High Cooling System Pressure (Gen-2)
05-17-05, 02:34 AM
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High Cooling System Pressure (Gen-2)
Meet your youngest RX-7 owner: My son Andrew age 14
Got an issue however with the car, its a 87 Turbo-II stick that when we start it up cold and let it warm up the cooling system builds pressure quickly. Ive watched the exhaust both cold and hot restart and don't see anything but a slight condensate cold and I dont smell coolant at all. The pressure builds almost right away and I dropped a thermometer into the upper T-stat housing and noted the temp compared to the stock gauge and noted the stat seems to be opening around 160 or so degrees, have not pulled the stat yet to verify and for all I know its a 160 anyway given the fact the car has several bolt-ons and a new turbocharger. So far Ive found a 3" downpipe, hollow cat, boost modifier along with new injectors and pressure regulator. Someone also bypassed the fuel pump resistor and played with the air meter, seems to run a bit rich but have not verified yet as I'm still getting a feel for the car in itself. The other issue is a bit of a lope at hot idle. Warming the car in the driveway all the way to normal it's very smooth but after an easy drive it has a definate lope at idle and doesn't go away until after 1200 or so RPM. I suspect a bad apex seal but have yet to introduce a compression gauge to the car.
The car runs very strong despite the problems and doing a controlled 1/4 mile run using the old VASCAR and a radar gun Im finding the car running mid 14's for times. It has no problem busting the tires loose and feels like a rotary should, damn strong past 4000 RPM when the boost really comes on.
My son wants to go through the engine as he is interested in doing Solo's and I want to chase out a few honda-boys myself. I do have rotary experience of almost 20 years going back to a RX-3 wagon but given the technology under the hood I'm not sure this is a good idea. Does the cooling pressure issue sound like a bad housing water seal or should I be looking for something else? Im not finding any water in the exhaust at all and the plugs are dry. The engine itself starts like a normal rotary, runs like a rotary and goes like a rotary... Like hell but Im more concerned with longevity and not scooping parts into a bucket. My son has the hands to work on this project and follows books with religion but again given the complexity of the injection and induction of the engine I'm a little leery of diving into the depths of the unknown.
By the way as a 20 year veteran road cop Ive not ticketed an RX driver! Go figure!
Thanks in advance
Badge988
Got an issue however with the car, its a 87 Turbo-II stick that when we start it up cold and let it warm up the cooling system builds pressure quickly. Ive watched the exhaust both cold and hot restart and don't see anything but a slight condensate cold and I dont smell coolant at all. The pressure builds almost right away and I dropped a thermometer into the upper T-stat housing and noted the temp compared to the stock gauge and noted the stat seems to be opening around 160 or so degrees, have not pulled the stat yet to verify and for all I know its a 160 anyway given the fact the car has several bolt-ons and a new turbocharger. So far Ive found a 3" downpipe, hollow cat, boost modifier along with new injectors and pressure regulator. Someone also bypassed the fuel pump resistor and played with the air meter, seems to run a bit rich but have not verified yet as I'm still getting a feel for the car in itself. The other issue is a bit of a lope at hot idle. Warming the car in the driveway all the way to normal it's very smooth but after an easy drive it has a definate lope at idle and doesn't go away until after 1200 or so RPM. I suspect a bad apex seal but have yet to introduce a compression gauge to the car.
The car runs very strong despite the problems and doing a controlled 1/4 mile run using the old VASCAR and a radar gun Im finding the car running mid 14's for times. It has no problem busting the tires loose and feels like a rotary should, damn strong past 4000 RPM when the boost really comes on.
My son wants to go through the engine as he is interested in doing Solo's and I want to chase out a few honda-boys myself. I do have rotary experience of almost 20 years going back to a RX-3 wagon but given the technology under the hood I'm not sure this is a good idea. Does the cooling pressure issue sound like a bad housing water seal or should I be looking for something else? Im not finding any water in the exhaust at all and the plugs are dry. The engine itself starts like a normal rotary, runs like a rotary and goes like a rotary... Like hell but Im more concerned with longevity and not scooping parts into a bucket. My son has the hands to work on this project and follows books with religion but again given the complexity of the injection and induction of the engine I'm a little leery of diving into the depths of the unknown.
By the way as a 20 year veteran road cop Ive not ticketed an RX driver! Go figure!
