Sheeeeeeeeesh! That's an engine bay and an FD to be proud of. Amazing work, looks beautiful

 

Thank you sir. - yeaarrsss of practice and learning from many many many mistakes.

I'm the average guy on here, 1.5 years just to get the car running ... lol

The FD will make a fabricator and a mechanic out of you - WORD.

 

more tuning info
PFC Idle
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...needed-841706/

 

Looks really good!!
Awesome job, so much work getting it to this point

 

Thank you so much, a lot is credited to the help of experienced people here on the forum.

I also subd to your build thread as well, I'm gonna check it out tonight.

I'm really happy the 100% Propylene Glycol pet friendly sierra is working for me with my external coolant seal leak, also since my doggies frequent the driveway I do not have to worry about a single drop if it hits the ground.

Using 0 pressure set-up is a God send alone since it will allow me to continue my build.

I think the next thing I will do is the powered vertical doors.

Since Im on the subject of the next thing I will do

2022
1. powered vertical doors
2. aero kit
3. lighting

2023
active aero

2024
pull engine and get it rebuilt
pull frame to repair the misalignment of the front end from the previous repair before I owned the car and repaint the front repaired section
put everything back together and run Evans since my car has been tuned with a waterless 0 pressure coolant system .. lol

 

Day 96



Yaaaaaaa Boiiiiii



Fixed the IAC valve.



How did I know it was wrong, I went to charge the A/C to put a little lubricant in it and when I hit the A/C button the car died - it didn't even have a fighting chance - it just died. When to do a search on the RX7club and found these 2 threads. Good thing I verified this before I took it to IVAN to have the A/C professionally charged.



Thread 1



https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...stion-1101684/



Thread 2



https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...-help-1144494/



I went to check my car and sure enough, with key on I had no 12v at the black/white wire on the IAC. Somehow when I cut out the unused solenoids I also cut power to the IAC connector. I routed my gas purge solenoid on the back of the manifold and it also uses the same wire black white wire for power so I checked it for power and - whoo hooo - 12V baby.



I spliced in a little bridge between the two power wires so now my IAC has power. I fired up the car and holey moley, it shot up to 3150 rpm. I let it warm up and then as it dropped down to 1700 rpm it started hunting. I tried to adjust the AAS screw and no change. After about 10 minutes of hunting it settled down on it's own. Did the PFC just do the idle learn thingamabob.



I guess I had the idle dialed in pretty good thinking the IAC was working, but now that it is I used Chucks notes to re-adjust the TB. I took the TB off again so I could set the warm-up cam to the new idle setting as well. The TPS is now at 0.45 warmed up and the adjustment looks like the screws are more in the middle instead of the TPS almost maxed out to one side like before.



After the readjustment the car starts so much better when warmed up. It shoots up to 1600 RPM on its own then drops down to 950 rpm or so. Electrical loads are 1k rpm and the second I hit the A/C button it goes to 1100 rpm. The throttle response seems a little better but what is awesome is the engine returns to base idle smoothly.



I really wanted to drive it today but I will go out for a drive tomorrow and I hope the tip in lean condition is at least safer for now. I think I have all the bugs worked out and it's safe to say all I need is a tune!!!



Enjoy the pics.

 

I drove the car today.

No more going lean on throttle tip in. (that I can notice)

The car runs hot - like real hot. 98C on the freeway and EGT was 1200F cruising at 65 mph for 3 miles.

It slowly creeps up at a steady rate while driving, when I stop it drops like 2C.

I saw it at 104C and shut it down. I have fluid, not low on it.

I did try to turn on the heater and it was barely warm. Then I read a thread that it only blows warm to the feet, I checked it and it was just barely warm at the feet also. I felt the heater hoses and they were hot to the touch.

I think I might have 2 issues.
1. Too many holes in the thermostat - 6 x 1/8 inch holes. I bought another thermostat and will put 2 x 1/8 holes. Maybe the coolant is not spending enough time in the core, I read debates about that also.
2. I may have a clogged heater core so I will try to flush it when I drain the fluid to swap the thermostat.

Other then that, I'm really happy how it runs. No bucking, no hesitation at any rpm, no transition problems - just need a tune and try to get the car to hold to a temp (any temp) instead of slowly rising to the moon.

 

Took some stuff apart to get to the heater hoses.

It's official - clogged core, I can't even blow air through it.

Car did sit for several years.

Time to search on how to un-clog it and hopefully it does not leak from any erosion / corrosion that might be preventing it from leaking.

1st result - https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...re-yay-499700/

Last resort will be to bypass it.

 

So I have read the heater core has a valve associated with it. There’s so many threads that say there is a valve and also that there is not a valve. In any case I turned the key on turned the heat all the way up Max fan and turn the key off. I went back and blue as hard as I could end of the hose and some coolant shot out the other side. So I guess the core is not 100% clogged but there is definitely some resistance. Well I got the stuff I needed to flush the car replace the thermostat maybe I’ll get to drive my car today.

