gco_shift

Okay, so my car didn't use to smoke as much as it does now. It used to do the normal amount of smoke on a start up but recently, when I fire it up now, it is getting crazy smoke out the tail pipe. Just to give you an image.... Its like a doing a burn out to the point the tires become bald. I mean its way to much to be normal. So what could it be?? The color of the smoke is a really fluffy, white, but not thick smoke.

At first, I thought that it was oil but I think it might have some connection with my coolant problem. My coolant keeps disappearing on me. I will fill up the reservoir and the radiator; then it needs to be filled like after a few drives. I don't see any leaks or puddles of coolant at the bottom of the car which puzzles me; and the car doesn't have an overheating problem at all!!!! I plan on flushing it and checking out to see what the problem might be but I need help in solving this mystery. If anyone can help that would super gravy!!!

Thanks,

gco_shift

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

Yes, you're probably burning coolant. When the coolant seals go, it will leak into the combustion chambers and cause a white 'smoke'. It's usually accompanied by overheating, but I guess if it were minimal enough, the temperatures would still stay in line.

Chris_V

iTrader: (6)

Does the smoke smell like coolant? It might just be condensation . When the cooler temps come here in cal , my FD makes a small cloud during the warm up cycle.if its thick white smoke and not steam then the coolant seals may be your problem.

gco_shift

Well it doesn't have that sweet coolant smell from the smoke. but It does smell like coolant from time to time in the engine bay.

gco_shift

How would I go about changing the seals if that would be the case. Because it seems likely for that to be the case and I mean it doesn't smoke for long as soon as the engine is warmed up and ready to go the smoke disappears... and sometimes the coolant with it.

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

By rebuilding the engine. Before doing anything, confirm that you don't have an external coolant leak. Gray/white smoke on start up can also been the oil control rings, which is a problem you can live with. But if coolant is disappearing somewhere inside the engine, I would still put my money on coolant seals.

Another possibility is Alumaseal. A member here (Kentetsu) has had some success with it, so if you're sure the seals are shot, it's worth a try: https://www.rx7club.com/1st-gen-archive-71/engine-coolant-seal-repair-maybe-750774/.

LordEcks

Can almost gaurentee you its your engine o-rings. I'm told it is very rare on an FC (by mechanics here), but happens a lot on the FD.

I know because it happened to me just recently. Fortunately I knew exactly what was happening (thanks to websites like this one) and took steps to purchase a replacement engine right away (they're very easy to come by here in Japan for less than a grand).

You can keep on filling it up with coolant. I drove around for nearly two months with the problem, like yours mine would stop smoking after about a minute of burnout level white smoke got done kicking out. I just kept stocks of coolant in the trunk. Near the end as the problem worsened I would have to fill it up with coolant after each drive, and had to let it cool down for about 2 to 3 hours before I could start it again. In the end it just flat out failed to start.

I'd recommend you yank the motor early if you cannot get a replacement engine easily. The longer you wait the more damage you risk to the rotors/housings, to the point where they wont be reusable if you want to rebuild.

gco_shift

No!!!! lol that is all horrible news lol oh well I guess what I will do is try the alumaseal and see where that takes me if the problem will progress I guess either a rebuild or a new engine is going to be envitable. LOL i guess its not all that bad I always wanted to go turbo lol. Thank you Rocket88 and LordEcks for the info it was helpful. So would either of you know how much a 13b would cost both turbo and NA??? I am guessing around 900-1200 right???

NeXtRx7

If you cant find Alumaseal at your parts store try BarsLeak same stuff. Good luck

gco_shift

is it possible that the smoking could have been caused by the use of a lucas fuel system cleaner. I mean it is less likely but just curious.

Kentetsu

No, Lucas would not cause this issue.

No, Bars Leak is not the same stuff as Alumaseal. I recommend Alumaseal due to the fact that it is based on flaked aluminum (which is highly flammable) rather than copper or brass (which is not). The theory being that if any of the product enters the combustion area, it will simply burn off rather than scrape **** up.

As long as the flow of fluid is out through the tail pipe, the Alumaseal works great. But if you have combustion gasses entering the cooling system, blowing coolant out of the radiator, then chances are that it will not work.

To use the Alumaseal, simply dump it into the radiator and either idle or drive the car. Watch your fluid levels during this process to make sure they don't drop too far before the leak is sealed. You should see results within 30 minutes or so.

