over heating

[stu]

i am a mitsubishi man at the moment lancer then fto but i will kill for an rx7 trouble is anyone i look at has overheating problems. I was offered a 94 L for 2300 quid because it overheats ,i drove the car and loved it apart from the scary fact that their is no engine braking/almost s"^t myself,but when we were speaking about hard cash the thing went bang / steam everywhere lifted the bonnet and seen the header tank in three bits . Is the overheating a big problem or an easy fix

[richrx]

is overheating easy to fix? Well once it has happened once then you will need an engine rebuild which will cost £3000-£5000 or depending on the milage possibly a new engine.

however if the cars body is in good condition £2300 is an okay price £2300+£5000(aprox the price of a new engine)=£7300 which is average for an rx-7.

You do then however have more trouble to put up with, whilst getting the new engine then breaking it in. On the other hand you shouldn't have any trouble with the new engine.

I havent heard too much about the overheating, although the other members may give more advice.

hope that helps

[Grizzly]

WOW how much?

Anyway geting down to Busness, Overheating is the Quickest way to kill an Rotary (unrebuildable)

You will find the water seal/Seal locating slot (in the Plate) has gone causing overheating.

How badly has it been overheated? a rotary is made up of 3 plates and 2 Rotor housings what happens is the Plates (like the head in a Piston engine) warp with the Heat, unlike a Piston engine they can't be skimed (as they have been Hardened) so if they are out of Tolarance they are Bin food.

Overheating can do all sorts of damage, becouse the engine is made of steel Plates/rotors and Aluminium Housings things tend to Expand and Contract at diffrent temps causing all sorts of problems, also the Oil tends boil and looses all its Lubrication propoties (it tends to leave a hard black materal in oil ways)

Chris

[Grizzly]

It does'nt sound good mate but the Tank thats gone would'nt happen to be the AST? (looks like a Overflow tank thats conected to the Engine filler neck) this is a common fault.

How far was it driven? Did the Warning buzzer come on?

Sounds like its in need of a new engine (handy place to call for second hand engines is RX Motors in Dorset Tim is good for this sort of thing)

Anyway How come i never get offered stuff like that? LOL is there many Rx's out there with blown engines?

Chris

[t2rew]

although that one does sound bad it isnt all doom and gloom if you cook the motor. on the donny track day i lost the alternator belt ( again, any ideas ) this knocked off the air pump belt as well so i had no fan or water pump running. steam everywhere i pulled into the pits refitted the air pump belt, the other belt was just bits, and after re filling with water i went out on track till lunch then went to halfords for a belt. drove home again at the end of the day.

[Grizzly]

yeh i did somthing like that, i had this cool idea to remove the Air pump and PS, Anyone that runs a T2 will know there is two belts that drive the Water pump the Alt belt and the Air pump belt, any way to cut a long story short my Alt belt decidede to jump off it the middle of know where. You would knot belive how quick all the water in the system just vanished when i came to check it when it had all cooled down (no hissing or Steam) but i could hear the Oil boiling in the Sump.

So after that i lost the crap V belt drive and fitted a Fd pully kit.

The way i look at it (May not be right) but i think the worst and when you pull it apart you will usaly be expecting more Damage than there is and it wont be the other way around, (if you understand that)

I would like to point out that when i overheated my car it already had 2 damaged tips and i fitted a new belt put water in it and drove it for 2 months before i took it of the road. When i striped the Engine the rear plate was slightly warped (within Limits) and that was the only damage i found.

Chris

[sim_rx3]

i dont know much about the models overthere but did you think to check the thermostat.

sit the thermostat in a pot and start to bring the water to the boil.

if the thermostat opens then it ok, if it doesnt move then it is stuffed. replace it.

the thermostat is supost to stay closed at a cold start up to let the water circulate just through the motor and when the motor gets up to temperature it opens the port to alow water to cirulate through the radiator and at the same time shuts off the other port for the water to circulate through just the block.

thats why a thermostat should always be used in a motor.

hope this helped

sim