So I was driving home today and out of nowhere I hear a hissing sound, I get off the interstate and smell coolant, I pull over into a parking lot and coolant smoke is pouring out of the engine, not near the radiator, but back towards the engine, about midway through, it was a bit dark so I couldn't see exactly where, but I'm kinda worried it could be a blown engine. I had been driving for maybe 10 minutes before I heard the hissing, then pulled over within 3-4 minutes. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

Oh man.

I'm sorry, but there's a pretty good chance you're fucked. Try the 2nd Gen specific forum, it's more active than this one.

 

Did the car overheat? Sounds like a split/burst radiator/heater hose.

 

Ya dude, I wouldn't get too worried yet. After I bought my first rx-7 I blew 3 different hoses in the first year.

 

i once blew the a hose in the back driver side part of the block. sounds very similar,,, is there any reason though why people would be blowing these hoses? i mean like is the pressure that great/ whats the deal?

 

I had that happen to my S5 once. I thought I had done my engine in but what had really happened is the hose popped off.

 

There is a hose that comes off the block near the rear that feeds the throttle body, I would guess it is that or a heater core hose.

These cars are approaching 20 years old, I think that in itself is reason for things like this to be happening more and more often.

 

Sounds like the heater hose that comes out of the rear iron under the oil filter has failed. This is fairly common because the hose will get oil saturated from oil spillage during oil/filter changes. Heater hoses are coolant resistant, but not oil resistant. Look to see if the hose is soft and has swelled. If so, replace immediately. Now would be a good time to replace all of the heater hoses. Be prepared for a shock at the price of the preformed heater hoses.

Did the temp gauge peg to hot, did the low coolant buzzer go off? Once the coolant hoses have been replaced, top off the coolant, remove the radiator cap, start the engine and look for 'champagne bubbles' in the coolant flowing under the cap. Also note if there is white smoke in the exhaust and smell it. If there are bubbles, excessive white smoke or coolant smell in the exhaust, then do a cooling system leak down test If all of the above tests pass, quit worrying and enjoy driving your 7