rx7rcer09

while driving home from work something put a decent sized hole in my radiator needless to say i caught it at about 105 degrees on the highway i pulled over asap took exit and turned off in parking lot. when looking a the rear of the car it was coated in coolent i checked my oil right away to make sure there was no coolent in the oil which there was not so i believe the coolent seals are still good. what i need to know is if this has happend to anyone else.

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

You're most likely OK, you caught it really quick. If any problems will arise, it will be a few weeks from now.

Good for you for pulling over and shutting down.

Just get the radiator fixed (aluminum replacement) and you'll be back on the road.

Dale

rx7rcer09

yep im going to get it replaced and do a compression check just to be super safe.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

Compression test won't tell you anything about coolant seal health...

adam c

iTrader: (2)

Always listen to Mahjik ................... about coolant seal health

bajaman

Do you still have your air conditioning condenser in place? I am curious how something from the road can poke a hole in the radiator if the condenser is in place and the undertray intact?

alexdimen

iTrader: (13)

FYI, a blown coolant seal will cause coolant to leak into the combustion chamber, not the oil system. Checking the oil isn't going to tell you anything.

You're probably fine... only one way to tell. Fix the leak and see what happens. Just be careful topping it off, these cars are hard to bleed the air out of the first time.

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

That's not entirely correct. You can have a coolant seal failure on the lower portion of the engine which will leak coolant into the oil pan.

paul1985

iTrader: (3)

i let a buddy drive my car and the stock radiator exploded and he said it started to heat up so i decided to just rebuild the whole thing and port it. from what some people say a soon as the needle starts to move your all ready in trouble. Im not sure how true that is though.

rx7rcer09

this is not true the motor can take some heat but not for long amounts of time. and no the car has no AC and no undertray. i can only imagine what it was ill post pics as soon as i pull the one thats in it out, hopefully my seals are okay. i believe they are due to no smell of coolent burning when it was running and it didnt hit higher than 107 on the PFC and when i let it sit over night and started it no smoke what so ever so i think the rotary gods are on my side for this one.

arghx

iTrader: (3)

105 C is fine for a short period of time. You know the fans don't even come on until 105 C on a stock car? At some point your FD went for many thousands of miles running as high as 105 or 108C. Just fix the leak and keep driving it.

rx7rcer09

true i had my fans on at 84 but seeing high temp for like 5 minutes scared the **** out of me. o well i called my insurance and they said they will not cover a new radiator so looks like im more S.O.L, and there goes my save money plan woooo lmao o well gotta pay to play.

alexdimen

iTrader: (13)

You're right.

My point was that I think it's a poor way to test for a blown o-ring. I'd guess that the number of outer o-rings that fail is negligible compared to the inner o-rings that fail from that one thin little wall corroding and falling into the channel.

oppa637

iTrader: (6)

Pretty sure fans come on at 95 deg...i think

rx7rcer09

mine are set through the PFC

arghx

iTrader: (3)

not that it matters much in this case, but the two main fan relays are switched on at 105C by the factory ECU. These relays can be switched on at a lower temperature if you use a Power FC.

see https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/why-engine-so-damn-complicated-part-3-cooling-fan-controls-876767/

oppa637

iTrader: (6)

hmmm... lol, weird. Mine come on at 95 with the powerfc's basic tune

Nateness

iTrader: (7)

Mine also come on at ~94-ish when I have the parking lamp or the interior fans running with my out-of-the-box tune PFC.

grimple1

iTrader: (1)

^ you guys sure there wasn't an upgraded FC thermoswitch installed?

turboIIrotary

iTrader: (9)

my fc vert blew a coolant seal as soon as the temp went up i don't remember the temp but it was 3/4 of the gauge so it could kill a motor, not sure if fd engine can handle more heat.

rx7rcer09

pulled out the Radiator and the damage was pretty good, big enough to fit my index finger into so it was quite large. o well just talked to Jason there is a deal on KOYO rads.

smog-guy707

iTrader: (11)

mine come on at 85C

http://www.pettitracing.com/rx7/index_cooling.htm

MSilk

iTrader: (1)

That rad looks like it was scraping on something, is it mounted in the stock location?

Mike

RLaoFD

iTrader: (6)

I agree, that's an odd position for such a large protrusion. Either way I hope everything's okay.

rx7rcer09

what ever it was i didnt hear it. im just glad the motor is okay