thockey13

iTrader: (1)

I took my car in for new tires, and when they pulled it out they said the coolant light was on, and that it was steaming. I go down there and look to see if they drove it at all, and they did not. I made it about halfway home when the temp gauge went up, but for some stupid reason kept driving. I parked it at my school, and drove it for about 5 min with the temp gauge through the roof. 3 hours later I went back down and the same thing happened, only it is now parked in front of my house, and it shut itself off. I KNOW I was an idiot for driving the car. Trust me, I do. I do not need to be told that. My question is, how bad is it going to be? Rebuild for sure, or fix the coolant issue, and then check the engine? The engine has 96k on it, and the turbos are burning oil as well. Any help would be appreciated.

Monkman33

iTrader: (28)

sounds like it is time to do a rebuild and get ahold of a set of low mileage used turbos.

scotty305

iTrader: (2)

In my opinion, it would be wise to figure out WHY it overheated before you rebuild the motor. It would suck to overheat a freshly rebuilt motor.


-s-

thockey13

iTrader: (1)

But I do have to rebuild correct, no way of getting around that? And if I did get it rebuilt, I would deffinatly find and fix the issue, problem is I don't know if I want to spend that much money on it. Thanks for your help guys. Still pissed at myself for driving it, not once, but twice....

scotty305

iTrader: (2)

It's tough to say if you NEED to rebuild without seeing the car, or at least knowing the results of a compression check. It's possible that your coolant seals are failing, but not completely destroyed. If this is the case, you can probably drive the car on shorter trips but it will be more likely to overheat on long trips and in hot weather.

If the car becomes tough to start, it's likely that you'll need a rebuild very soon. A compression check can verify this.


-s-

timothyandygoh

i say try stepping on the gas peddle, while the hood is up. see if its the coolant leaking, or do u EVEN HAVE COOlant...

my guess is a leak from ur reservoir. i had mine leak there too, the first day i bought my 93FD.

i say fix ur coolant issue be4 u get the rebuild. regardless, u still need to fix the coolant issue.

zack4173

iTrader: (3)

you definately need a rebuild if you pinned the temp gauge theres no getting around that. My car was doing the same thing it had water in the engine. My coolant seals went bad sorry man that blows.

timothyandygoh

and its so stupid to drive the car when the temp gauge is thru the roof. u shoulda parked the car and let it cool down while checking your coolant levels.

im in CA too, im not an rx7 GURU, but i would offer u as much help as i can

rexhvn

Very true... might not b rebuild time yet... since te coolant light came on.. did you care to look if there was any? Add coolant/water? Maybe there was just no coolant/water in the radiator? But you wouldn't be thinking anywhere near a rebuild if you didn't drive it while te temps were over the roof! But we all learn from how mistakes

timothyandygoh

you could have done ALOT of damage for driving the car those 5 minutes. pipes coulda cracked, tubes coulda burst.

im not sure if ur engine is dead or anything's wrong with it, i say fix the problems 1 at a time. fix ur coolant issue first. top up ur coolant and step on the accelerator, and see where the leak gushes out from. my guess is reservoir, coz thats the retarded spot athat always ***** up ur coolant

thockey13

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I know what an idiot I am for driving it with the temps through the roof, trust me, none of you need to tell me. It is after all MY money which I dont exactly have a lot of that is going to go into this. I did add water to it the second time I drove it, and the same thing happened, but it shut itself off, and stuttered in low rpms or when I put it into drive, its an auto.

I tried to start it when it turned off, but it wouldn't have it, so I pushed it into its spot. Bad timing, I was just getting ready to sell it...

What would be a rough estimate for the cost of a rebuld and new turbos? That would be to get it running.

I will try seeing where the leak is coming from on Thurs, I have work all day tomorrow, and it is parked outside. I may get a chance depending what time I get home. I do appreciate your guy's help.

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

Go to the West section and find a good rotary specialist near you. It sounds like you will need it to properly diagnose this.

Fd3stouring

iTrader: (2)

dude check your thermostat first...mines was just like that...i thought i needed a rebuild too but then i changed my stat and it worked fine...its hell lot cheaper then a fucken build. trust me..........

BoostedTimmy

You could have saved your engine god damn dude!

A mistake that will cost you, a local shop qouted me last when I was about to purchase a blown 7

$1,400 installation labour (Not sure if this includes removal of the engine!)
$2,500 Stage 1 rebuild (which included new seals housings and rotors)

Now if you're like me and you want to get **** done right while the engine is out of the car, you would want a street port and whatever else you need to meet your power goals later.