 

LOL
is-blue / sb-blew

 

Day 97



Getting closer to figuring out this cooling problem.



1. I have an external engine coolant leak.

2. I am running EVAN's zero pressure coolant.

3. My dual pass radiator works great, with a pressurized system.

4. Is the stock water pump effective on a zero pressure system?
I drove the car after replacing the thermostat with a new one, flushing the heater core and switching the system over to EVANS. I was able to drive twice as far, almost 20 miles before I hit 100C. So on the freeway I was cruising at 70 mph, coolant slowly rose from 93C to 100C in about 20 min, I exited the freeway to go back home and the coolant dropped to 96C. I got back on the freeway to cruise back home and the coolant hits 100C again. I was taking the exit off the freeway to go home when I noticed the coolant temp drop from 100C to 94C after making a 15 mph left turn. Great, so now I have coolant just hanging out in the radiator not flowing like it should. I also noticed while cruising at 70 mph the AFR was 13.6, the Oil Temp was around 200F with the Coolant Temp around 220F, the PFC read 100C.




EVANS does say to run a single pass radiator since it is less restriction. They say a water system works on pressure but EVANS works on viscosity. This brings up some questions on how well a system works with zero pressure when it was designed to be used with pressure. I honest think I need to re-position the necks on my radiator for this new set-up. Right now my dual pass radiator has the in/out on the opposite sides of the top tank which has the divider in it. But since it is no longer under pressure It might be part of the cooling problem, I will take the vm kit apart over Christmas break and put the in/out on opposite ends, it is too low in the front to make an outlet on the bottom opposite corner. I am also looking into the RE-Medy FD water pump since it is supposed to flow more as well. I think the RE-Medy may very well be better for a zero pressure system as well. The last thing I will do is get a genuine FD 80C thermostat since the one I ordered from Atkins was not an FD specific thermostat and the gasket provided was too thick, I did not even want to try to tighten it down remembering the cracked piece on my A/C system due to an oring being too big.



Well I did make forward progress - here is an update on what I did this weekend.



Part 1 - Heater Core Pump Set-Up

Part 2 - Heater Core Flushed

Part 3 - Temp Check The Non-FD Thermostat

Part 4 - Thermostat Difference And Gasket Too Big

Part 5 - EVANS - Running On Liquid Gold



Part 1 - Heater Core Pump Set-Up

I thought my heater core might be plugged since I was not getting heat at the feet, it was warm at best. I wanted to go through the engine side line and the connection on the front water neck. I only had to remove the intakes and turbo side intercooler piping. I disconnected the hose to drain the coolant and some random debris came out. Looked like paint, corrosion and dirt. I poured it into one of my many coolant jugs I have collected during this cooling saga. I got a 1/3 hp Drummond submersible pump with a 3/4 hose thread on the discharge port from harbor freight and picked up the prestone coolant cleaner with a flush and fill kit from walmart. I ran the garden hose to the heater side and put the pump under the engine side.



Part 2 - Heater Core Flushed

I mixed the prestone flush with a gallon of 100% sierra since I am not using water in my system. I was worried that it would be too much pressure but the pump flows more volume then pressure so it was fine. The pump also has a pressure relief to prevent the bursting of anything When I first started I had a decent stream. Well I guess the heater core is not clogged. I poured the coolant flush into another container to see what was inside and I saw a lot of corrosion. I even saw one big chuck that convinced me to do the switch to EVANS since it has additives to prevent corrosion. I let the flush sit in the heater core for 15 minute intervals and flushed it 3 more times for a few minutes each time. It definitely flows more but I think my issue is a system designed to be used under pressure.



Part 3 - Temp Check The Non-FD Thermostat

Oh Atkins, you sent me a non FD3S specific OEM part. I did buy one that said 89-95 RX7 so yeah, my fault - but the 89-95 thermostat gasket... NO THANK YOU. Anyways I wanted to make sure the t-stat opened when it was supposed to. It started to open at 180F and was fully open by 190F. I turned off the heat and waited for it to close back up which was at 176F. OK I feel much better.



