Hello Rx7 community! I would like say that i appreciate anyones help. Thank you

I am a new over of a 87 RX7. It has 72000 original miles. I was driving the car fairly hard and the raidiator hose bursted. Ever sense then the car overheats in about 10 min. When the car sits for long periods of time, it shoots out clouds of white smoke out of the exhaust (When you first start the car, then it burns off in a min or 2). Some people tell me its the thermastat, or some radiator problem. What steps can i take to diagnose the problem, and then which steps can i take to fix the engine?

Thank you VERY much!

Steve

 

How long did the engine run with the radiator hose blown off? Did the engine shut itself down, or were you able to do it in time? The reason I ask is because in a very short time, the engine would have dumped almost all of the coolant onto the ground, which means big air pockets in the engine. You could have blown coolant seals or even cracked the water jacket. With the engine cold, start it up and removed the radiator cap. Bubbles, or eventually boiling coolant are signs that gases from the combustion chambers are making their way into the coolant.

 

So tonite i will run the engine cold, with the radiator cap off. If Bubbles or boiling water spills out; this is a bad sign ? I will post with my results. Question: should i run the engine till it starts to get past half way hot? or kill the engine while its still cold cold, or let it get up towards the H on the meter.

Thank you!

Steve

 

If it's not too late to tell you. Run it until the thermostat opens up. You will know that by the turbulence in the coolant flowing past the filler neck. The turbulence is normal. What you're looking for is obvious bubbling or foaming.

BTW, you might want to wrap a paper towel around the filler neck to soak up the slight overflow as the coolant heats up.