Hello, I have been around this forum for quite a while, just that I have been inactive as my car was in the garage for winter. Well I wanted to ask you guys a couple of questions, my 1992 Mazda RX-7 broke down last Friday. The coolant was leaking from the bottom when I was parked at my buddys. I tried to fill the car with more coolant, but as I backed up from the driveway, this white steam starting emitting from the engine, so I had to park it and shut it off. Luckily, there was a car mechanic near his house that worked on American cars. I had him take a look at my car, he said there might have been excess pressure on the hoses, and maybe the radiator was busted. The engine was also shaking violently, so it might have been due for a tune up. Anyways, the car mechanic at Raybern said that I have to get the radiator replaced. He said that it might be a plastic, but I doubt it. The car is completely stock, he offered 1270 including labour to replace the radiator, with the part 1030 from Mazda dealership. I was looking online to replace it with perhaps an alum radiator from Godspeed, for 210 US + 70 US shipping to Canada, or I would just replace it with a stock 1.3 80 ci ROT from Auto Parts Fair. I wanted your opinions on this choice, as this car is completely stock, and I would not want to affect the aftermarket price too much. This car has 27000 KM on it, bought it in the summer of 2007. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thank you for your time. I would post some pictures of the engine, but the car is at the shop. Thank you!

 

http://rotaryresurrection.com/3rdgen...l_failure.html

 

double post.. but do a compression test while your at it.

 

Alright, I will try that out that you. The mechanic was saying stuff like oh ****, a rotary engine, when I brought the car in haha.

 

So any other suggestions that I should be doing? Im thinking of getting a new radiator for the car anyways. Any ideas of what type?

 

GO PICK THE CAR UP AND TAKE IT TO A ROTARY SHOP. where in Alberta are u?1270$ to replace the rad is absurd.

 

Hey, well I am located in Calgary also. My car is under lubrico warranty, they referred me to this guy. Raybern motors, seems pretty good at looking at the engine, but he said he is iffy on the alum radiator. I heard it takes months to find a rotary mechanic, got any good shops/mechanics?

 

iffy on a alum radiator... opposed to OEM? lol

Don't get an OEM radiator as they tend to crack at the endtanks after a while (nevermind the price). Do yourself a favor and get yourself a fluidyne (not koyo because it's thicker and if you ever upgrade to another SMIC you'll have fitment issues) forget godspeed ebay rads. Going cheap on a rad can cost you 5k...

Just about all of us have aftermarket rads on here. The biggest issue is fitment not function.

 

Oh, sorry. I mean he doesn't know how to install aluminum parts, or maybe scared that he might affect the other alum parts in the engine haha. Alright so Fluidyne is good? I've never actually heard of this brand much, its good for normal driving in the summer right? Maybe a little fun on the road, but safe. I won't be taking this car to the track, as I want to keep it in the best condition it is in. I saw the GReddy racing radiators, but they said they are sort of like OE but all alum. Thanks a lot everyone for all the suggestions! Maybe I could swap a few other things in here :]

 

IMO, the OE radiator is better than a lot of the aftermarket ones for street use - it fits perfectly (some of the aftermarket ones don't fit w/o modifications) and actually cools better in street use than many of the (even high-quality) aluminum ones due to the fin characteristics and density. And, their durability is not bad if they are not 15+ years old.

Check out this link:

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...=radiatorworld

 

When it was leaking you should never run it.

You were very lucky you didn't get the car moving, or else you could have destroyed your engine.

 

Thank you for all the comments and suggestions. I am going with the OEM copper/brass replacement radiator for my car. I was also wondering where I would get original hosing for the car as well, and maybe a steel underbody cover for protection in the front bottom of the car. My car is lowered so sometimes the bottom scrapes with the rough roads in Calgary. And yes dgee, I was very lucky that the steam started coming out before I went out on the road XD. Thank you all so much for your suggestions.