i think my coolant seals just went.
 

so i get from home work tonight and drive my car into the garage and go inside. i go back out to the car and start it to get some grub and it stuggles to start and when it does it blows a huge white cloud out the back and my heart sank. ths has to be the coolant seals correct???i took the cap off and looked at the coolant and it was bubbleing like crazy and i oulled the dipstick to check for coolant in the oil and sure enough there it was so. i dont know how this happened because it only has 25,000 miles on the reman and never been overheated scense its been in my posession. is it rebuild time? and just the coolant seals can be replaced correct?

Reman build quality has fluctuated over the years, so it's not unheard of for the coolant seals to let go with no rhyme or reason. Because of this, at the shop we recommend tearing down even a fresh reman to spec and clearance everything.

With that amount of mileage on the internals, you could get away with replacing just the soft seals I suppose. If it was my motor I'd probably get it ported, and replace all the hard seals as well.

yeah and i was just a few items away from putting my single on, and this happens. yeah i might have to go another route on this one. so i know there is the inner and outer water jacket seals, but what else is there in the soft seals realted to cooling?

damn man that reallly sucks.. feel you on that but its a good thing you are close to rich hes good shit.

I had the same problem. Coolant bubbled at top of filler neck and there was tons and tons of white smoke pouring out the exhaust. Also, my car would overheat and coolant pressure would build up and come out of the vent hole in the overflow tank. Sorry to hear that bro.. i'm in the same boat. :(

lol

Durham, NC is close to Rich in NJ?

related to this, I seem to lose a little bit of coolant every time I take the car out, like a measuring cup or less...it has been stable for over a year but I wonder if there is a small leak

Dude Same Thing Happined To Me 2 Days Ago Im Gutted...
But While Its Being Rebuilt Shes Being Ported And Singled, Giggidy Giggidy Goo!:)

Mark, my FD was doing the same thing. Ended up being my single turbo heater hoses were leaking around the circumference on the hose ends, where the reinforcement strands are. I ended up replacing them with some sturdy dual-ply silicone, zero problems since. Being that you're running BNRs I'm sure your problem isnt exactly the same, but it could be related.

yeah this blows im gonna start taking th motor out to night, and begin the process. but if i just do the water seals and port the motor with a large streetport, how safe should the rest of the motor be if i leave it the same.

You know how to build and port?

well im a tech at a GM dealership so engine arn't anything new to me but this will be my first rotary. as for porting ill most likely send it to rotorsports a shop thats in nc.

You will not be able to run a large street port with the stock ECU.

thats bad :(
when coolant seal is bad, it should bubble more only at cold start or after the engine is warm?

i installed my pfc a day before the seals went lol.

It is not typically the coolant seals themselves that fail. The coolant seal retaining walls deteriorate and allow the seal to pop into a coolant channel. This is evident by having coolant in one of your combustion chambers. A quick test for this is to pull the 2 leading plugs and rotate the engine backward by hand. If coolant pours out then you certainly have some sort of inner coolant seal or wall failure.

For the coolant seals to fail without wall erosion, there usually needs to have been a overheating episode extreme enough to warp plates.

In either situation there are other components that need to be replaced besides just the coolant seals.

You are a GM tech so you should have the equipment to do both a pressure leak down test, to see if there are any coolant leaks, as well as a coolant hydrocarbon test to see if there is an exhaust gas present in the coolant system. If coolant is not present in the combustion chambers we always perform a HC test whenever a customer suspects a coolant seal failure.

This can save you a costly rebuild or at least verify that you do need one.

alright ill check all those things tonight. now if there is wall corrosion does this mean new housings?

good that your near Rotorsports Racing, they've been good when ive delt with them for parts.

yeah from what i hear there very good, lets just hope this doesnt turn out to bad parts wise.

well its a possibility, mazda remans are kinda up and down on quality, thats why i prefer to rebuild with someone i know thats good with rotary engines.

From my dealings so far, Rotorsports has been really good so i would trust them to rebuild, or atleast do the porting work. The owner there is real good with rotaries it seems, and he really knows his stuff.

ok cool thats good to know.

Yup, but usually only one iron lets go:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/results-not-flushing-your-coolant-686776/

wow i sure hope thats not the case but we will know as soon as i get the motor out which should be tonight or tomorrow.

ok update i got the motor out today and im waiting for more light so i can finish. tough balanceing homework, work, and working on your car, but the seals just came in from mazda and it was 101.00 for the water seals!!!! ill take some pics tommorrow.

k got everything apart a few days ago. i have some pictures but how do i host them in a post so you can see them.