild. I knew going into this whole thing that I would need to a lot anywhere from 2500-4500 for an engine rebuild depending on the condition of my core and such especially since I knew I'd be getting one with that many miles. So I just need to price some things out and then my motor will probably be off to Pineapple for a rebuild and Street Port.
As for the coolant fix I may give that a try until I can pull the engine and send it away, but luckily it's not my daily driver
The AST has already been replaced with an aluminum one, and I already have a new Radiator on the way along with some other parts (IC, PFC, new injectors and fuel pump) The previous owner already put a Pettit intake, Pettit DP, Greddy SP, and ACT street/strip clutch on the car. It ran rich already hence why I was upgrading the fuel components and computer especially since I'd planned on going single at some point. I was planning on getting the DEFI link system soon, but that will come even sooner now. Thanks for the info I really appreciate it.
-Nic

Broken09

iTrader: (1)

Ok well since I have the money for the rebuild I'm not even going to mess with that. I'll just do it the right way right away. Man that sounded stupid anyway thanks for the help
-Nic

Snook

iTrader: (12)

I would either go with pineapple or pettit for the rebuild.
They both use new rotorhousings in the rebuild so the condition of yours don't matter. All you could need is 1 or 2 rotors but I doubt you warped anything from slightly overheating once.

Pettit racing ask for the owner Cameron
(954) 563-6064

rxrotary2_7

thats a little decieving snook... you cant realy say what a motor *needs* until you crack it. plus he needs all new seals/springs and soft set... it adds up.

Broken09

iTrader: (1)

well either way guys I'm gonna be ok. I took the advice of the members on this site and others and made sure that I had more money set aside from the start before I bought the car so that I could afford an engine rebuild. I gave myself more than enough or so I think by setting aside about 5 grande for just that. I just need to weigh my options now since I am getting the street port, as well as upgrading the fuel system to tune (new injectors, pump, Power fc) whether I want to have a shop do the engine pull reinstallation and fuel upgrades or take on the task myself and have them just tune it. We'll see I guess. Thanks again for the input, although it's not necessarily what I wanted to hear it's not that bad either because now at least I have a good idea of what the problem is
-Nic