Thanks in advance
Badge988
05-17-05, 09:14 AM
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Originally Posted by badge988
Meet your youngest RX-7 owner: My son Andrew age 14
Got an issue however with the car, its a 87 Turbo-II stick that when we start it up cold and let it warm up the cooling system builds pressure quickly. Ive watched the exhaust both cold and hot restart and don't see anything but a slight condensate cold and I dont smell coolant at all. The pressure builds almost right away and I dropped a thermometer into the upper T-stat housing and noted the temp compared to the stock gauge and noted the stat seems to be opening around 160 or so degrees, have not pulled the stat yet to verify and for all I know its a 160 anyway given the fact the car has several bolt-ons and a new turbocharger. So far Ive found a 3" downpipe, hollow cat, boost modifier along with new injectors and pressure regulator. Someone also bypassed the fuel pump resistor and played with the air meter, seems to run a bit rich but have not verified yet as I'm still getting a feel for the car in itself. The other issue is a bit of a lope at hot idle. Warming the car in the driveway all the way to normal it's very smooth but after an easy drive it has a definate lope at idle and doesn't go away until after 1200 or so RPM. I suspect a bad apex seal but have yet to introduce a compression gauge to the car.
The car runs very strong despite the problems and doing a controlled 1/4 mile run using the old VASCAR and a radar gun Im finding the car running mid 14's for times. It has no problem busting the tires loose and feels like a rotary should, damn strong past 4000 RPM when the boost really comes on.
My son wants to go through the engine as he is interested in doing Solo's and I want to chase out a few honda-boys myself. I do have rotary experience of almost 20 years going back to a RX-3 wagon but given the technology under the hood I'm not sure this is a good idea. Does the cooling pressure issue sound like a bad housing water seal or should I be looking for something else? Im not finding any water in the exhaust at all and the plugs are dry. The engine itself starts like a normal rotary, runs like a rotary and goes like a rotary... Like hell but Im more concerned with longevity and not scooping parts into a bucket. My son has the hands to work on this project and follows books with religion but again given the complexity of the injection and induction of the engine I'm a little leery of diving into the depths of the unknown.
By the way as a 20 year veteran road cop Ive not ticketed an RX driver! Go figure!
Thanks in advance
Badge988
Got an issue however with the car, its a 87 Turbo-II stick that when we start it up cold and let it warm up the cooling system builds pressure quickly. Ive watched the exhaust both cold and hot restart and don't see anything but a slight condensate cold and I dont smell coolant at all. The pressure builds almost right away and I dropped a thermometer into the upper T-stat housing and noted the temp compared to the stock gauge and noted the stat seems to be opening around 160 or so degrees, have not pulled the stat yet to verify and for all I know its a 160 anyway given the fact the car has several bolt-ons and a new turbocharger. So far Ive found a 3" downpipe, hollow cat, boost modifier along with new injectors and pressure regulator. Someone also bypassed the fuel pump resistor and played with the air meter, seems to run a bit rich but have not verified yet as I'm still getting a feel for the car in itself. The other issue is a bit of a lope at hot idle. Warming the car in the driveway all the way to normal it's very smooth but after an easy drive it has a definate lope at idle and doesn't go away until after 1200 or so RPM. I suspect a bad apex seal but have yet to introduce a compression gauge to the car.
The car runs very strong despite the problems and doing a controlled 1/4 mile run using the old VASCAR and a radar gun Im finding the car running mid 14's for times. It has no problem busting the tires loose and feels like a rotary should, damn strong past 4000 RPM when the boost really comes on.
My son wants to go through the engine as he is interested in doing Solo's and I want to chase out a few honda-boys myself. I do have rotary experience of almost 20 years going back to a RX-3 wagon but given the technology under the hood I'm not sure this is a good idea. Does the cooling pressure issue sound like a bad housing water seal or should I be looking for something else? Im not finding any water in the exhaust at all and the plugs are dry. The engine itself starts like a normal rotary, runs like a rotary and goes like a rotary... Like hell but Im more concerned with longevity and not scooping parts into a bucket. My son has the hands to work on this project and follows books with religion but again given the complexity of the injection and induction of the engine I'm a little leery of diving into the depths of the unknown.
By the way as a 20 year veteran road cop Ive not ticketed an RX driver! Go figure!
Thanks in advance
Badge988
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