So with the basic rebuild,labour,and a porting my total would have came to $4350. Your in CA and you might be able to get it done a little cheaper though. You sound like your around my age, I hope you have deep pockets man!

thockey13

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I know I could have saved it. I honestly don't know what I was thinking driving it. TWICE! I'm an idiot and have no one to blame but myself. I am 19 and dont have deep pockets, but have another car to sell. I am going to sell my volvo, take 2k buy a little car, put the rest in a CD for 11 months, then fix the car. If not, the CD, the money will sit while I work. I'm thinking of doing the ls1 swap especially since I need new turbos as well. I was planning on selling it too, and saving up for a cobra, but now that is out of the question. I'm going to have my friend take a look at it, and see if we can fix the coolant and then start it.

Montego

iTrader: (1)

yeah you're done. Actually I would be amazed if your engine survived the over heating. If it did, a coolant seal fuilure is in your near future.

But hey at least your engine has 96K on it... which means a rebuilt was just around the corner anyway.

thockey13

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, it was getting there. It blew white smoke out the back since I bought it, but don't know what that meant. I got a compression test done and it was a solid 90psi across, consistent, but on the low side. And the turbos, well lots of oil where it shouldn't be. So are you saying that I may have messed up the rotors in my stupidity?

Montego

iTrader: (1)

The compression test that you mentioned wont pint point to an coolant seal failure. As once the engine heats up the coolant seal expands and thus you get good compression.

The turbos unless were changed recently were on their way out anyway. 90k miles on the stock turbos is a hell lot of milage. Don't bother rebuilding them or buying rebuilt ones. They don't last, and I speak from experience. Like other have said get yourself some low milage used ones. They go for like $300 on here.

iceman4357

iTrader: (2)

I didnt read anyone elses coments, but i would be willing to bet that your coolant seal finally went. Mine did the same thing. This honestly is a much better scenario than if an apex seal went out. You can send the engine to rotary ressurection and have kevin see what all needs to be replaced. The housings and the rotors might not need replacing . Just all new seals, and a few coolant upgrades. Since you are going to rip everything apart, you need to decide if you want to just do a stock rebuild with stock turbos or if you want to go single. My vote is single. You might spend a little more on a single, but save headaches.

thockey13

iTrader: (1)

I'm just worried I messed stuff up by driving it an additional 10 mins total with the temps so high. I'm not sure if I want to rebuild, or just go with the ls1, both seem to be costing about the same, and one is easier once done. If I went single, how much money would I be looking at to get everything done? I have a lot of thinking and research to do now. Good thing is, I have plenty of time because I don't have the money.

iceman4357

iTrader: (2)

LOL. Well it depends, you can scrap the 13b and go LS1 which is a simple motor, and you can honestly run 10s without much work. If you do the LS1 i would upgrade the rear end with the cobra rear end mod to hold the torque. I dont know how much the cost is to go LS1, so i really cant comment.

Going single with the FD will probably cost more, but i think its more fun to drive. To go single you will need an ECU, fuel system, resistors, turbo, manifold. If you dont already have, i would do an upgraded radiator and frontmount intercooler as well. You can get some kits used for reall cheap on the forums here.


Red pill or blue pill? The LS1 will be a better HP/cost ratio, if you want to loose the spirit of the rotary.

Good luck

RX7LINK

iTrader: (3)

+1 check ur thromostat first!!!

then check for coolent leak before jumping into "something is wrong inside the engine"

if ur coolent seal is failing, if not too bad, u'll loose a bit of coolent that evaporated out of nowhere. bad, you'll get milky mixture of ur engine oil + coolent. But even if u'r at the early statge of failing coolent seal, if u constantly add coolent before every start up, your car should still be able to hold consistant cooling temp.

But since the car was on and drove around at "off the roof" temp... it may have weakened ur apex seals even more if it didn't just warp it... with that high of a milage on the motor.. be prepared for a rebuild even after u fixed this temp problem. Unlike a piston car where u can just turn on heater and drive if it overheats.. with a rotary.. high temp or out of coolent.. U MUST PULL OVER.

leaking turbos.. just buy a good conditioned used one.

CantGoStraight

Why didn't you check the water level before you left the tire store ? I'vr yet to see where you've checked or told us what you found when you did. It's never good to over heat these cars but they can get hot and not suffer any dmage as long as it didn't get to the point where you warped something. Why don't you try filling the system, get all the air out of the cooling system and see what it does. The caps need to be capable of sealing or you will not build pressure, and will again over heat.

thockey13

iTrader: (1)

Honestly, I wasnt thinking when I left the tire place. I added water the next time I drove and got the same result. This weekend I will spend some more time trying to figure out what went wrong exactly, and see if I can get it going.

thockey13

iTrader: (1)

Should I take the car to a specialist, or can I just take it to anybody for the coolant problem?

EDIT: With 2.5k in body damage and being an automatic with the high mileage, what would be a rough estimate of what I could get for it right now? Trying to decide if I should fix the body, and then try and just sell it.