So last winter I put my 94 RX7 in storage. This past spring when I got it out, mice had made a nest in the engine bay. They ate through my hoses so I had to replace all of the coolant hoses. The problem turns out that the little a-holes were still in my engine bay somewhere and continued to eat engine parts. I put rodent killer on the top of the engine and hopefully killed them all but now I have a small problem.

They ate through part of the coolant overflow tank CAP! So it no longer seals. As soon as pressure builds in the tank it blows the cap off. Kablooyee!

Then I see coolant shooting up through the gap in the headlamp. So I've been carrying a gallon of coolant along to fill up whenever I go somewhere.

The problem seems to be that I can't find a replacement cap without having to buy the entire tank. Does anybody know where I could get a new cap???

 

Have you tried Mazda parts department? The parts fiche is also available online, so you can find the part number and speed up the call/visit: http://www.rotaryheads.com/PDF/3rd_gen/ (scroll to bottom).

 

You can buy OEM parts from Ray Crowe at Malloy Mazda. He gives us all killer discounts on parts and owns 2 FDs so he knows the cars well.

His number is in the 3rd gen FAQ thread:
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/faq-3rd-gen-other-useful-links-68640/
Scroll down to the M section:

M

Malloy Mazda , Ray Crowe is the parts manager, gives great prices to RX-7 owners, quick shipping:
(888) 533-3400 , (703) 490-8170 , fax: (703) 490-3864 , hmkparts@aol.com

 

Definitely go with Ray he is great and is normally less than half e. Ost of locals Mazda dealership. Also the thread title made me laugh.

 

mazdatrix.com has alot of stock parts for rx-7s. if you didn't find anything yet you could prob. find it on there.

 

Hrm, does Ray ship or is it pick up only? And more importantly, is he exclusively FD's or are all 7's able to call him?

 

Next time you winter your car, put some mothballs in it. No more mice. That's all I can help with though.

 

Yea was gonna ask, did you put anything to prevent the mice?? like mothballs or anything cause im gonna store my car soon and was wondering if u did and mice came anyway!!! Don't want mice eatin my car aswell :S GL with parts btw.

 

Sadly, I struggled with replacing hoses, caps and such for months now. So I replaced both the radiator cap and the overflow tank cap. Flushed the coolant and replaced with fresh.

I also replaced the air separator tank hoses.

So I took the car out for a short drive to see if everything was good and the car overheated. I stopped the car and shut it off but coolant was blowing out of the overflow tank filler neck like a friggin geyser. I had water with me - a gallon of it and put it in the car. After the car cooled I tried to get back home but the thing overheated again and blew all of the coolant out of the overflow tank. I was about 1-1/2 miles from home. I got home and shut down. Now it is blowing coolant out of the exhaust and by reading other posts - this does not bode well for the rotary engine or for my wallet.

I'm pretty sure the mice did me in, as I spent months chasing down coolant leaks. Part of me wonders if there is a dead mouse in the coolant lines of the engine.

Sad to say. I bought the car back in 97, it was a 94 RX-7 and had 68,000 miles on it. All original. It ran perfectly fine until I got it out of storage.

I will probably put an LT1 in it. I am a big fan of rotaries but where I live - in PA - there simply are not any good shops to do work on these things. And our Mazda dealership robbed me of $4000.00 previously so I will never go back to them again.

I will save the rotary for future use.

 

rats and mice suck. I had some living in my cabin air filter box. They were rooming with what looked like at least 10 snails. they also ate though some of my hoses and engine bay liner.

 

I had an issue once where mice made a nest in the engine bay of a jeep cherokee i owned and it ended up burning to the ground so you might wanna make sure to not just kill the mice but get all the junk the nest was made of out.

 

All RX7s and Mazdas in general. I got parts for my Miata from him also.

 

Sorry to hear that. There is a rotary shop in PA - http://kdrotary.com/

 

So, you actually kept driving the car in this condition?

 

Ouch, sorry to hear. I can 2nd the mothballs. We have rabbits here that love spark plug wires

 

I replaced virtually every hose in the car along with the air separator tank. And it wasn't dripping fluid. It seemed like it would only lose coolant when I would drive. And sometimes I would drive for 40 minutes and then it would beep that the coolant was low, so I'd pull over and fill it up and look for a wet spot. Other times it would never beep and other times it would leak immediately - at least I could track those leaks down.

Turns out the mice were living in and making a constant meal out of the car. So I replaced the upper and lower radiator hoses twice, both times they had gnaw marks in them. I put mouse poison in the car on top of the intake manifold and in a couple of days it would be gone. Then a few weeks later I would see that the hood liner was all chewed up. So I'd put more poison in the car and it would vanish, only to discover mouse turds all over the battery.

I should say, I live in a house surrounded by corn fields and it was the field mice that would chew through my garage door seals in the winter and bed down in the engine bay. I am surrounded by an infinite army of vermin, all looking for the delicious nectar running through my cars coolant system.

I will close with this - I also own a saab 9-3 and am now experiencing the exact same problems - mice in the engine bay!

I don't know what to do.

 

Get a cat or two...

 

That right.



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hi, the overheating after u think it is full of coolant could be because of air pockets in the engine. check the proper procedure to fill the engine and cooling lines. i believe there is like two points where u have to open till it fills. one lower than the other and then get to the second till it fills then close that one and last the cap. also check your thermostat. hope that helps but really check the procedure for filling. i know its not just put water or coolant in.

 

really like your thread name, made me laugh

mice