Hey guys, Im Tyler. Im 18 years old and i just picked up a 1990 rx7. Ive been saving up for a while now and i finally got it. There is just a few issues i was hoping to get a second opinion on. The car over heats if i drive it for more than 30 minutes. Before I bought it I took it on a quick test drive and i asked the seller if there was any problems and he said no it runs like a champ. So i changed all the fluids and they all looked good so i wasn't worried. But after i took it for a cruise with my friends and it over heated. I checked the coolant and it was low even though i just changed it. So i added more and took a mental note. I got home and wanted to check to make sure it was all good. But the coolant was murky and smelt like exhaust even though i just changed it.( it also makes a some white smoke on start up but its cat less so i dont know if that's normal) So i did some research and all those things point to broken or leaky coolant seals in the housing. I have a feeling the Previous owner knew about this when selling it. But again there is nothing complaining will do to fix it so i wanted to get a second opinion on whats going on before i start researching how to rebuild a 13b. I appreciate you're time and hopefully yall have some other ideas. Im hyped to be part of this community.

 

Hi Tyler, welcome to the forum! (and "the young guys with sevens contingent")

Would you happen to recall what the "white smoke" you described smells like? A bit of it on startup may just be accumulated condensation in the exhaust system. If it has a sweet smell, it is likely coolant.
It might just be a degraded coolant seal or a retaining wall failure. I've seen the latter happen on a car that spent many years in storage with the same coolant.

Hopefully, some other forum members will chime in and provide assistance.

 

Ya it smelt sorta sweet thats also what tipped me off in the first place. And i appreciate you taking the time to respond

 

If you end up doing the rebuild yourself, this thread topic is a good read https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...rself-1154493/

Never rebuilt a wankel before, but I'm told that the hardest (and longest part) is taking the peripherals off of the engine and cleaning all the parts. Hopefully, it's just a soft seal. An eroded coolant retaining wall failure would require a new rotor housing.

 

Congrats and welcome. I was 19 when I bought my first 7. Mine was a 79 and I still own it, 44 years and counting.

 

Welcome to forum. Does sound like a water seal problem or corrosion in rota housing

 

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new RX-7. I would recommend a cooling system pressure test first thing. You're likely experiencing coolant seal failure, which would require the engine to be rebuilt. You will want to verify with a cooling system pressure, but from how you are describing the symptoms, I feel like a coolant seal has failed or the channel on the rotor housing for the coolant seal has corroded, causing coolant consumption. This is a common thing on higher mileage FC's, especially if the coolant hasn't been serviced properly. I recommend replacing the coolant every two years.