FusedKNIVES

Okay i need a little help, i have a 89 RX7 NA, and on cold start ups only it blows out massive amounts of white smoke.. but when its warm, it doesnt anymore.. anyways i know white smoke sometimes, well mostly has to do with coolant, but i know if you are leaking coolant, it should also smoke a lot when its warm, right?
and if its coolant i do need a rebuilt, now i don't know much about RX7's but i do know quite a bit. Thats one of the reasons i bough an RX7 so i can learn more about it, and i love the 7's!!! who doesnt. anyways so i need help with it!! and if i need a rebuilt i need to know someone who can do it, close to me, i live in southern CA, someone hit me up, let me know whats the problem..

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

White smoke (steam, actually) that smells like antifreeze means coolant. If it doesn't smell sweet like antifreeze, it's probably not coolant (or you're running straight water, which is bad).

If you've got a minor water-seal leak, it can go away when the car heats up and parts expand from the heat.

Renton

iTrader: (17)

http://www.lucky7racing.net/

Nothing but good reviews.

stormshadow531

iTrader: (5)

watch your temps, dont let them get to high. above half is not normal. same thing happened to my first motor. coolant seal went. check your coolant levels when the motor is cold. if you keep having to fill all the time and there's no leak on the ground, its the seals.

+1 for smelling like antifreeze (i hate the smell now bc is scares me)

however there are many shops down there if you need help.

+1 Lucky 7 seems to come up a lot on here. GL with your rotary journeys!

Drifter288

iTrader: (3)

+1 on Lucky 7

KeloidJonesJr.

iTrader: (8)

Wha happens if white smoke smells like bad eggs, but only happens after you drive it a while.

stormshadow531

iTrader: (5)

it might be the same think but the coolant is rusty. does it smell like old tools kinda?

KeloidJonesJr.

iTrader: (8)

Naw, it really smells like rotten eggs with smelly fart.

iLikeEatPoo

iTrader: (6)

get off that wacky tabacy

-=Lil Red=-

iTrader: (24)

usually rotten egg smell is the catalytic converter going bad

rotary#10

iTrader: (38)

yups that what i heard too.

FusedKNIVES

honestly, i don't know what antifreeze smells like... it has to be sweet right? haha im so noob to cars.. but i'm getting used to it slowly, im not running straight water, my temperature never goes past half, and everything is ok... except for yesterday my check engine light came on AGAIN! after 2 weeks of being fine, last time it was a plug that was corroded (sp) and it fixed it, so i checked the same thing again.. also after the massive amounts of white smoke light blue smoke comes out, and then after a few minutes of running it stops. ?? so im trying to figure out what it is, i know blue smoke is oil.. and i have notice my oil level is low so im going to add some today.. see if it has to do with that..

FusedKNIVES

hey thanks!!! thats actually minutes from where i go to school, HAHA
so its pretty close by, will check it out thanks!! and btw, i noticed youre located in riverside, my gf lives out there, im there every weekend, if you ever see a black FC S5, thats me, usually around tyler area, and la sierra, sometimes around central.

FusedKNIVES

well the temp doesn't get high at all, it stays at normal!! how do you check coolant levels?? i havent filled it at all, im not sure if there is leaks, i'll have to check, if its the seals, than does that mean engine rebuilt also? or just buy new seals, and install them?

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Next time you've run the engine up to operating temp and then stopped it, open the plastic AF reservoir (NOT the radiator cap!!) and take a sniff while it's still warm. Very distinctive smell to it; once you know what it is you pick up on it in parking lots all the time.

In case nobody's told you yet, rotaries are designed to automatically mix a small amount of oil into the fuel to keep the engine seals lubricated. There's a pump (called the Oil Metering Pump or OMP) that does this automatically. Because of this, all rotaries consume oil, usually about a quart every 1000-3000 miles. It's real critical that you don't let the oil run low (it handles a lot of the engine cooling tasks) ; there's a low-oil warning light but by the time it comes on you're in serious hurt territory.

So, it will use a small amount of oil, but not enough that you smell or see it as smoke when all is working right.

Oil smoke smells like burned oil (sniff your dipstick for reference, right before an oil change is due), and is usually called "bluish" in color, but to me, it looks pretty white.

The sulfur (rotten egg) smell usually comes from a cat purging accumulated sulfur deposits when it gets good and hot under heavy load; you smell it behind cars that aren't driven hard a lot, when they get to pulling up a hill. I've heard it gets worse & more frequent as the cat gets older, because of deposit buildup and fading of the catalyst which makes it harder for it to get to full operating temp.

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

There are reference lines on the side of the reservoir bottle, for full-hot and full-cold; Also, when you open the radiator cap (ONLY when the car is DEAD cold!) it should be absolutely full. If it's not, most often it's because the radiator cap has gone bad.

The cap is in charge of filling the radiator from the reservoir via vacuum, during operation.

If you're not having heat problems, the cooling system is probably full. Keeping an eye on the reservoir bottle will tell you if you're losing coolant over time.

Water seals or oil seals (except for the main bearing seals at the ends of the shaft) can only be replaced by doing a rebuild.

Over in the 1st-gen section archives, there's a guy (Kentetsu) who does a lot of autocrossing; he's reported good success with minor seal leaks using a specific stop-leak product. I've never tried it; luckily, I'm not dealing with any leaks just now.

KeloidJonesJr.

iTrader: (8)

Does white smoke come out from under the hood with a bad cat?

iLikeEatPoo

iTrader: (6)

Coolant and/or oil is dripping into your motor slowly. Thus when you start your motor all the built up oil and coolant burns off and when it's finished burning it off it will stop smoking.


If you drive it then let it sit for 30 minutes to cool off and start it again does it smoke again or only when you let it sit for hours/over night?

FusedKNIVES

ok i tried that today, let it actually sit for more than 30 minutes, it didn't smoke, only when its been off for hours, and then it smokes, but stops when its warm... but its a lot of smoke...

i also need a diagnostics check, my check engine light went on yesterday, and it wont let me keep my speed or speed up, only when it comes on, and turns off everytime turn off my car, it happened to me before but then the guy i bought it from helped me out, since he works on them, and checked it for me..
and fixed it!

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

I'm getting the opposite thing just now; I get (gas) smoke on hot re-starts only - - flooding issue, probably something with the carb bowl vent. May actually get some non-raining time to toy with it this weekend.

FusedKNIVES

hmm.. sometimes what i do for the smoke to not come out, on a cold start up, is when i turn on the engine, i don't let it warm up, i start driving it right away, and no smoke to a little smoke comes out.. then its fine till the next time i have to turn on the engine on a cold start up. ??

DivinDriver

iTrader: (15)

Wow, that's odd. Not sure what to make of that.

FusedKNIVES

yeah exactly, so thats why its confusing... i just think its because its cold, because when its really hott, there is just a little bit of smoke, not massive amounts, but yeah, i'll figure it out eventually.

R3AL.CH1CK3N

iTrader: (9)

yeah, my car is currently at lucky 7, they are awesome. they take tons of pics also, that way you can see the work they do. That's where i go for my car... my car needed a rebuild and it was the o-rings also..

mickeymouse86fc

iTrader: (3)

+1 Lucky 7 Racing very good guys