Hi, my name is Jordan. I have a rebuilt 1986 N/a 13b GXL non-turbo 5speed rx7. We used salvaged/used rotors & housings on the rebuild with new seals. I had been driving the car for a while with no runability concerns besides idle drop & dash light dimming when braking with headlights on.

I made a mistake one day by messing around with my Crank Angle Sensor (CAS) and on my way home for the first time (8,000 miles after rebuild) the engine temp gauge got slightly above midpoint and the add coolant light/buzzer came on. I tried readjusting the CAS back to the previous position but must have forgot where that was exactly and the next day on my way to work gears 1,2,&3 all had no power. I messed with the CAS again and have my car back on the road but there are now a few things happening that didnt use to happen that are concerning me.

First off, the yellow leading notch on the pulley does not match up to the indicator pin on the housing when using strobe timing light attached to leading spark plug, same is to be said for red notch on pulley when attached to trailing spark plug wire. But I am not experiencing the "missing power" in gear.
Does this mean my timing is off? How might I take the proper steps in order to achieve proper timing?

My final problem that has arose after the CAS incident is my coolant level. The add coolant light/buzzer come on occasionally still. I dont seem to be leaving coolant puddles anywhere I park. There is white smoke for a minute or two on start up but that has always happened and never had "disappearing" coolant concerns. My overflow tank slowly fills up to the brim but does not seem to recede back into the radiator/engine when shut off to cool down. When I do the "champagne" test, I observe coolant slowly overflowing from the filler neck with the occasional bubble or two but nothing like the videos I have seen on YouTube. Am I doing the test wrong? Should car be cold or warm when observing "champagne" test? I am curious on how to determine if when I messed with the CAS if I damaged the coolant seals, if possible?

Any advice and feedback is greatly appreciated. I am going to call Mazda and get price quotes on OEM thermostat and waterpump in case that might help with coolant distribution. Thanks guys.

 

If you screwed with the CAS then you need to reset your timing.
I think there should be 10 pages on that.
touching the CAS has Zero to do with your coolant issue.If you are getting excess pressure in your coolant system then you have a bad coolant seal and you may be looking at a rebuild.
Again if you sit back and read some info available in the SEC Gen Specific section you can find a lot that pertains to the same problem you are having.

try this link as info:Rotary Resurrection home of the budget rebuild.

 

Thank you for your input and sharing that link. I only asked if the timing adjustment may have caused this since I never had this symptom until after I touched the CAS. Maybe I had a weak seal since the very get go and it finally just popped? I pressure tested the system yesterday and it holds pressure well without any apparent leaks.

 

Ya,just to let you know that the CAS gear is run by a gear on the e-shaft and that is splashed with oil in the front cover.
That is why I am saying that the CAS tinkering has nothing to do with any coolant issue..Unless the car is really Fubarred and gets lubricated by oil and antifreeze mixed..lol,chuckle!!

 

Lol I believe its just oil in there but I am not too familiar with rotaries and didnt know if maybe when the CAS was misaligned it caused more damage than I knew.