Part 4 - Thermostat Difference And Gasket Too Big

Since I had the BOV out of the way it was easy to swap out the thermostat. My stock t-stat definitely looks different and matches the pictures from other searches. But I see 2 OEM t-stats pop up, one with a 3 leg bridge on top like mine and one with a 2 leg bridge like the one from Atkins. In any case I bought one from RX7 . com since they say they sell genuine ones. I did cut out the jiggle pin on the new t-stat to help the air bubbles escape. Both t-stats are made by motorad. The Atkins supplied gasket was way too fat and I would have to torque the bolts down hard to make the metal faces flush. I just put the old newish t-stat gasket back on and bolted everything back into place



Part 5 - EVANS - Running On Liquid Gold

I decided my leak rate was slow enough to give EVANS a shot. I took the upper TB hose off to allow air to escape and I was able to fill almost 2 gallons into the fill neck and AST. The EVANS is thinner and more runny then the 100% sierra, like comparing full synthetic 5w20 (EVANS) to dino 20w50 (100% Sierra). I put a little funnel on the TB hose and poured some coolant in that way and I saw some air bubbles come out the filler neck. I wanted to see if the air bubble were out and I did something stupid, I sucked on the hose and tasted that EVANS coolant. Now I know the secret -it tasted like mint and it was cold, like mint candy. Seriously though, it tasted minty. For some reason I thought it was going to be clear but it was a beer color, looked like beer pee. I bought the big funnel kit so the system could bleed out air once the t-stat opens but it didn't go down that way. Since I do not have the bottom seal on the AST cap all the coolant ending up going into overflow tank.



Overall, I am happy that there was some improvement. Unfortunately I may have a bigger issue. I saw small champagne bubbles and just a tiny tiny bit of white smoke with the small of gas just at start-up then it goes away.


Enjoy the pics.

pics - Part 1 - Heater Core Pump Set-Up

 

pics - Part 2 - Heater Core Flushed

 

pics - Part 3 - Temp Check The Non-FD Thermostat

 

pics - Part 4 - Thermostat Difference And Gasket Too Big

 

pics - Part 5 - EVANS - Running On Liquid Gold

 

Man, the amount of coolant you've gone through over the last month is impressive

Hopefully the EVANS works out. Its alot more money per gallon, but I have heard good things about the product.

 

My too.

I think it already has shown an improvement, I was able to drive twice as far.

The 100% sierra is way more thick and I did not see any bubbles running it with the cap open, with the thinner EVANS I do see tiny tiny bubbles.

But the question is, what is causing it now that my system is not pressurized.

I would not be surprised if a section of the inner coolant o'ring seal is failing.

 

This will buy you time but you have a failure in those seals. I would rebuild that engine before putting further work into the car. With the skill you have you can rebuild it yourself. Even with the Evans and zero pressure it's going to bite you in the *** at some point.

Dale

 

Thank you Dale for having faith in me rebuilding my own engine!

I already have the rebuild planned with Mo at Palm Tree Rotary.

Your absolutely right about rebuilding it before it bites me in the ***, right now I'm just trying to make the best tourniquet I can.. lol.

But I have to meet 2 milestones before I can rebuild it.

1. I need the car movable so I can finish the body kit and lighting for the music video. (I already have everything in storage to do this)
2. I have to get a house first before I sink anymore money into the car. (Deal with the wife)

I'm going to redo the radiator to flow better at zero pressure. It was good to use it in this way to see there is a difference in cooling between a pressurized system and no pressure. This is also a necessary design change for my FD VM Kits should someone else want to use EVANS with my kits. I will mod the rad first with the stock pump to see if I can prove the design problem at zero pressure. I bought the RE-Medy water pump, but I would not want to make that a needed item when buying my vm kit if someone wants to run EVANS.

The big hint was when I exited the freeway at 100C, came to a stop, light turned green and I made a left turn and the temp dropped to 94C immediately. I am imagining how water swirls around a rock in a river. I'm sure the necks are not in an ideal location for zero pressure. The upper neck was placed in that area to allow people to have more room to fit different styles of intakes. I really think I have a flow issue. At 70 mph it did not cool down, it just rose steadily until I cam to a stop then it dropped a few degrees C.

There is definitely an issue with flow and zero pressure and different RPM's.

I figure if I can get most of the bugs worked out on a hurt engine, I'm hoping and can just drop in the rebuild and go - more or less.

But - biting me in the *** - yes I'm scared... that would be me running it too long and something goes internally and I damage the exhaust turbine blades, or warped parts... not cool.

P.S. Welding the downpipe exhaust flange worked - no more ticking - whoopie

Seriously though - should I tear the motor apart and replace the coolant orings - is it that easy. I am not an engine builder, but I do not know what I can and cant do - I should watch more Rob Dahm videos.

I'll do more searching on replacing coolant seals.

^ not going to tear it apart - just looking to see what people have done. Rebuild will still be done by Mo at Palm Tree Rotary.

 

Happy Thanksgiving weekend everyone.

I spent some time on FC Tweak Pro massaging my tune from Daniel Kuo using the google drive notes from Chuck, threads from Arghx and other members and some explaining on the FC Tweak software from Xavier.

I have not done any auto-tune yet, Im just trying to get the basic settings down. I played with the INJ vs Air temp, Water temp correction, and the Accel Enrichment table. I also calibrated my map sensor to read 0 psi with key on since I am at sea level (3 ft above)

Fu$k Man - the car runs fu$king **** - Like C size perky with the nipples pointing straight. Girls gone wild style.