My motor was shooting smoke to make James Bond jealous. So bad that there was no chance at all that I could drive the car. The Alumaseal did it's job within 30 minutes, and I've now got over 20,000 miles on that motor without a trace of issue.

Good luck, and let us know how it works out for you. Just make sure you get the correct product, not something that's "sort of like it".




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gco_shift

That was funny... good stuff good stuff... But yeah I am actually going to work on it this weekend I was thinking what I will do is flush the system first since I know for a fact it is definitely in need of a radiator flush. That way when I do the flush I can check the hoses and pump for any leaks or maybe things that could be causing the problem externally. Then from there I will ad the alumnaseal with the new coolant. and see how it goes from there.

But I will definitely post the news about what the dealio was with my precious. lol Thanks for the support!!!

gco_shift

So here is the results of my weekend work:

I flushed out the cooling system and checked for any leaks and found none. Then added the alumnaseal. Ran the engine for about a good 15mins of driving, ate sum lunch, and when I came back to fire up the engine the car was still smoking. I did notice some popping sound coming from the exhaust when on start up and even a little on the throttle.

So does that pretty much mean what I think it means??? And if so does anyone know where I can get a new engine or a place where I could pick up one at???

Or if there are any optimistic people out there and think I have any other alternatives please feel free to post because I am all ears at this point.

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

You should have just taken the car to a rotary shop to diagnose. The smoke could have just been regular condensation from the cooling weather we have had recently.

You may want to consider that now just the same.

gco_shift

That actually went through my mind the first time the smoke appeared. Although now, I don't think condensation to be the issue in this particular situation. I am planning to take it to a mechanic if the issue still continues. I'll give it a couple of days to see if the problem will progress or deteriorate. Hopefully I won't have to, but the popping did cease and the smoke has started to calm a bit than when it originally began. It is still pretty cloudy none the less I actually have it recorded I might just post it just to give you guys a visual. haha its kinda crazy looking.

gracer7-rx7

iTrader: (16)

Video is always good

gco_shift

Alumnaseal saves another live guys!!!! whew that was a relief... Thanks for all the support When I get the chance I'll post this video of the smoke screen my car put up just for fun maybe someone could compare what they had going on to theirs and could help for the future. If not its still a pretty crazy site.

Kentetsu

I saw your post a couple of days ago and was going to tell you to drive it a bit more, to give the Alumaseal more of a chance to do it's thing, but ran out of time. Glad it worked out for your.

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

So the coolant level is staying constant, and the smoke has stopped?

gco_shift

Yeah the smoke has ceased and the coolant level is staying at a constant. I hope that the additive mite of fixed the leaking problem into the combustion chamber. But I guess only time will tell. As for now it seems to be doing exponentially better than the previous time I posted with the issue.

misterstyx69

iTrader: (142)

I don't want to be the Bearer of Bad News.BUT..(I'm old and cranky so WTF!)
Right now you have just temporarily Fixed the Problem.
If I were you,I would go Shopping for another engine while your Car is Operational,because your engine is living on Borrowed time.

angeltiger

im going to have to try this my stupid *** friend couldn't find the aluaseal and bought bars leaks saying its the same thing and it didn't work I found alumaseal at pepboys this weekend so I'm going to try it.

Kentetsu

Yeah, I've gotten 20,000 miles of daily driving and weekend racing. Not bad for borrowed time. When this motor eventually dies, it won't be due to bad coolant seals or the method I used to fix it. Seriously, I even take the car down to North Carolina every year for the Deals Gap Rotary Rally, and haven't had even a trace of an issue.

So call it a temporary fix if you like, but it sure seems like a pretty damned long term temporary fix.

EricRyan

iTrader: (4)

+1 Kentetsu

I have always had a bad feeling about miracle additives, but upon reading your Alumaseal thread I'm going to have to give it a shot. I've been losing about 2 cups of water every 100 miles or so in the REPU, I actually pulled the radiator out just a few hours ago and was about to send it off to get retanked/recored, costing several hundreds I'm sure. But you've convinced me to try this 5 dollar fix first.

TerrorismSux

This is ONLY true when your engine is hot. If the engine is COLD START and you get white smoke, then this is NOT the case, as the vapor will condense in your exhaust and collect/eject in liquid form when cold.

Friend on the phone right now says, try changing your oil. He said, to tell you to change your oil to a heavy weight, 50W race oil with new oil filter. If that doesn't stop the smoke, check compression in your rear rotor to ensure you haven't blown rear rotor. His name is Chris, not sure if he is a member here but he works at auto zone here, good dude.