Car warms up perfect, thermowax is set, warm up cam adjusted, little rich at 10.4 until 65C - 70C then goes to 12.4-12.7 for warmed up idle.

ISC works perfect with the lights on/off and ac on/off. RPM's change quick with each load addition.

Cold Start - RPMs at 1500 then go up to 2200 as it warms up the drops to 900 ish when fully warmed up.

Hot start (100C and less) Car starts, revs up to 1500 for a sec or 2 and then drops to idle rpm based on the electrical load.

My boost controller is turned off so I'm on the 7psi spring, I did see some boost creep when the second turbo kicked in this morning up to 8 psi then let off.

Car runs strong, transitions perfect. No stumbles, no hesitations, no tip in issues.

Only issue is it overheats, it will not maintain any constant temp on the go. (will "TRY" to re-work radiator for better flow under zero pressure during x-mas break)

If any of you are about to spend money on any type of power adder in the 500 range and you do not have a Datalogit and the FC Tweak software - STOP !!! By these first !!!!

I highly recommend joining the google groups and investing in The Black Box FC Datalogit with the USB interface and the FC Tweak Pro version.

On FC Tweak I entered what I had on the car and the software did the rest - runs smooth.

My Car
BNR Stage 1 twins, ported waste gate
Unknown Down pipe, RP high flow cat, Apexi N1 Dual
AzEKnightz custom solenoid rack - under the intake manifold
Used engine with external coolant o'ring leak near the rear exhaust port, ported exhaust and smoothed intake ports
550 pri, ID2000 sec with cj motorsports secondary rail with fuel pulsation damper
new stock coils, #9's for leading and trailing, HKS Twin Power, custom MSD spark plug wires
Xcessive LIM
Rotary Extreme Twin Track Vm kit.
Fast IAT in Greddy elbow
Apexi PFC, FC Black Box Datalogit, FC Tweak Pro version.
Greddy Pfofec B T-eed into both the waste gate control and pre-control.
ISC, Thermowax and warm-up cam working great.
No Air Pump, No OMP, No emissions, no factory boost waste gate solenoids.

Big Thanks to Dale Clark - Thank you so much for all of your help.

 

Man I need that custom solenoid rack you got, I messaged the dude on Facebook too and saw his thread a couple weeks back but no response. Looks like you got a beautiful setup.

 

Hes supper busy, but man it works.

Ive seen a few kits posted on fleabay a few months back.

Now that have done the conversion and documented it, if you do get it Ive got all the pics to help you out.

I would NOT cut any connectors out, this way you do not run into problems with the 12v pwr to solenoids like I did... lol

Using a boost controller to replace the 2 boost solenoids does work.

Worked for Dale, I hooked it up like he said and it works for me.

 

For 50/50 mix with a pressurized system the dual pass design works fine.

This modification is for EVANS with zero pressure system which "HOPEFULLY" can be maximized by using gravity as an aid.

Spent some time brain storming my radiator set-up and I think I have it figured out how I am going to to it.

Day 91 shows the space I have in front of the lower part of the radiator and also how high it sits above the LRB tray.

Im going to try to go back to stock flow on how the radiator was originally designed. I will move the upper pipe to the original location or as close as possible.

I will cut out the top divider and cut off the top added end tank used for the dual pass and weld the small original style raised flat section there.

On the bottom I will put an elbow on the front of the end tank that will be under the air guide and should fit where the bottom of the bumper curves outward.

I will wrap the pipe around to the side where the A/C lines are and then bring it towards the engine inlet.

This is how my V2 FC kits flow with the Mishimoto FD3S RX7 LS swap radiator kit and cools fine.

I will test fit it with the stock front bumper and the AB-FLUG GT-7 front bumper to make sure It will clear both bumpers.

Hopefully this will solve the cooling issue resulting in the car being able to plateau at an expectable operating temp instead of slowing rising with no end in sight.

I'll find out in a few weeks.

 

Jatt came over and we hung out.

Awesome guy. Jatt will be doing alot of stuff I have already done so he came over to see stuff in person.

We took off the front end so he could see what was involved with the VM kit and oil cooler kit install.

Jatt has the Greddy VM kit and SBG dual oil cooler kit,

I also needed to take the front apart to start the re-do on the radiator design.... thrown the dice.. lol

We also went for a small drive so he could see the car on 7 psi, stock waste gate spring with the boost controller off. It's nothing crazy, just a chill 8 minute cruise.It's nothing crazy, just a chill 8 minute cruise.

Thanks Jatt !!!

 

Was an amazing day bro, really appreciate you having me over and learning so much from you. Seeing the build in person was awesome.